If you're looking for an easy, inexpensive festive way to kick off the new year, you can't go wrong with carnitas. Although it cooks for a few hours, it takes minutes to prep and takes care of itself on your stove top, leaving you free to do whatever it is that you do to kick off the year right. If you're hosting the day after party it's great for the hangover crowd, and it is hearty enough to please the sports fans gathered around your large screen TV for the bowls of the non-food type.
Carnitas means "little meats," usually braised until the liquid evaporates and then browned in the fat that has remained on the meat. It is usually made from the pork butt (shoulder), which can be cooked whole and then shredded, or cut before cooking and served in cubes.
Which is the way I prepared it here. The most basic recipe I found calls for just salt, pepper, and water. Many add orange juice and coca cola, but the possibilities are endless - cumin, oregano, chili powder if you want to keep the Mexican theme, or curry powder, paprika, and ginger for a more exotic twist. For my first attempt, I decided to keep it simple and just used salt, pepper, orange juice and water.
The original method calls for the meat to be cooked in melted lard, and then the mixture of orange juice and coca cola is added and either cooked over a higher flame on the stove, or roasted in the oven. The idea is that the sugars help the meat caramelize. Much as I love the idea of this and the fact that I actually do have lard on hand, and as delicious as I am sure it would be, that is just too much fat and sugar for one meal, especially since there is already plenty of fat on the pork butt. This method is healthier (ok, maybe only a little healthier), and is plenty delicious as is. The orange juice adds a bright sweetness that takes it over the top.
Carnitas make for a great serve-yourself taco buffet. They go especially well with a savory cabbage slaw, creme fraiche and tomato-jalapeno salsa. Round off the meal with guacamole and chips and refried beans and you have yourself a winning combination.CARNITAS
5-6 lb pork butt, chopped into 1-inch cubes
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
water
Arrange the pork on the bottom of a large heavy pan (cast iron is preferable). Season heavily with the salt and pepper. Pour the orange juice into the pan, and then add water until the meat is just barely covered.
Bring the pan to a boil, the reduce the heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, until the liquid has evaporated. This can take up to two hours (or more, depending on how much liquid there is).
Once the liquid has evaporated, raise the heat to medium and let the pork brown in the fat that has remained. When all of the pieces are dark and crispy, remove from the heat.
Can be served immediately, or refrigerated and then reheated for later use.
Makes 15-20 tacos
Adapted from Homesick Texan's adaptation of a Diana Kennedy recipe.
This peanut butter cookie recipe is another old family recipe. It is one of those cookies that I would always forget about, and then something would remind me of them and I would make a batch and they were so good I would wonder why I didn't make them more often, and then I'd forget all about them again for more than a few years.
More recently, I had a different kind of dilemma with them. The original recipe called for shortening, and I don't use shortening any more. I have experimented with lard with good results on the savory side, but there's just a little too much pig to my taste for use with sweets.
I generally don't have a problem substituting butter for shortening, but for some reason I wasn't sure how well it would work with the peanut butter cookies. I think because the peanut butter also adds fat to the dough, it might be too much for butter alone to handle. But I have been doing my Christmas baking and was looking for something new to add to the rotation. Much as my friends love the things I do make around the holidays, I get tired of making the same things. This year I have been experimenting, and I thought it would be a good time to see exactly what a difference using butter instead of shortening would make.
As it turned out the difference was negligible. They were crispy, sweet, and full of peanut butter flavor, although I forgot that even though I prefer creamy peanut butter as a rule, for peanut butter cookies crunchy is actually better. That aside, I think I may have liked these even better with the butter.
The proportions of this recipe worked out well for me to make a half batch for my test, which was quick and easy. And four dozen or so cookies is nothing to sneeze at. I took some to work and some to my knitting friends and still had enough to enjoy a few at home without making me feel too guilty.
Home Cookin Chapter: Cookies
CRISS-CROSS PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup peanut butter, preferably crunchy
Preheat oven to 400 deg. F.
Combine the brown and white sugars and mix well. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.
Cream the butter. Add the sugar and cream well, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs and the vanilla and mix it together.
Incorporate the flour just until the dough begins to come together, then add the peanut butter and make sure it is fully blended into the dough.
Roll the dough into balls the size of walnuts. Place one inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Press each ball on one side with the tines of a fork, then press the tines over each cookie at a right angle to the previous lines to make a criss-cross effect.
Bake at 400 deg. F. for about 7 minutes, until they are just beginning to brown. Be careful not to let them burn. Check them after 5 minutes.
Makes approximately 10 dozen, depending on size.
Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)
Many years ago in Austin, a friend and I hosted a birthday dinner for a friend who worked with us in the library. That was during what I call my "social period," when I was quite the social butterfly. I'm not sure what happened since I'm such a stay-at-home gal these days. This was just one of many such celebrations. Our friend brought his current girlfriend, a nice-enough woman whom I had not yet met and never really got to know since I believe they broke up not long after this dinner. Not that the dinner had anything to do with their breakup. At least I hope it didn't.
At any rate, if memory serves, Mary made the dinner and I made the dessert - the famous top-secret chocolate cake.
Now keep in mind that, at that time, this was a quite special and, as yet, still secret family recipe. It was in great demand, and was always well received. Even if I had been a total social misfit, which I do not believe for one second, it would have been my ticket into any event I wished to attend.
So imagine my surprise when this girlfriend announced to me in the kitchen, as I was icing the cake, that she had stopped eating sugar and would not be having a piece of my cake. (What she was doing in the kitchen with me I do not remember, but I have a clear memory of the two of us together in the kitchen as she told me this.) Imagine my dismay: how could I impress her with my wondrous baking skills if she didn't eat any of my cake? But she was resolute, and was not even tempted.
But there was one thing, she admitted to me, that she could not give up, and that was ketchup. Ketchup? I didn't know there was sugar in ketchup! (This was my pre-label reading days, in case you were wondering.)
And ever since then, I can't think of ketchup without thinking of 1) sugar, and 2) that night. And I have realized that is probably why I love ketchup, seeing as how I lean heavily towards sweet. But I have been avoiding it, since I have been avoiding commercially processed foods. The few times I use it are those few times I order a crisper and fries (ok, sometimes a cheeseburger) from Eat a Pita and shamefully have it delivered to my door. If I am completely honest, I will admit that fries are merely the vehicle for my ketchup fix.
All things considered, I think I have been most excited about making ketchup. So why did I wait so long to make it? I still had some Heinz ketchup that I needed to work through and, since I use it so seldom, it took me a while to work through it all. But a nice batch of okonomiyaki with its attendant sauce took care of that, so last weekend I was ready to make some ketchup.
Like its DIY Condiments predecessors, ketchup is surprisingly easy to make. You just saute onions and garlic, add the rest of the ingredients, let it simmer for a while, and then puree it with your super duper handy dandy stick blender.
Although it looks nice and tomato-red in the picture, at least on my monitor, the reality is slightly less red. It had that deep ketchup red in the pot, but after I pureed it the onions were just enough white to dilute it to more of a pinkish orange. But looks aren't everything.
As for the taste, I think it has definite possibilities. It is a little too sweet even for my taste, but that might be a result of over-packed brown sugar. But it ends with a lovely tang of spiciness that counteracts the sweetness, and the flavor has intensified as it has sat in the refrigerator.
I might do some more experimenting with it, but not much. Now I just have to find some uses for it - it's too good for french fries. I do already have some ideas.
Home Cookin Chapter: Sauces
HOMEMADE KETCHUP
1 (28- to 32-oz) can whole tomatoes in juice
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1 Tbsp tomato paste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 whole star anise
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
Puree the tomatoes with their juice in the can with a stick blender until smooth (or use a regular blender).
Heat oil in a 4-quart heavy pot. Add onion, garlic and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is browned
Add the spices and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the pureed tomato, tomato paste, brown sugar,and vinegar. Bring to a boil, then immediately lower the heat and cook uncovered until very thick, 45 to 55 minutes. Stir occasionally, making sure the liquid doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan.
Use the stick blender to puree everything together. Let cool and pour into a glass container. Refrigerate.
Keeps chilled approximately 1 month.
Makes approximately 2-3/4 cups.
Adapted from recipe by Ian Knauer for Gourmet Magazine (RIP) (June 2009)
Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)
I've been watching a show on the new Cooking Channel called "Kelsey's Essentials." Kelsey Nixon was one of the contenders on a previous Next Food Network Star show. I don't remember which season. I think the main reason she was knocked out was because she was just out of cooking school and the judges often expressed their thoughts that she was too young.
A few years later, she has her own show. And every time she mentions her husband, which is at least once a show, I can't help but think that it's an effort to make her seem older than she is. She also has an annoying habit of using the same few stock phrases over and over again and it damages her credibility. She does know what she is doing, but she tends to say things should be done a certain way because it's better, but she doesn't do a good job of explaining why, in my opinion. And I do not consider myself to be an expert in the kitchen by any means, but so far I have not learned anything new from her.
In this week's episode she grilled corn and then coated it with a "Mexican inspired-sauce," as she put it. She mentioned it several times, calling it the Mexican-inspired sauce. And all I could think was, "Oh, the poor sauce, it doesn't have a name." I don't know why, but it bothered me.
And it stuck in my head, so last night when I went to make pizza with my second pizza crust and realized that I had forgotten to buy more mozzarella cheese, I decided to follow Kelsey's example and make a Mexican-inspired pizza with the cheddar cheese I had in the refrigerator.
Whatever you want to call it, it was delicious. Most of the ingredients were the same I use for regular pizza; I just switched the seasonings and threw cilantro on top when it came out of the oven. I had the last of some napa cabbage I received along with the mustard greens with which I was gifted the week before last (I'm amazed at how long that lasted) and having made okonomiyaki twice already I decided to just throw the rest on top of the pizza. Cabbage matched my Mexican theme pretty well.
I wasn't sure it would work out, but I would make this even if I did have mozzarella in the house. Every once in a while I want something different, and this fits the bill.MEXICAN-INSPIRED PIZZABasic Pizza dough*
1/4 cup strained tomatoes
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
3/4 - 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
salt to taste
1/4 small napa cabbage, very thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped green olives
6 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Shape dough as desired for pizza. Spread the tomato around the base, leaving about half an inch uncovered around the edges. Season to taste with the salt. Sprinkle the cumin over, then the oregano. Pinch the oregano between your fingertips to release the oils as you sprinkle it over the sauce.
Spread the cabbage evenly over the sauce, then cover with the cheese. Next, spread the olives evenly over the top, and finish with the garlic.
Bake on the bottom rack of the oven for 18-20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the top is browned and bubbling.
Remove from the oven and spread the chopped cilantro over the hot pizza. Serve hot.
Note: These days I make my pizza dough with 1 cup white whole wheat flour, 1 cup bread flour, and 1/2 cup semolina flour, but any combination totaling 2-1/2 cups of flour should work.
What you see here is my first attempt to make a stuffed pasta. I decided to try my hand at agnolotti, which seemed the most free form and more importantly, the most forgiving. While it was not a total success, I was extremely pleased with it, and there was the added bonus that I learned some things while making it.
The first thing I learned is that I need to roll out the dough a little bit more. It was good, but the pasta was on the thick side.
Which didn't help with this first batch I cooked. I boiled them for about three minutes even, and that was not enough. Not only were they a little thick, they were more than a little al dente.
But the butternut squash and parmagiano reggiano filling was sensational from the first bite. For this first batch, I cooked up a little butter and fried sage in it. It was tasty, but I wanted to find something a little healthier.
The next time I made butternut squash soup, I thought that might make a nice sauce for the agnolotti. It was rich and smooth, and it did go well. I over-sauced it, though, which overpowered the more delicate interior filling.
For the final version pictured at the top, I sauted onion and garlic in olive oil and butter, added a small amount of chicken broth and cooked it down, and then spooned that over the pasta. I finished it off with some grated parmagiano reggiano and chopped parsley. By then I had calculated the cooking time better, so except for being on the thick side, it was pretty near perfection.
The biggest thing I learned is that you can freeze homemade pasta. I had already test-frozen some noodles, which I let thaw and cooked normally and they were just as tasty as their fresh counterpart. For these stuffed pastas, I learned that you can just throw them in the boiling salted water frozen and add ten minutes to the cooking time.
One full batch of pasta made 36 agnolotti. I used my faithful empty 14.5-oz. coconut milk can with both ends opened as a pasta cutter, so they were about two-and-a-half inches in diameter. I cooked seven the first night and then froze the rest. Lay them out flat on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer. After they are frozen, you can just throw them into a freezer bag. They will keep indefinitely, but you should use them within a few months or the pasta can break on you. I don't know if you can see it, but the one in the center up at the top did break apart while it was cooking. I was able to treat it carefully so it did not fall completely apart, but the water did dilute the filling, so it was not ideal.
I am still playing with sauces for this pasta. I liked the butter sauces the best (who wouldn't?), but I still want to find something healthier, and I want to lighten my hand with the amount of sauce I am using.
But this was definitely not bad for a first attempt. I will post the recipe when I have it down.
I hope you Americans out there had a lovely Thanksgiving. I know I did, here in Austin with my family. This year it was just my brother's family and me. It was a very low key affair, but the turkey was beautifully roasted with tender juicy white meat and flavorful dark meat that was not too stringy. I always like to have a little white meat at the Thanksgiving dinner, and then I feast on the dark meat for the next few days. Being the only person who likes the dark meat, I have no competition. After my brother has cleaned the carcass of all edible white meat, it has become my job to take care of the dark meat. I pull the meat off of the wings, thighs and drumsticks. Half of it I cut into smaller pieces that can be frozen and made into pot pies or soup, and the rest of it goes into the fridge to last me through the rest of my visit.
But now that the last of the leftovers are disappearing, I'd like to take this opportunity to remind you that braising season is now officially upon us. It's the perfect time of year to take that hefty chunk of flavorful meat and simmer it in a pot full of rich, flavorful liquid, then serve it up over a nice mash of potatoes, root vegetables, or polenta, as I have done here. To me, it is one of the most delicious meals in the world.
For a while I was buying instant polenta, which is basically partially cooked and then dried so it only takes 5 minutes on the stove. I cannot tell the difference between the instant polenta and the regular polenta that takes over half an hour and a stirring arm of steel to produce, so I long decided the extra cost of the instant polenta was well worth paying.
And then I saw an episode of Sara Moulton's Weeknight Meals where she baked the polenta in the oven. It looked easy, so I tried it and discovered that it was as easy as it looked. No fuss, no muss, not stirring - what could be better?
Actually, I decided it could be a little bit better. It was a little too soft and pudding-like for me the first time I made it, so I experimented with less cooking liquid until I got the consistency to be just the way I like it. This time, I had little bits of three cheeses left over in the refrigerator so I just grated them all up and threw them in. With spectacular results, I might add.
While delicious with braised beef shanks, polenta can be served with just about any other dish you can imagine. It makes a nice change from mashed potatoes or rice.
You can find my braising method for the beef shanks here.THREE CHEESE POLENTA
1 cup cornmeal (fine or stone ground) or polenta (not instant)
2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 cups water
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded gruyere cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F.
Combine the cornmeal, butter, salt and pepper in a 1-1/2 quart baking dish and mix everything together. Place on the top shelf of the oven and bake uncovered for 40 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and stir well. Put it back in the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven. Add the cheeses and stir well until the cheeses have melted and are well mixed into the polenta. Let stand at least 5 minutes before serving.
Adapted from Sara Moulton's Creamy Baked Polenta recipe.
As I was making this curried frittata with mustard greens, I got to thinking about how easy it is to create new dishes once you have learned the basics of the original. I have actually been thinking about this quite a bit lately, because I seem to have crossed some threshold over the past year or so where I am using fewer recipes and creating my own dishes as I go. It's not that I am memorizing the recipes - it's more that I am using all of the information and techniques I have accumulated while following recipes in the past. If you are paying attention as you cook, you start to see the patterns of how a particular dish is constructed, and you can start constructing your own versions, rather than just exchanging ingredients.
That's what happened with this frittata. Once I mastered the original recipe, I quickly realized that virtually any vegetable and any cheese would work. At first I trod lightly - I used zucchini instead of spinach, and gruyere cheese instead of parmesan. Then I added thinly sliced potatoes, which added another dimension. Following that, adding sweet potato seemed like a logical conclusion. After that, anything seemed possible.
Last Tuesday I was gifted with two beautiful bunches of mustard greens. I was not in a position to cook them right away, so I rinsed them, trimmed the ends, wrapped them in paper towels, put them in the refrigerator and prayed that they would hold up until I could use them.
Which, as it turns out, was Saturday. I checked them for the last time on Friday and they were still ok, so I figured they could go one more day. They were locally grown, and organic, so I think that helped them stay sturdy enough to go the distance (as opposed to the conventional produce you usually find in the grocery store).
Saturday morning I decided they would be lovely in a frittata. As I was gathering the ingredients, I started thinking about what would happen if I added mustard seeds, a technique I learned when making Lentil Soup with Spicy Mustard Greens. I have used that technique often when cooking greens, either with the mustard seeds themselves, or a dijon mustard that has whole seeds in it. It adds a lovely little crunch and spice to the greens that I just love.
And as soon as I thought about adding mustard seeds, my mind switched to Indian mode, and I decided that if you can curry eggs, then surely you can curry a frittata.
Which is what I did. I consider this to be a new recipe, rather than an adaptation of a previous recipe. The techniques may be the same, and the basic ingredients, but I think the method and the flavor profile have changed enough for it to be considered new. What do you think?
Whatever you think, the end result was amazing, and succeeded beyond my wildest expectations. There are some adjustments that can be made; as I was writing about the potatoes I added to the original recipe, I was thinking they would be outstanding added to the curried version. And I might play around more with the spices. A tikka or garam masala might replace the curry powder. Maybe some coriander or cardamom would enhance the flavor.
Now that I know the process, the possibilities are endless.
Home Cookin Chapter: My Recipes
CURRIED FRITTATA WITH MUSTARD GREENS
Makes 4 servings
2 bunches mustard greens, rinsed, trimmed, and cut into 2-inch strips (or any greens - spinach, chard, or kale would work just as well)
1/4 cup ghee, or 3 Tbsp oil and 1 Tbsp butter
1Tbsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sweet curry powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
6 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
7 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese, or any other desired cheese
Place mustard greens in a pre-heated large pot over medium heat. You do not need to add any water; they will cook in the rinse liquid. Turn the heat down as low as it will go, cover the pot, and cook for 10 minutes. Shock in ice-cold water, then drain the greems and squeeze out as much moisture as you can. Put the squeezed greens on a cutting board and chop them about 1/2-inch apart in one direction, then 1/2-inch apart in the other.
Heat the ghee in a non-stick or cast-iron medium-sized (10-inch) skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mustard seeds. As soon as they start to pop, cover the skillet. Leave it covered until the popping slows down. Add the onions and garlic and cook until they are translucent.
Add the spices and cook, stirring, for about a minute. Add the greens, stir everything together, and turn the heat to low.
Crack the eggs into a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Whisk thoroughly and pour into the skillet with the onions, garlic and greens. Lower the heat and cook until the eggs are set. If
necessary, run a spatula around the sides of the pan once it was started to set and lift up an edge to allow some of the unset egg mixture to flow to the bottom of the pan. You may have to do this more than once.
With an oven-proof skillet: Once the frittata has almost completely set but has just a little bit of unset egg on top, sprinkle the grated cheese over it and put it under the broiler for a minute or two, until the top sets and the cheese has melted and is golden brown. Remove from the oven and take out of the pan. Let sit for five minutes befrore slicing.
With a non-stick skillet: Once the frittata has almost completely set, either slide it into an oven-proof dish and continue as instructed above, or slide it onto a plate then invert it back into the non-stick
skillet so the top is now on the bottom and the egg can set. Sprinkle the cheese over the top, cover, and cook another minute or two until the cheese melts.
inspired by my Basic Frittata recipe, which in turn was adapted from James Beard's American Cookery, by James Beard (Little, Brown and Company, 1972).
Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)
Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian cookbook has not disappointed me yet, and Chickpea Stew with Six Vegetables is no exception. This recipe is marked as a Moroccan dish, but the spices are subtle, and there is no cinnamon in it, a spice with which I have come to associate Moroccan cuisine. The result is a vibrant, colorful stew with a lovely blend of flavors. The addition of a few strands of saffron infuses both the look and the flavor with an extra shot of richness. I don't usually have saffron on hand, given the expense, but a little goes a long way and I am glad I used it here. It only takes a few threads to make a difference, and there really is nothing like it.
I took this to our work potluck lunch, and it was well received. I cooked a batch of whole wheat couscous in vegetable stock to serve with it, but it looked like most people were happy with the stew by itself. It's certainly hearty enough to stand alone.
The beauty of this recipe is that you do not have to use all of the vegetables. The first time I made it I totally glossed over the fact that I needed potatoes and sweet potatoes, so I had neither. I simply cut the cooking time of the chickpeas and spices and added the carrots after ten minutes instead of twenty.
I also only had canned crushed tomatoes the first time I made it, so I drained them as best I could, added the crushed pulp first, then the liquid. The second time I purchased canned plum tomatoes and used them. Each provided a different effect, but both worked equally well.
Home Cookin Chapter: Soups and Stews
CHICKPEA STEW WITH SIX VEGETABLES
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked and cooked, liquid reserved*
1 28-oz can plum tomatoes, finely chopped, liquid reserved
2 medium waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
5 to 6 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
5 to 6 Tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro
3 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ginger powder
Saffron threads (optional)
1/4 tsp cayenne (optional)
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1-inch thick pieces
3 small carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large zucchini, halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
Put the oil in a large pot and place over medium-high heat. Add the onion and stir and fry for 5 minutes, or until it begins to brown around the edges. Add in the garlic and stir for about 1 minute, or until it turns golden.
Now add the chickpeas, 1-1/4 cups reserved cooking liquid, the tomatoes, potatoes, parsley, cilantro, salt, cumin, turmeric, ginger, saffron, and cayenne. Measure the reserved tomato liquid and add enough
water to make 2-1/2 cups of liquid in total. Add to the pot and bring to a boil. Cover, turn the heat to low, and cook for 20 minutes.
Add the sweet potato and carrots. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat again, and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Add the zucchini, bring to a boil once again, and cook, covered, on low heat for 7 to 8
minutes or until the zucchini is tender.
*You can use canned chickpeas, but if you do, be sure to buy organic beans so you can use the liquid.
from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian, by Madhur Jaffrey (Clarkson Potter 1999)
Exported from Home Cookin 6.46 (www.mountain-software.com)
If you're looking for an easy, inexpensive festive way to kick off the new year, you can't go wrong with carnitas. Although it cooks for a few hours, it takes minutes to prep and takes care of itself on your stove top, leaving you free to do whatever it is that you do to kick off the year right. If you're hosting the day after party it's great for the hangover crowd, and it is hearty enough to please the sports fans gathered around your large screen TV for the bowls of the non-food type.
