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2013 Cooking Club Week 30: [An epically over-long ode to] Carnitas

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    #32
    Honey-ec
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,844 ✭✭✭Honey-ec


    Had these on Saturday night. I found the meat a leetle dry, but on closer inspection of the original recipe, the chunks should originally be 5 inches in size, not 5 centimetres. Nevertheless, they were absolutely delicious and went down an absolute storm; not a leftover in sight. I made my usual guacamole & salsa with them.

    Thanks, MissF, we'll definitely be having these again soon.

    525724_10152099529617678_661349137_n.jpg

    FYI, for anyone in Dublin with a Courtney's Food Service near them, I got my shoulder there - €10 for 2.5kg, and that was the boned weight!


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    #33
    MissFlitworth
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,057 ✭✭✭MissFlitworth


    Honey-ec wrote: »
    Had these on Saturday night. I found the meat a leetle dry, but on closer inspection of the original recipe, the chunks should originally be 5 inches in size, not 5 centimetres.

    Oh buggery - sorry about that! I'll get my recipe amended. D'oh!


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    #34
    Malari
    Registered Users Posts: 18,150 ✭✭✭✭Malari


    Honey-ec, I made the same mistake. :o The small chunks got very dried out, but I'll know for next time.


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    #35
    Carawaystick
    Registered Users Posts: 8,779 ✭✭✭Carawaystick


    The bones and skin make the most excellent stock, which you can use the next time
    Just simmer them in water for as long as you'ld cook the meat
    Strain the stock from the skin&bone into a container and fridge or freeze til next time


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    #36
    Honey-ec
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,844 ✭✭✭Honey-ec


    Just an FYI for anyone who might have been planning on making this this week, the current Super 6 in Aldi includes avocadoes (2 pack), cherry tomatoes and onions, so you can get three of the ingredients for the accompaniments for 45c each :)


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    #37
    Malari
    Registered Users Posts: 18,150 ✭✭✭✭Malari


    Honey-ec wrote: »
    Just an FYI for anyone who might have been planning on making this this week, the current Super 6 in Aldi includes avocadoes (2 pack), cherry tomatoes and onions, so you can get three of the ingredients for the accompaniments for 45c each :)

    Usually avocados you could play cricket with! :-/ That's where I got my last ones, hoping they would ripen, but no luck.


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    #38
    Honey-ec
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,844 ✭✭✭Honey-ec


    Malari wrote: »
    Usually avocados you could play cricket with! :-/ That's where I got my last ones, hoping they would ripen, but no luck.

    Yeah, they're usually very unripe alright, but I've never had any issues with them ripening at home, thankfully. There were actually a couple of packs of almost-ripe ones instore on Saturday too. I grabbed two of them, and two unripe ones for use next week.


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    #39
    BaZmO*
    Registered Users Posts: 18,625 ✭✭✭✭BaZmO*


    Malari wrote: »
    Usually avocados you could play cricket with! :-/ That's where I got my last ones, hoping they would ripen, but no luck.

    Stick them in a paper bag with a banana and that'll ripen the bejaysis out of them. :)


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    #40
    Malari
    Registered Users Posts: 18,150 ✭✭✭✭Malari


    Honey-ec wrote: »
    Yeah, they're usually very unripe alright, but I've never had any issues with them ripening at home, thankfully. There were actually a couple of packs of almost-ripe ones instore on Saturday too. I grabbed two of them, and two unripe ones for use next week.

    Did you use the "banana-in-bag" method? I tried that and put them in the window sill for maximum heat exposure, but no dice.


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    #41
    Honey-ec
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,844 ✭✭✭Honey-ec


    Malari wrote: »
    Did you use the "banana-in-bag" method? I tried that and put them in the window sill for maximum heat exposure, but no dice.

    I only do that if I'm in a real hurry, otherwise I find just leaving them on a sunny windowsill does the trick. Has it happened to you more than once? Hopefully you just got a dud pack!


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    #42
    Malari
    Registered Users Posts: 18,150 ✭✭✭✭Malari


    Honey-ec wrote: »
    I only do that if I'm in a real hurry, otherwise I find just leaving them on a sunny windowsill does the trick. Has it happened to you more than once? Hopefully you just got a dud pack!

    Not really tried it before. I'm inclined to pay a bit more and buy them from M&S to be honest, if I have a dire need for a ripe avocado!


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    #43
    BaZmO*
    Registered Users Posts: 18,625 ✭✭✭✭BaZmO*


    Malari wrote: »
    Not really tried it before. I'm inclined to pay a bit more and buy them from M&S to be honest, if I have a dire need for a ripe avocado!

    Tesco tend to have them in their bargain shelf at a reduced cost because they are past their sell by date. Ironically enough, they are always ripe and ready to use at that stage but at a fraction of the cost.


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    #44
    Faith
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,655 Mod ✭✭✭✭Faith


    I made this tonight. Oh yum. Yum yum yum!

    I did it in the slow cooker because I've no pot for the oven at the moment. Cut into 4 pieces, the 1.5kg or so took about 6 hours to be absolutely falling apart. It didn't crisp up that much in the oven, but it didn't matter at all.

    My OH won't eat red onion or coriander, so I just used store-bought "salsa" so he wouldn't know what was in it. I made the avocado, but using the Aldi avocados which are actually really tasteless. Left out the cheese because the OH won't eat that either :rolleyes:. Either way, it was gorgeous! I'm not good with heat, but I added a fair bit of chilli powder when I was cooking it. It actually would have benefitted from more heat - my chilli powder was mild, so that was probably why there was so little heat from it. I'll know better for the next time!

    We've at least half of the pork left over, which I think will be going towards a hash on Thursday (I fecking LOVE hashes!). Thanks so much for the recipe, Miss F, it'll definitely be a regular fixture :D

    3ApepOMl.jpg


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    #45
    Mellor
    Registered Users Posts: 39,092 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    Faith wrote: »
    We'd asked for 2kg but I guess in the confusion we got the whole fecking shoulder. It weighed in at nearly 4kg :D. All for only €17! At a conservative estimate, that's 16 dinners worth, so just over €1 per meal.
    My supermarket didn't have shoulder and the butchers was closed.
    so I priced sydney butchers online. The first was $26.50/kg boned shoulder.
    Then found an online butcher selling a 4kg boned and rolled shoulder for $75.

    €17 you say Faith :o


    I might call out to the wholesale guys for this


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    #46
    Faith
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,655 Mod ✭✭✭✭Faith


    Mellor wrote: »
    My supermarket didn't have shoulder and the butchers was closed.
    so I priced sydney butchers online. The first was $26.50/kg boned shoulder.
    Then found an online butcher selling a 4kg boned and rolled shoulder for $75.

    €17 you say Faith :o


    I might call out to the wholesale guys for this

    :eek:

    You might be able to use leg instead? I don't know if it would be any cheaper though. I can't imagine how they could charge that much!


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    #47
    Mellor
    Registered Users Posts: 39,092 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    Faith wrote: »
    :eek:

    You might be able to use leg instead? I don't know if it would be any cheaper though. I can't imagine how they could charge that much!
    Meat is more expensive here is general, then there's the exchange rate at play too. Bit I think those two websites were just rip off merchants, for people who are too busy to shop.

    I priced the wholesale butcher beside my work on my lunch. Shoulder on special at $7.99/kg. That's pretty good, ill pick up some this week. Carnitas this week. Pulled pork next if I can get a deep oven dish


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    #48
    Gauge
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,818 ✭✭✭Gauge


    I've checked with my local butcher and he almost always has pork shoulder available, hurray. Hoping to make this either this coming weekend or the next. Really looking forward to it.

    If anyone is looking for avocados, try Lidl. They're 29c at the moment and in the one I go to they're almost all perfectly ripe. I've always found the Aldi ones to taste a little strange for some reason (and they take forever to ripen), but the ones I got in Lidl this week are on par with the ready to eat ones that the local fancy supermarket sells for €1.50 apiece.

    Does anybody know the name of the brand of ancho chilli powder that Fallon & Byrne sell (or what the container looks like)? I couldn't find it in there last weekend but I'm not sure if they were sold out or if I was looking in the wrong area.


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    #49
    MissFlitworth
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,057 ✭✭✭MissFlitworth


    Gauge wrote: »
    Does anybody know the name of the brand of ancho chilli powder that Fallon & Byrne sell (or what the container looks like)? I couldn't find it in there last weekend but I'm not sure if they were sold out or if I was looking in the wrong area.

    They sometimes have this one

    http://www.coolchile.co.uk/products/view/chile-ancho-powder-60g

    1314109680_290_335.jpg


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    #50
    Honey-ec
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,844 ✭✭✭Honey-ec


    Faith wrote: »
    I did it in the slow cooker because I've no pot for the oven at the moment

    I used my roasting tray the second time and it actually turned out way nicer than the first time (when I used my cast-iron casserole). Much more crispy & caramelised.


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    #51
    Faith
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,655 Mod ✭✭✭✭Faith


    I really, really loved this way of cooking the pork. I got so much out of it too! The first night we had carnitas, then I used a pile more of the slow cooked pork the next night for a hash, then last night we had the rest on a pizza. I'm definitely going to be cooking this regularly!


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    #52
    Malari
    Registered Users Posts: 18,150 ✭✭✭✭Malari


    Keep meaning to ask - what's a hash? Is it just frying it up? I've seen a couple of people mention it in this thread and the pulled pork one for leftovers.


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    #53
    Faith
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,655 Mod ✭✭✭✭Faith


    I think it's me constantly talking about it :D. It's an American thing, usually considered brunch food but I love it for dinner. It's basically cubed potatoes (I parboil them first), fried with onions, optional garlic and your meat of choice, served with fried eggs.

    This isn't my picture, but it gives some idea of what it looks like:

    DSC_0060%2Bcopy.jpg

    (Mine usually look WAY messier :D)


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    #54
    confusticated
    Registered Users Posts: 1,680 ✭✭✭confusticated


    Kept wondering too, thanks Malari! Faith, that looks unreal, added to my to-make list!


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    #55
    Gauge
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,818 ✭✭✭Gauge


    Faith wrote: »
    I made this tonight. Oh yum. Yum yum yum!

    I did it in the slow cooker because I've no pot for the oven at the moment. Cut into 4 pieces, the 1.5kg or so took about 6 hours to be absolutely falling apart. It didn't crisp up that much in the oven, but it didn't matter at all.

    This is next on my to-do list for my shiny new slow cooker :) so I was wondering, did you follow the recipe pretty much exactly, or did you need to adjust the liquid at all?


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    #56
    Faith
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,655 Mod ✭✭✭✭Faith


    Gauge wrote: »
    This is next on my to-do list for my shiny new slow cooker :) so I was wondering, did you follow the recipe pretty much exactly, or did you need to adjust the liquid at all?

    I followed it pretty much exactly. The liquid was 2/3rds of the way up the meat, and I turned the meat a few times :).


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    #57
    emaleth
    Registered Users Posts: 142 ✭✭emaleth


    Full marks from emaleth household :D

    I had half a pork shoulder (deboned and skinned) in the freezer and it was football Sunday, so what else could possibly be on the menu? I used a whole ancho in the braising liquid as that's what I had and it worked very well - lovely warm spice, particularly with the cinnamon in there too. We had it with corn tortillas, home made guac, pico and Smitten Kitchen's Dead Simple Slaw.

    Today's lunch was substantially better than my co-workers and no, I wouldn't share. Thanks again MissF, it's a keeper.

    Oh, and the other half of the pork shoulder was used to make Rick Stein's pork in almond sauce from the Spain cookbook. It's very nice, needs quite a bit of lemon and is better the next day, if anyone's wondering.


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    #58
    Pigwidgeon
    Registered Users Posts: 6,590 ✭✭✭Pigwidgeon


    I finally got around to making this last night. Had to order the meat into my butchers, I think it was €7.50 per kilo, I didn't even end up cooking it all, have some leftover in the freezer for another time!

    Anyway, it was amazing, I know it takes some time, but it's such a simple recipe I'll definitely make it again!

    bvpUnqZl.jpg

    GzOF0iql.jpg


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    #59
    Mellor
    Registered Users Posts: 39,092 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    Picked up a rolled pork shoulder today. Dinner on Sunday sorted.

    OP, you mention cinnamon in the ingredients, not not in the recipe. Guessing it goes in to liquid with spices. Wonder would ground cinnamon do?
    A few recipes I seen put the spices in a spice bag so they can be removed away from the cooking liquid.


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    #60
    biddywiddy
    Registered Users Posts: 440 ✭✭biddywiddy


    I made this yesterday. Sealed the pork in a pan in the morning and then popped it into the slow cooker with the spices, an ancho chilli and added water to about 2/3 the way up. Left it on low for about 8 hours. The smell was incredible when I got in from work! The pork was just falling apart.

    I tore it into smaller chunks and popped it into the oven (with some of the cooking liquid) while I was gathering the fixin's. Really delicious dinner and loads of leftovers - enough for tonight's dinner.

    Thanks for the recipe OP. So simple yet so tasty.


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    #61
    MissFlitworth
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,057 ✭✭✭MissFlitworth


    Mellor wrote: »
    Picked up a rolled pork shoulder today. Dinner on Sunday sorted.

    OP, you mention cinnamon in the ingredients, not not in the recipe. Guessing it goes in to liquid with spices. Wonder would ground cinnamon do?
    A few recipes I seen put the spices in a spice bag so they can be removed away from the cooking liquid.

    God I was *slightly* cack handed with my recipe writing! Yes, cinnamon stick goes into water. I'd say you could use ground cinnamon but not sure how much to use to keep it over the right side of 'Christmas biscuits'


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