Pork Carnitas & Tomatillo Salsas

Pork Carnitas

• pork butt
• salt & pepper
• 2 t. oregano
• 2 t. chipotle chili powder
• 2 t. cumin
• 1 onion, diced
• 8 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, rough chop
• 3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (approx 3 oranges)
• juice of 1 lime

1. Trim the pork of excess fat. Season generously with salt & pepper. Rub with chili, cumin & oregano. Place in crock pot.
2. Top with the onion, garlic, and jalapeño. Pour the OJ and lime juice over the pork.
3. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours, until meat is fork tender.
4. Take the meat out of the crockpot and shred it into smaller chunks. Reserve the liquid.
5. Heat a pan over medium-high with a small amount of oil. Spread a single layer on carnitas in the pan and cook on one side until it starts to get brown and crispy, drizzle a little of the reserved liquid over the meat, flip and brown for a couple minutes. Repeat with all meat.
6. Or... if you don't want to take the time to pan fry, you can spread the meat on a baking sheet and broil in the oven until browned and crispy.

Fresh Tomatillo-Avocado Salsa

• 4 tomatillos
• 1/4 white onion
• 2 serrano peppers (I left the seeds in)
• 1 garlic clove
• handful of cilantro
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 avocados
• salt to taste

1. Peel the husks (skins? what do they call those things?) off the tomatillos. Rinse under warm water to get that sticky-waxy residue off.
2. Rough chop all the ingredients, then blend it all together in a food processor. Salt or add additional lime juice to taste.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

• 1-1.5 lbs. tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• 2 serranos
• 4 garlic cloves, still in peel
• 1/2 white onion
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• lime to taste
• salt to taste

1. Cut tomatillos in half. Broil halved tomatillos, whole serranos & garlic until the skin is blistered and charred. Let cool. Remove seeds from serranos (or leave them in for a spicier salsa)
2. Process with the remaining ingredients in a food processor. Done!