Pork Carnitas and sauteed root veggie

Believe it or not, the pork carnitas took 2 days to prepare. First day, it was baked slowly for 1.5 hours in the 350F oven and refrigerated overnight to remove the solidified fat. Second day, the pork carnita was sauteed in a heavy skillet until most liquid had evaporated.

The end result totally justified the time and effort involved. For the pork was fork tender. OCT and I liked this dish very much, not to mention it used the very affordable pork butt! Definitely a keeper.

On the side, I sauteed some root veggies, a good accompaniment for the pork carnitas. OCT ate them with rice, while I went with the Mexican way.With the corn tortilla that is. Excellent both ways!

Because the pork carnitas didn't need much time to prepare on the second day, I have some time to kill. I decided to make some corn pancakes. Nice addition to our dinner. Though it can hardly be counted as a dish. Nowaday I pretty much cook anything I feel like eating at the moment.

Pork Carnitas
(adapted from Cookinglight Sept 2006)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
10 garlic cloves, peeled
2 1/4 pounds boneless Boston butt pork roast, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large Dutch oven; pour broth over pork mixture. Cover and bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours or until pork is very tender.

Transfer pork mixture to a 13 x 9-inch baking dish, and cool to room temperature. Cover and chill for 8 hours or overnight.

Skim the solidified fat from surface; discard fat. Let pork stand at room temperature 30 minutes to soften. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork; cook 8 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Remove from heat; stir in juice.