slow cook and steady

Where it began.

Last time I stumbled upon a Flavor Bender recipe, I amazed and wowed... myself. And Amy and Jules unless they were lying to my face.

So as soon as I came across this, I stopped trying to compile carnitas recipes. I figure it was going to be like going down the rabbit hole anyways.. like looking for perfect and simple cookie or bread recipe. One destination and a thousand million billion ways to get there.

I got a hefty bone-in roast that went directly into Leslie's slow cooker with all the appropriate spices and liquids sans tequila because I don't happen to keep that on hand. And 4 hours later on low heat... voila. Sorta. First you gotta pull it apart and break it up and take out the bone.
Then you gotta melt a generous amount of lard (delicious seasoned lard reserved from here) in a high-surface-area pan and crisp up the broken roast pieces. Have patience, and you will be rewarded. Nearly polished off the entire plate with the help of Ghared and Ghouls.

Before the disappointingly dry cilantro jalepeno cornbread even came out of the oven. (Still trying to master the art of this stuff...) But you can hardly tell if you soak it in pork juices, salsa, and cheese.

Don't tell me this pile of meat isn't beautiful.


So it's officially the month of July, and that means I have 28 days until I have to migrate half my shit to my office and the other half of my shit to my car and hope for the best (aka smooth transitions) all the way through to my first day of work. I've never been more excited for a consecutive three months. Unlimited eating with the fam. Food conference shenanigans. Solo traveling. Defense-ing. Celebrating defense-ing. And then bidding this wonderful Midwestern home adieu to trek the rest of the way across the country with Sunny.

But first.. the rest of my summer reflections..