Claudia’s Mesa Famous Carnitas

These pork carnitas were the entree at my Nuevo Mexican pop up dinner at my friend EJ Engler‘s home, which is an old grocery store in Gallatin Gateway. You can ready about it here. It goes great with one of my signature drinks the Montañita.

Colombian Pork Carnitas
Our (Colombians) carnitas are succulent and full of flavor. If you have any leftovers, use with a bun for a Latin style slider. We enjoy it for breakfast with a fried egg, or “a caballo”.
Serves 8

R E C I P E :

Ingredients
6 lbs Amalthea Dairy pork shoulder
Salt and pepper to taste
2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
12 ounces tomato paste
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp coriander seed
10 clove of garlic, chopped
2 bay leaf
1 cup of beer, if you can get it Vigilante from Bridger Brewing is perfect for this
4 cups beef stock
32 oz of crushed tomatoes
1 cup pitted olives (diced, halved, or whole)
2/3 cup sliced pimento stuffed peppers, like Manzanilla
2 TBSP capers
2 tsp rice vinegar
1/2 chopped cilantro for garnish

Directions
Season pork shoulder with salt and pepper. Brown in a Dutch oven, turning to ensure that all sides are cooked; transfer to tray. Add onions, peppers, garlic, herbs and cumin and cook until soft.
Add tomato paste, stir to combine and cook for about 4 minutes.
Add beer, stir and cook scraping the pot so it doesn’t caramelize.
Return meat to Dutch oven along with tomatoes and stock. Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium low and cook until tender, 3-4 hours.
Remove from heat. Allow to cool and then shred.
Return to pot and add olives, capers, pimientos and vinegar.
Cook on medium low until sauce thickens, about 30 minutes.

Serve in a large serving bowl and top with chopped cilantro.

For a true ‘Colombian via Montana’ experience, serve carnitas over a cup of Timeless Food farro or Mesa style with cooked honey hominy.

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