But that is not what I am posting about today. I am posting "my most excellent preparation of pork" for use in Mexican recipes. You can use this recipe for other dishes, but it is especially spiced for Mexican dishes.
This cooking method will work very well with just about any cut of pork, except something cured, of course. Since it is going to be slow cooked, you can buy something less expensive like country ribs and get great results. In fact, I wouldn't waste my money on a more expensive cut of meat for this recipe. It is pretty "rustic".
You will need either a large cast iron skillet with a heatproof lid or any other container (casserole dish, etc) that you can put into the oven and that your meat will fit into with the lid securely closed. You can also do this in a slow cooker, which is just about perfect, actually.
Take your pork and rub it generously with salt and pepper. I use medium coarse sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper but plain old salt and pepper will do fine. If the meat is particularly fatty, you might want to trim it, which is fine. Just don't remove all of the fat....some fat helps the flavors of the seasonings permeate the meat.
Put the meat in your pot, pan, dish, etc. and place at least 6 cloves of fresh garlic in the meat. If you have a large roast, cut crossed slits into it and stuff the cloves in; if you have ribs, push the cloves down between the pieces of meat. You do not want to leave the cloves sitting on top. You want the juices from the cooking meat to mingle with the garlic so that the flavor is distributed through the meat.
Next place 10-12 whole bay leaves on, around and under the meat. Put on the lid and place in a 350 degree oven. Let meat cook for about 40 minutes, turn once and replace the lid and cook for another 30-40 minutes. When you turn the meat, the garlic and bay leaves may break up which is fine. Once that first 40 minutes of cooking has passed, it really doesn't matter where the garlic and leaves are any more. Lower the heat to 300 degrees and let meat cook, covered for at least another hour or longer. Turn off the heat and let the meat remain in the oven for another 30 minutes or until the heat in the oven is down around 200 degrees.
- The cooking times given above are generally correct. However the actual time will depend on the quantity of meat being cooked. I have cooked a Boston butt for as long as 4 hours using this method and I have cooked meaty ribs for 2 hours. If you are unsure about whether the meat is done or not, cut into it and if it is still pink, cook it until it isn't.
- Long, slow cooking like this makes it hard for the meat not to be completely and thoroughly cooked, unless it is an unusually large or thick piece. If you use a meat thermometer, you want the interior temp to be at least 160 degrees at the thickest part of your cut of meat. I personally never use a meat thermometer for something like this because of the length of time it is being cooked.
- If you are using your slow cooker, you can put the meat on to cook in the morning and it should be ready by dinner time. Use the lower setting if you will be cooking the meat for 6-8 hours.The high setting would probably yield meat that was done in about 4-5 hours.
Take the meat out of the the pan and place on a plate or other surface where you can remove any bone, fat, etc. Shred the meat with your fingers. I remove any bay leaves that are left in the pot and put the shredded meat back into the juices from cooking, stir well and let the meat "rest" for a few minutes.
Once the meat is cooked, use it as a filling for tacos, enchiladas, burritos, etc. Or make up some homemade BBQ sauce and use if for sandwhiches. It is tasty enough to server solo, too, so the possibilities for pork cooked this way are just about endless.
Once the meat is cooked, use it as a filling for tacos, enchiladas, burritos, etc. Or make up some homemade BBQ sauce and use if for sandwhiches. It is tasty enough to server solo, too, so the possibilities for pork cooked this way are just about endless.
