Looking for a no fuss, weekday dish that's also worthy of a Sunday supper? These slow cooked pork carnitas are sweet and tangy and exploding with flavor. Coming home to the smell of a roast that has been slowly simmering in a dark, oatmeal stout is the best way to end your day! Finish them off by simmering the shredded meat in a simple roasted rhubarb BBQ sauce.
After a long day of working in a busy O.R. with demanding surgeons and difficult cases then driving home in the sweltering desert heat the very last thing I have the energy for is making dinner. It takes what little energy and patience to help the kids with their home work which is quickly becoming too difficult for me to do. What's with the way these kids are taught nowadays? Very interesting and productive but I learned math the old school way and my kids look at me distrustingly when I try to explain how to do it my way. "That's not how my teacher does it mommy." And now learning Mandarin is main stream in most schools! My kids are going to have to start teaching me pretty soon.
We developed this technique for shredding meat many years ago when me and my aunts and cousins were making batches of tamales. You can see it here in action for my BBQ chicken sandwiches which is my most popular post and Pinned image. You simply throw in your cooked, boneless chicken, pork or beef and use the cookie paddle attachment on your stand mixer. In less than 20 seconds you will have perfect, restaurant style shredded meat for enchiladas, tacos BBQ and beyond!
Make sure the meat is warm or hot when you mix it, a refrigerated pork roast killed my aunts mixer.
Add a bit of tangy flare to your BBQ sauce with roasted rhubarb. If you can put these tacos together without slurping up half of the sauce your a better person than I am!
Rhubarb Sauce adapted from Let's Dish Recipes
TIME 8 HOURS {HANDS ON - 15 MIN} SERVES 8
You Will Need
4 lb pork roast (shoulder or butt)
12 oz Oatmeal Stout Beer (or other dark beer) use water if you want to omit the alcohol
2 tablespoons high heat oil like coconut, sesame, safflower, grape seed or peanut oil (do NOT use olive oil)
1 yellow onion, diced into small pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 teaspoons paprika
small flour tortillas
1 head green cabbage, finely shredded (I use my Kitchen Aide shredder attachment which make the cabbage taste sweet)
Jack Cheese, shredded (optional)
Heat oil in a large cast iron pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Rub the roast with salt and paprika on all sides.
Carefully, place the roast in the skillet and sear it on all sides for 2 minutes each. Using heavy tongs and a large fork, place the roast in a slow cooker. Add beer, onion and pepper. Cook on low heat for 8 hours.
Remove roast from slow cooker and carefully place in the bowl of your stand mixer. Using the cookie paddle attachment on speed 4, blend the roast to shred it, about 20 seconds. Do not over mix.
Place the shredded meat back into the slow cooker with the juices. Add the sauce and cook for another 1/2 hour to combine flavors.
For the Sauce
4 cups chopped rhubarb (about 5 stalks)
4 cloves garlic
1 cup water + more if needed to desired consistency
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder (New Mexican if possible)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Place the chopped rhubarb and garlic cloves on stone baking sheet or prepare a roasting pan by lining with foil and spraying with cooking oil. Roast for 15-20 minutes, or until rhubarb is soft.
- Transfer the rhubarb and garlic to a food processor or blender. Puree with one cup of water until smooth.
- Pour the puree into a medium saucepan. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Add additional water, as needed, until sauce is desired consistency.
- Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Cool before pouring into storage containers. Keep refrigerated
