My favorite new bowl! Smoked carnitas on top of green rice.
Carnitas:
Ingredients
- 1(3-1/2- 4 LB.) PORK SHOULDER, BONELESS AND WELL-MARBLED
- 1(12 OZ.) BOTTLE OR CAN BEER
- AS NEEDED WATER
- 2 TSP. SALT
- 1 TSP. GROUND CUMIN
2 TBS Vegetable Shortning
PREP
Slice the pork into 2-inch chunks and arrange in a Dutch oven or roasting pan.
Add the beer and enough water to barely cover the meat. Stir in the salt and the cumin On the stovetop over medium-high heat, bring the mixture to a boil.
When ready to cook, start the Traeger grill on Smoke with the lid open until the fire is established (4 to 5 minutes). Set the temperature to 300F and preheat, lid closed, for 10 to 15 minutes.
Carefully transfer the pan with the meat to the grill grate. Roast the pork, uncovered, until the meat is very tender, 2-1/2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Add a bit more water to the pan if most of the liquid has evaporated.
When the pork is tender, drain off any remaining cooking liquid and discard. Break the meat into bite-size chunks with a fork. (The recipe can be prepared to this point up to three days ahead.Let cool, then cover and refrigerate.)
Add the lard to the pan and return the pan to the grill grate. Increase the temperature of the Traeger to 400.
Let the meat "fry" in the lard until it is browned and some bits are slightly crisp, about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Green Rice
Ingrediants:
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
2 1/4 cups chicken stock (or more depending on your rice*)
1 cup roughly chopped parsley, lightly packed
1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro, lightly packed
2 large poblano chiles, seeded and roughly chopped
2 Tbsp chopped onion
1 garlic clove, peeled, roughly chopped
Salt to taste
Prep
1 Purée parsley, cilantro, chiles, onion, garlic, 1/2 cup of stock: Place the parsley, cilantro, poblanos, onion, garlic, and 1/2 cup of the chicken stock in a food processor. Pulse until smooth.
2 Brown the rice: Heat the oil in a thick-bottomed pot on high heat. Add the rice and stir to coat all of the grains with oil. Spread out in an even layer.
Let the rice lightly brown. When it starts to brown, stir it and spread it out in an even layer again so that more of the rice browns.
3 Stir parsley cilantro mixture into rice: When much of the rice has lightly browned, scrape out the parsley purée from the food processor into the rice. Stir to evenly mix the purée with the rice. Let cook for a minute or two.
4 Add remaining stock, simmer, cover, cook: Add the rest of the chicken stock to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer and cover the pot. Let cook on a very low simmer for 15 minutes, or as long as your package of rice indicates is the right cooking time for your rice.
5 Remove from heat, cover with towel and lid, let sit: After the cooking time indicated on your rice package, remove the pot from heat. Uncover the pot and place a clean terry towel or dish towel over the pot, then re-cover.
The towel will help absorb excess liquid as the rice continues to cook in its own steam. (If you don't have a clean towel, you can skip this step, just cover normally.) Let sit for 20 minutes.
Bowl toppings:
Pico De Gallo
Creamy Jalopeno sauce (Salsa Queen)
Shredded Cabbage
Black Beans heated and seasoned with salt and cumin
Arrange The bowl by scooping rice in the bowl then adding carnitas and black beans on the side, top with bowl toppings. Stir all up before eating. ENJOY!
