beef carnitas

sunday evening i decided to make beef carnitas that had previously been mentioned in this post.  the recipe for beef carnitas calls for beef stew meat to be used.  this is a great recipe b/c typically stew meat is harder to work with, tends to be fatty and such.  so, usually that is what i use...on this occasion i happened to have left over roast from a previous night last week and decided that i would use that instead.  since my meat had already been cooked it was a fast "throw together" meal. 

the recipe calls for the carnitas to be cooked on the stove top, but for me everytime i make it i do it in the crock pot.  mainly b/c i work all day and i like having recipes that i can start in the morning and have minimal work when i get home at night. 

here's what i did this time for the carnitas:

-saute onion, garlic & red pepper on stovetop

-chopped up roast and cook with onion, garlic & red pepper for a couple minutes

-put roast mixture into crock pot {i set on 4 hours b/c it was a sunday and i didn't start it until the afternoon...ona typical work do i would set it to 10 hours and add enough beef broth to cover meat mixture in crock pot}

-add remaning ingredients to mixture, including orange wedges

-put lid on crock pot and go shopping while it cooks

-hours later take lid off crock pot and smell wonderful aroma & sample a tasting

you can eat carnitas many ways...typically they are served with warm flour or corn tortillas.  this time i made some crunchy taco shells and a tostadas for us to eat with them.  be sure and add cilantro at the end...can't have mexican food without cilantro! 

this is one of our favorite meals...mymichael can eat the meat up....there were no leftovers that night!

we give this recipe:

*****

{fyi:  when i am not using already cooked meat, i put the stew meat frozen into the crockpot with some beef broth and/or water, salt, pepper & garlic salt.  let it cook all day...10 hour setting.  then when i get home i take the meat out and shred it with a fork then do the rest of the recipe on the stove top and let it simmer about 30 minutes}