Crock Pot Carnitas

There are a lot of reasons I wanted to include this recipe. First off, they are definitely in Logan's top 3 favorite foods. They are also an essential part of our tamale preparations (coming soon!). But mostly, they are just super easy and always pleasing!

Yet another nice aspect of these is that they are so versatile! We serve these on all sorts of tortillas, they're great in a lettuce wrap, they work well with a side of rice, and they are spectacularly useful for rounding out a pot of posole or borrocho beans.

And since they are prepared in a crock pot, these are one of the easiest dishes you can fix for your family on any given day!


Crock Pot Carnitas

Stuff You Need:

• 4 lb boneless pork shoulder roast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp chipotle chile powder
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 2 cups chicken broth
• black pepper and salt to taste
• 1 Tbs olive oil (or other oil of your choice)

What To Do:

1. Mix together salt, garlic powder, cumin, chile powder, oregano, coriander, cinnamon, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
2. Cut pork roast into 3" - 4" chunks, coat with the spice mixture, and place in the crock pot.
3. Pour the chicken broth around the sides, being careful not to rinse off any of the spice mixture with the broth.
4. Cook on low for 6 or 7 hours or until the pork can be easily shredded with a fork.
5. Before serving, put the oil in a large skillet and heat until it starts to shimmer.
6. Remove shredded meat from the juice and place in the skillet with the hot oil.
7. Stir until evenly browned and you can see a light crisp on your pork.

Logan has always been kind of ... selective ... in his menu choices, but this is one of a handful of dishes that I can count on to always satisfy his appetite! We typically make this at least once a month and I try to make enough to freeze some and put away for those nights when I don't plan in advance for dinner.

Crustless Cranberry Pie

This tasty treat has been a favorite at family gatherings for at least 5 years now. A very talented baker at work prepared this pie for an office pot luck and we pestered her until she divulged the recipe!

I'm so glad she was willing to share as this is often requested for holiday gatherings. In fact, it quickly became one of my dad's favorites. It pleased me to no end to have at least one dish I had introduced to him become a favorite.


Crustless Cranberry Pie

Ingredients:

1 - cup all purpose flour

1 - cup sugar

.25 - tsp salt

2 - cups cranberries (frozen or fresh)

.5 - cups chopped almonds

.5 - cup unsalted butter, melted

2 - eggs, beaten

1 - tsp almond extract

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease one 9-inch pie pan and set aside.
2. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in large bowl.
3. Stir in the cranberries and almonds and toss to coat.
4. Stir in the butter, beaten eggs, and almond extract.
5. Note: if you are using frozen cranberries, the mixture will be very thick. I prefer to mis with my hands in this case.
6. Spread the batter into the prepared pie pan and bake at 350F for 40 minutes or until a wooden tooth pick inserted near the center comes out clean.
7. Serve warm with whipped cream of ice cream!

The original recipe called for walnuts, but we all prefer it with the almonds. If you choose to use walnuts, use the same amount (.5 cups, chopped) as the almonds.

I love the splash of color provided by the cranberries. It makes the holiday table feel more festive.

The original recipe suggested whipped cream or ice cream as a topping, but we love it all on its own.