Pork Carnitas

I love it when I find a meal to make where I can utilize my Dutch Oven.  You know it's gonna be good if you break out the Dutch Oven.

Give yourself a little time to make this meal, you won't be sorry.  The meat just falls apart and is SO flavorful.

This was my first attempt at making Pork Carnitas but I'm thrilled with how it turned out. Luckily I found the recipe with enough to get dinner on the table, but that was pure luck.  Allow yourself about 3.5 hours from start to finish.  There aren't a lot of steps and it's very easy to put together.  That slow cooking time is essential for tender meat.

My husband loved this one!

Pork Carnitas

Recipe from My Kitchen Escapades

Ingredients

• 4 pounds boneless pork butt, fat trimmed and cut into 2 inch cubes
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 whole onion, peeled and halved
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 cups water
• 1 medium orange, juiced and keep the spent halves

Directions

1. preheat the oven to 300º, adjust your oven racks so your Dutch Oven will fit in the lower half. 
2. In a Dutch Oven, add all of the ingredients including the used orange halves. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat with the cover off. 
3. Put the cover on and place in the oven for about 2 hours or until the meat is falls apart when you pull at it with a fork. 
4. Remove from the oven and turn the broiler on. 
5. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and place on a foil lined jelly roll pan or a cookie sheet with sides. 
6. Discard everything else that was in the Dutch Oven except for the cooking liquid. 
7. Return the Dutch Oven and the cooking liquid to the stove top and boil on high heat until the liquid thickens and you have about 1 cup of it. 
8. Meanwhile, use two forks to pull eat meat chunk into three pieces.  Place under the broiler and cook until the edges begin to get crisp, then flip the pieces over and follow the same process until that side has begun to crisp as well. 
9. Once the meat has crisped up and the liquid has reduced you can combine them together and serve. 
10. I served mine over brown rice. It is more traditional to serve in a tortilla with all your favorite toppings. 

Four Ingredient Chicken

When I recently saw this recipe on Facebook I knew I wanted to try it.  I mean, it's four ingredients so how hard could it be?  Not hard, at all.

See, I'm not a huge fan of chicken.  So when I eat it, it has to be covered in some sort of delicious sauce or be accompanied by gravy.  This recipe fit the bill for me.

I couldn't find Russian dressing at the supermarket I was at so I quickly did an online search and found out it was easy to make.  I happened to have all the ingredients at home so I just made it first and then added all the other ingredients into it.

I used my hands to make sure the chicken was coated with the sauce on all sides. Then I made sure the chicken pieces were evenly spaced in the pan and popped it into the oven. An hour later I had a delicious meal that I plan to make again.  The sauce is extremely flavorful.  I made mashed potatoes for the meal accompaniments and the sauce tasted so good with the potatoes too.

This meal does take a little bit of prior planning since it takes and hour to cook and you probably won't have every single ingredient in your pantry or refrigerator.  However, I plan to stock these ingredients now just in case I have a craving for this one, which might happen....often.

Four Ingredient Chicken

Recipe from Facebook via Kathy Kehoe

Ingredients

• 8 chicken thighs (bone-in, skin on)
• 1 package french onion soup mix
• 1 - 8 ounce bottle Russian dressing (or make your own, recipe below)
• 1 small jar apricot preserves or 1 cup

Homemade Russian Dressing

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
• 1 Tbsp prepared horseradish
• 1 tsp minced onion

Cooking Directions

1. mix all of the ingredients together (not the chicken).
2. Place the chicken in a 9x13 inch dish and pepper (no salt needed)
3. Coat the chicken thoroughly with the sauce, get all sides well coated. 
4. Bake at 400 for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, until chicken is done.  Baste several times while cooking. 

Mexican Corn Dip

I've been wanting to try this recipe for quite some time. My chance finally came up recently and it was SO good!

I have to admit that I may have just dug into this with a spoon.  I mean, it makes a fantastic dip, it also tastes great straight off the spoon. :)

The slight bite and heat from the jalapeño was delicious.  The cheese pieces and the creaminess from the mayonnaise was outstanding. There isn't anything about this dip I didn't like.  The flavors all meld together so well.  I just loved it.

Mexican Corn Dip

Recipe by Damn Delicious

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 5 ears corn, rinsed and shucked
• 1 jalapeno, seeds and membranes removed
• 3 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp crumbled cotija cheese
• 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• juice from 1 lime

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large skillet.  Add the corn and jalapeño and cook until charred, about 8-10 minutes. 
2. Add the remaining ingredients and serve immediately.