birthday dinners

I recently invited a friend to dinner for his birthday (well more for dinner, considering he brought the dessert).

I decided on carnitas--Patrick, my friend, likes Mexican food, I like Mexican food, and because I've made this recipe a number of times, I figured it was a sure bet.

I started with a recipe from The Art of Mexican Cooking by Diana Kennedy, and after reading recipe reviews, have made a few adaptations.  The result is quite tasty.

I start with a 3 pound lump of pork butt.

Trim the fat and cut in to similar sized cubes. Add meat to dutch oven or cast iron pot, with a tablespoon of oil. Brown meat.

Once meat is brown, add enough water to cover meat (about 3 cups), along with the following:

- one orange, cut into 8 pieces

- one onion, sliced

- 4 sprigs fresh marjoram

- 4 sprigs fresh thyme

- 3 bay leaves

- 1 tsp salt

- 1 tsp pepper

Bring to boil, turn down heat and simmer for 2 hours.  At this point I let the pot cool and refrigerated overnight. 

After a night in the frig, i skimmed the fat off the top, removed sprigs of thyme and marjoram, oranges, and bay leaves.  Heat pot and cook down liquid--about 20 minutes. 

Once liquid is cooked off, turn up heat, add a tablespoon of oil if necessary, shred pork and allow it to crisp up just a bit.

Serve on corn tortillas, with your favorite topping--i like salsa verde, corn salsa, or pico de gallo.