Crock Pot Carnitas

This post is in honor of the new mom, Sandra Exline. This is her “ paleofied” take on Carnitas. I have to say, this is a great recipe. It takes a little prep to begin with, but then you can put it in the crock pot and forget about it. We did this one in the first week after the baby was born. It was a hit. Zach loves this recipe and so does everyone else.

Crock-Pot Carnitas

• 1 to 1 ½ onions


• 4 cloves garlic


• 1 jalapeno


• 2 bay leaves


• 2 tbsp coconut oil


• Pork Shoulder Roast


• Cilantro


• 1 Cup Chicken Broth

Broth:

• ½ cup White cooking wine


• ¼ tsp Paprika


• ¼ tsp Ground Mustard


• ¼ cup Coconut milk (just a little bit)

Spice Mixture: (normally I just wing the amounts)

• ½ TBSP Cumin


• 1 TBSP Coriander


• 1 TBSP Chili Powder


• 1 TBSP Garlic Salt (I use garlic and sea salt)


• 1 TBSP Pepper

Place sliced onions, garlic, jalapeno and bay leaves in the bottom of a large Crock Pot. Trim fat from the pork and cut into large but manageable chunks. Make the spice mixture, just put them all together and mix them in a large bowl. (I would be careful with the cumin since it’s pretty strong). Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet. Dredge all sides of each chunk of pork with the spice mixture and sear it in the coconut oil. Once the pork is seared or browned on all sides, place it on top of the onions and spices in the Crock Pot.

In a separate bowl, mix the white cooking wine with the coconut milk and stir in the paprika and ground mustard. Pour this mixture on top of the pork. Pour the chicken broth around the sides of the meat into the bottom of the Crock Pot. Rinse and chop off course ends of the cilantro. Place cilantro on top of the pork. Cover and cook on low for 10 hours (or on high for 5 hours).

When cooked, shred the pork with a fork. Serve with fresh lime, cilantro, avocado. It’s great with “cauliflower rice” or shredded cabbage.