Sunday, it's grocery shopping day in our house. Every week I have these grand plans that I am going to be mega woman, work, clean, and cook amazing meals that we can consume. And my husband will say, oh wow, you're so great how do you do it all? But then, Monday rolls to an end and I think.. what they hell was I thinking, we should just go out. But then the guilt of wasting money and food becomes very real and I just can't deal with it... and so most of the time I suck it up and cook.

This morning, I thought I would be proactive and make some slow cooked pork roast for carnita tacos later.... This did of course seem like a good idea... I don't think clearly before I have coffee. It's 7am, I grab my computer and the recipe head into the kitchen in my pj's and start pulling all the ingredients out and then realize garlic, and raw meat in the morning, is not for the faint of heart. It's been a hell of a week, so when I opened the beer to add to the crock pot, I thought, it's a good thing I don't like beer, cause otherwise, this might be a two beer meal!

Today, not unlike the rest of my week, was eventful and exhausting. So when after ten hours at work, I came home the aroma of garlic, sweet, long roasted carnita meat awaiting my consumption. Mixed it with the flour tortillas, beans, and cuban rice.... a blessing after a very long day.

Another amazing find tonight, a wine that actually does pretty well next to Mexican food! Bitch wine, yes the wine's name is Bitch. It's a Australian grenache from winemaker:



"Chris Ringland and Lisa Wetherell use fruit from the Barossa Valley in South Australia. Yields from the 25-year-old vines grown in sand over clay are modest, 3 to 5 tons an acre. Ripe quince and lifted spice with a rich juicy concentration, along with intensely perfumed characters come from the sandy loam soil, and dark berry characters from the heavier red-brown soils. Life may be a bitch, but this wine will keep the complaints away, at least while you're drinking it!"


So the moral of the story today, when you're sure your day is going to give you hell, then start it with a beer and end it by raising a toast to the bitch.






Carnita Taco Meat by Williams Sonoma

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
• 1 boneless pork shoulder roast, 3 to 4 lb.
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 cups Mexican lager-style beer
• Grated zest and juice of 1 large orange
• Grated zest and juice of 1 lime
• 1 Tbs. dried oregano
  

For serving:

• Warm corn or flour tortillas
• Lime wedges
• Chopped yellow onion
• Hot or mild salsa
• Chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine the salt and pepper. Season the pork roast generously with the mixture.

In a large fry pan over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Add the pork and cook, turning frequently until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a platter and set aside.

Pour off all but a thin layer of fat in the pan. Add the onion and garlic and sauté just until they begin to soften, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the beer and deglaze the pan, stirring and scraping up the browned bits from the pan bottom with a wooden spoon.

Oven method: Preheat an oven to 350°F. Transfer the pork to a large Dutch oven and pour in the beer mixture. Add the orange and lime zests and juices and the oregano. Cover and cook until the pork is very tender, about 2 1/2 hours.

Slow-cooker method: Transfer the pork to a slow cooker and pour in the beer mixture. Add the orange and lime zests and juices and the oregano. Cover and cook according to the manufacturer's instructions until the pork is very tender, about 5 hours on high or 10 hours on low.

Transfer the pork to a carving board and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Using a large, shallow spoon or a ladle, skim as much fat as possible from the surface of the cooking liquid. Using a large, sharp knife and a fork, coarsely cut and shred the pork into small bite-size pieces.

Arrange the meat on a warmed platter or individual plates, moisten it lightly with the cooking juices, and serve immediately with the tortillas, lime wedges, chopped onion, salsa and cilantro. Serves 6 to 8.