June 8, 2012

Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork

You know what I love about Mexican food? CARNITAS.


I could eat carnitas everyday. ALL. DAY. LONG. In tacos. In quesadillas. In burritos. On nachos. With rice and refried beans. Whatever. All day, everyday. And the weird thing is I've never really considered myself a pork person, (Bacon does NOT count because, well, c'mon...it's BACON. You can't say no to bacon...) but there's just something about carnitas...

So when I came across this simply awesome - and I do mean simple - recipe for shredded pork that did not require a slow cooker, it was on! Albeit it does need a dutch oven, I can usually do with purchasing something that will go in the oven. The oven and I are best friends. However, you can bet that a slow cooker will be the first thing that I purchase once I have my own kitchen space. Right after a stand mixer.

The dutch oven was a very spur-of-the-moment purchase.
I rarely do that kind of thing, but how could I resist???
This beautiful blue belle was calling me.


You don't know how excited I was about making this. It was the first day of my vacation, and the day before all I could think and talk about was making this shredded pork. I couldn't contain myself. I was borderline annoying.

And I'm not going to lie; I am kind of sort of proud of myself. I feel like I've come a good distance from the time when I said I've never cooked before. There's still a lot to learn, but now I can say I am more comfortable being in front of the stove, and that I've finally managed to make enough food to literally feed a crowd.


Yes, seriously, make sure you've got a lot of people you'd love to feed or just bring your ginormous appetite. This is a lot of shredded pork. A lot of tacos and burritos. A lot of warm and happy tummies.

Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork
From The Pioneer Woman
Makes a lot of tacos and a handful of burritos and quesadillas

ingredients
1 whole large onion
1 whole pork shoulder (a.k.a. "pork butt"), 5-7 pounds
salt and pepper
1 can (11 ounces) Chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce
2 cans (3 cups) Dr. Pepper
2 tablespoons light brown sugar

equipment prep:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

instructions:
1. Peel the onion and cut it into wedges. Lay the wedges at the bottom of a large dutch oven.
2. Generously salt and pepper the pork shoulder and then set it on top of the onion wedges.
(If you're wondering why I have 2 pork shoulders, it's because I couldn't find one that was 5-7 pounds and bought two 3-pounders instead.)
3. Pour the can of Chipotle peppers, including the sauce, over the pork.
*note* If you do not want the pork to be too spicy, then pour just half the can. Be sure to reserve the unused half in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for next time.
4. Pour in both cans (3 cups) of Dr. Pepper. Add the brown sugar and stir it into the juice.


cook:
1. Place the lid tightly on the pot and place it in the oven. Cook for at least 6 hours, making sure to turn the roast 2-3 times during the cooking process.
2. Check the meat after 6 hours and test it with a fork. The meat should easily and completely fall apart. If not, then put it back into the oven for another hour.

prepare the shredded pork:
1. Remove the meat from the pot and place it on a work surface, such as a cutting board.
2. Use 2 forks to shred the pork, discarding large pieces of fat.
3. Strain as much of the fat of the top of the cooking liquid as you can.
4. Return the now shredded pork to the cooking liquid and keep warm on stove top for serving.

*note*
If you have the time, you can also refrigerate the meat and cooking liquid separately. Once the fat hardens, it will make for easier removal. Then heat up the cooking liquid on stove top and return the meat to the liquid, keeping warm until time to serve.

enjoy:
Serve on warm corn or flour tortillas and garnish away! You can't go wrong with a little bit of salsa, guacamole, cilantro, and lime!

2 comments:

  1. Gosh, these look and WERE so good! I love the spicy kick that comes out of nowhere!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Another uber late reply! Sorry!

      THANKS! I'm really glad you can eat spicy food, as opposed to many other things. Haha. I was actually craving this a few weeks ago. Or maybe I was just craving tacos in general. Hahaha.

      Delete

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