The hardest thing about living for a couple years in Melbourne and now in Boston is having to go months without access to a good version of what I refer to as "trashy Mexican food" (which is available only on trips to the west coast). The word "trashy" is not meant to imply anything negative about the quality. Rather, "trashy" means (for me) that tacos are a couple bucks and you won't be seeing any $15 entrees unless they feed a family. No tablecloths. Sometimes not even any indoor seating. Just good, trashy food. When I lived in Santa Barbara, I got my fix with the Carnitas Super Plate at Super Cucas, my all-time favorite place for trashy Mexican food. After this past weekend, though, I can honestly say that my new favorite place for trashy Mexican food is in my own kitchen...
Two books went into play this week. For the carnitas themselves, I turned to Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork and used (mostly) the variation he lists at the end of the carnitas recipe. (I tweaked it a bit, which generally goes against Sunday Cookbook Adventure policy, but the end result was perfection, so I have no regrets...)
We start with pork shoulder, removing the skin and excess fat before cutting into cubes...
The cubes are tossed with cumin, coriander, high-quality chili powder, and kosher salt, then put in the fridge overnight to marinate.
The next day, the marinated pork is combined with diced onion and a couple bay leaves in a Dutch oven. Water is added to cover by about a half inch, the mixture is brought to a simmer, the cover goes on, and then (in the Emily-style version) it goes into a 250°F for about an hour...
At this point a lot of the fat has started to render off. I upped the temperature to 350°F and cooked for another hour uncovered.
After these first two hours, I wanted more rapid liquid evaporation, so I put the dutch oven on the stove over medium-high heat and began reducing...
After an hour, things were starting to look awesome. The idea behind this technique (which is all done on the stove in the book's version) is that the fat renders early on, then the liquid reduces away and the carnitas fry in the remaining fat. It's sort of brilliant, honestly... Look how pretty it was getting after another hour:
I continued reducing until the liquid was gone, stirring frequently toward the end to prevent scorching... and I ended up with some bomb-ass carnitas. The house smelled amazing for almost the entire time this was cooking, and I was really looking forward to dinner by the time my carnitas were ready...
What to serve with my beautiful carnitas? Here's a look at the dish from Super Cucas that I was (somewhat) trying to replicate:
I made an executive decision to omit the cheese and add some guac, but I wanted to be sure that the essential flavors and the spirit of the Super Plate were left intact. Thus, the next key component was rice and beans, for which I turned to Diana Kennedy's The Essential Cuisines of Mexico.
I'd never made Mexican rice or refried beans before, and was amazed how in each case just a couple inexpensive ingredients could combine into something that tasted so amazing. Let's start with the beans... The coolest thing about this recipe is that there are three ingredients, none of which cost more than two dollars (for a double batch, which I made since they freeze well...), and they come together to become something beautiful...
Beans, lard, and some onion are simmered until the beans are very soft...
After this, there is much adding of beans to a pan of lard and onion, smooshing, simmering, smooshing, simmering, and smooshing... until they became absurdly delicious Frijoles Refritos (pictured at the end of the post on my Super Plate). The rice was equally easy. You take some rice, a tomoato, half an onion, and a clove of garlic...
Things start by frying the rice in some oil until it changes color and becomes very stiff...
The tomato, onion, and garlic are puréed and added to the rice. The mixture is then stirred until dry before stock is added...
Things cook, and before you know it you have some beautiful Arroz a la Mexicana...
The beans were heaven, and it seems like magic that they come from only simple ingredients. The rice was the best Mexican rice I've ever tasted, and was completely satisfying since one of my biggest complaints about Waltham Mexican joints is that they serve plain, bland, unseasoned white rice with their meals. Tasting my comforting homemade rice and beans, I was reminded just how important great rice and beans are to my enjoyment of trashy Mexican food. I was also baffled that it had never occurred to me to make them before... The final components I threw together were guac and tomatoes (using my go-to recipes that I posted here...).
It was about 8pm by the time my carnitas and rice were done, and I wished for a moment that I was a person who didn't have to make fresh corn tortillas... When I sat down to dinner 20 minutes later and was enjoying my perfect carnitas plate with fresh tortillas, though, I was glad to be a person who won't compromise on that point. Quality tortillas are, after all, one of the other main criteria I use to judge a good trashy Mexican joint.... I never thought I liked corn tortillas until I tried freshly made corn tortillas, and since that day I have never looked back. I now know that they are the perfect item to complete an Emily-style Homemade Super Plate:
The carnitas were perfect. Actually, every single item on this plate was perfect...
This isn't the kind of perfection that comes from fussy recipes and tedious preparations. It's the kind that comes from a fairly traditional meal so very very good that you can't do much to improve upon it. The best part of all is that I will no longer be forced to travel out west when I get a hankering for amazing Mexican food... (Although, when I'm in Santa Barbara in September before heading up to dinner at The French Laundry, you can bet that my first restaurant meal will be at Super Cucas... This time, though, it will be more due to nostalgia than to absolute necessity...)
Two books went into play this week. For the carnitas themselves, I turned to Bruce Aidells's Complete Book of Pork and used (mostly) the variation he lists at the end of the carnitas recipe. (I tweaked it a bit, which generally goes against Sunday Cookbook Adventure policy, but the end result was perfection, so I have no regrets...)
We start with pork shoulder, removing the skin and excess fat before cutting into cubes...
The cubes are tossed with cumin, coriander, high-quality chili powder, and kosher salt, then put in the fridge overnight to marinate.
The next day, the marinated pork is combined with diced onion and a couple bay leaves in a Dutch oven. Water is added to cover by about a half inch, the mixture is brought to a simmer, the cover goes on, and then (in the Emily-style version) it goes into a 250°F for about an hour...
At this point a lot of the fat has started to render off. I upped the temperature to 350°F and cooked for another hour uncovered.
After these first two hours, I wanted more rapid liquid evaporation, so I put the dutch oven on the stove over medium-high heat and began reducing...
After an hour, things were starting to look awesome. The idea behind this technique (which is all done on the stove in the book's version) is that the fat renders early on, then the liquid reduces away and the carnitas fry in the remaining fat. It's sort of brilliant, honestly... Look how pretty it was getting after another hour:
I continued reducing until the liquid was gone, stirring frequently toward the end to prevent scorching... and I ended up with some bomb-ass carnitas. The house smelled amazing for almost the entire time this was cooking, and I was really looking forward to dinner by the time my carnitas were ready...
What to serve with my beautiful carnitas? Here's a look at the dish from Super Cucas that I was (somewhat) trying to replicate:
I made an executive decision to omit the cheese and add some guac, but I wanted to be sure that the essential flavors and the spirit of the Super Plate were left intact. Thus, the next key component was rice and beans, for which I turned to Diana Kennedy's The Essential Cuisines of Mexico.
I'd never made Mexican rice or refried beans before, and was amazed how in each case just a couple inexpensive ingredients could combine into something that tasted so amazing. Let's start with the beans... The coolest thing about this recipe is that there are three ingredients, none of which cost more than two dollars (for a double batch, which I made since they freeze well...), and they come together to become something beautiful...
Beans, lard, and some onion are simmered until the beans are very soft...
After this, there is much adding of beans to a pan of lard and onion, smooshing, simmering, smooshing, simmering, and smooshing... until they became absurdly delicious Frijoles Refritos (pictured at the end of the post on my Super Plate). The rice was equally easy. You take some rice, a tomoato, half an onion, and a clove of garlic...
Things start by frying the rice in some oil until it changes color and becomes very stiff...
The tomato, onion, and garlic are puréed and added to the rice. The mixture is then stirred until dry before stock is added...
Things cook, and before you know it you have some beautiful Arroz a la Mexicana...
The beans were heaven, and it seems like magic that they come from only simple ingredients. The rice was the best Mexican rice I've ever tasted, and was completely satisfying since one of my biggest complaints about Waltham Mexican joints is that they serve plain, bland, unseasoned white rice with their meals. Tasting my comforting homemade rice and beans, I was reminded just how important great rice and beans are to my enjoyment of trashy Mexican food. I was also baffled that it had never occurred to me to make them before... The final components I threw together were guac and tomatoes (using my go-to recipes that I posted here...).
It was about 8pm by the time my carnitas and rice were done, and I wished for a moment that I was a person who didn't have to make fresh corn tortillas... When I sat down to dinner 20 minutes later and was enjoying my perfect carnitas plate with fresh tortillas, though, I was glad to be a person who won't compromise on that point. Quality tortillas are, after all, one of the other main criteria I use to judge a good trashy Mexican joint.... I never thought I liked corn tortillas until I tried freshly made corn tortillas, and since that day I have never looked back. I now know that they are the perfect item to complete an Emily-style Homemade Super Plate:
The carnitas were perfect. Actually, every single item on this plate was perfect...
This isn't the kind of perfection that comes from fussy recipes and tedious preparations. It's the kind that comes from a fairly traditional meal so very very good that you can't do much to improve upon it. The best part of all is that I will no longer be forced to travel out west when I get a hankering for amazing Mexican food... (Although, when I'm in Santa Barbara in September before heading up to dinner at The French Laundry, you can bet that my first restaurant meal will be at Super Cucas... This time, though, it will be more due to nostalgia than to absolute necessity...)
4 comments:
I am going to have to try that pork recipe when I get home, looks perfect.
Dude. This meal was amazing... I'm not sure why it took me so many years to make carnitas at home after discovering that I love them, but I'm so glad that I finally did.
The other thing I changed about the recipe was that I was supposed to add the juice of one orange along with the water. That seems to be what a lot of recipes do, but it didn't appeal to me so I left it out... and things turned out tasting like heaven...
I think carnitas are so easy to make, why not? I had a burrito at lunch today that supposedly had carnitas inside, but was really just soggy pork. I was so disappointed. Never going back to that place.
Carnitas are definitely the menu item I use to judge the quality of a new trashy Mexican place... (Well, that and the tortillas...) I think my favorite carnitas in Portland so far are from that place across the street from Ole Frijole. (I can never remember that place's name, but it rocks...)
If only there were somewhere to get good Mexican food out here for when I don't feel like making a giant batch just for me... =(
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