Cooking: Slow-simmered carnitas

Here we go! This was the first time I was making carnitas. In the 4 years of having a slow cooker, I have only used it to make chili or shoyu pork. I was a little nervous considering the ingredients, and previous failed attempts with altering recipes (to be shared with at a later time).

The pork came out delicious! I can imagine having them in a burrito or just served with mexican rice and a scoop of refried beans, with dollops of guacamole and sour cream. But, before I get carried away, here is the recipe I used.

Adapted from allrecipes.com - I didn't have coriander and I threw in an extra bay leaf since the turkish bay leaves I use are smaller than I see in the McCormick's bottles at the grocery store.

Ingredients:
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp crumbled dried oregano
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
4 lbs boneless pork shoulder roast
3 bay leaves
2 cans chicken broth

Directions:
Mix together salt, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, and cinnamon in a bowl. Coat pork with the spice mixture. Place the bay leaves in the bottom of a slow cooker and place the pork on top. Pour the chicken broth around the sides of the pork, being careful not to rinse off the spice mixture.

Cover and cook on low. Turn the meat after it has cooked for 5 hours. Cook until the pork shreds easily with a fork, about 10 hours total. When the pork is tender, remove from slow cooker, and shred with two forks. Use cooking liquid as needed to moisten the meat.


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