Carnitas

Salsa Verde Carnitas Recipe - adapted from SimplyRecipes.com


Ingredients
5 pound pork shoulder, bone-in, (sometimes called "picnic"
1 jar of Salsa Verde
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cups chicken stock
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons coriander
2 teaspoons or oregano
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Salt
12 to 16 corn tortillas, heated and softened
1/4 head of cabbage, very thinly sliced
1 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon seasoned rice vinegar (if you only have unseasoned, add 1/4 teaspoon of sugar to it)
Salt and pepper
1 avocado, peeled, seeded, and chopped
1/2 cup crumbled Cotija Mexican farmer's cheese, or some grated Monterey Jack cheese
Sour Cream

Directions
1 Trim the excess fat from the roast. Put the meat in a large casserole or Dutch oven with salsa verde, onion, stock, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, and oregano. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat, cover, and simmer until meat is very tender when pierced, about 3 hours. Turn 3 times during the 3 hours to ensure even cooking.

2 Preheat oven to 400°F. Remove meat from liquid in pot and put the meat into a roasting pan. With 2 forks, tear meat into large shreds. Roast meat for 15 to 20 minutes until parts are brown and crispy. The browning may take up to 30 minutes depending on your oven. Just keep an eye on it.

3. While the meat is roasting, skim and discard fat from liquid in the casserole pan. Boil juices, stirring, until reduced to 2 1/2 cups, 8 to 10 minutes.

4 Return the meat to the Dutch oven. Stir in chopped cilantro. Season with salt.

Serve with heated and softened corn tortillas (20 seconds each in the microwave spread out over a paper towel will heat and softened packaged tortillas sufficiently), diced avocado, crumbed Cotija or grated Monterey jack cheese, sour cream (or crema fresca), and seasoned cabbage slaw.

Seasoned Cabbage Slaw
Place thinly sliced cabbage in a medium sized bowl. Sprinkle on olive oil, seasoned rice vinegar, salt and pepper. You can substitute white vinegar or apple cider vinegar for the rice vinegar, if you do, sprinkle on some sugar to help balance the acidity of the vinegar. Toss. Adjust seasonings. Let sit for 10 minutes for the cabbage to absorb some of the dressing.