Props For The Kook. Plus Tacos. Carnitas Tacos!

While I always feel crappy on days when I -- to put it bluntly -- just suck in the water, on my good days it's like some kind of high. There's just a sense of an almost euphoria, in fact. My last session was one of those really good days. Conditions were not perfect -- there was a bit of wind, and some chop to the water, but the waves were on the small side, and they were nicely spaced apart so I could paddle right out. I managed to catch more than a couple of waves, and though I got no real good long rides, I got enough to put a smile on my face. Timing is still an issue for me, as is front foot placement and remembering to stay low after the pop-up. It's been a very long time coming, but I feel real breakthroughs just around the corner. At least, I hope they are.

So a good day in the water meant a good dinner was in order. Recently the new Saveur Magazine showed up, and featured in it was a great article on a California Taco crawl. Included were recipes, including one for Carnitas Tacos -- or Carnitas Michoacan -- that sounded really delicious. I've seen many Carnitas recipes, including some that cook the pork in big vats of lard. That wasn't going to happen! This recipe entailed a long braise of pork shoulder but in a liquid much easier to do at home. The tacos are then topped with a homemade salsa, pickled jalapeños, sliced radishes and cilantro. For bonus points, I made the pickled jalapeños. Earlier in the week I had noticed we had a bunch of peppers on our plant, and pickling them is a great way to use them so they don't go to waste.

I made some adjustments to this recipe, mostly in the salsa section. The recipe has you put the tomatillos, tomatoes and garlic in a dry skillet and char the outsides, but my kitchen was just filling with smoke, so I kept them in the cast iron skillet, and placed it under the broiler. Anyway, here's how the finished tacos looked:

This is another super easy recipe. You just need to set aside some time to braise the pork but it's only a couple of hours, not a whole day or anything like that. Definitely worth a try if you are into Carnitas Tacos -- and if you aren't, maybe you should be.

Carnitas Tacos (Michoacan-Style Braised Pork Tacos)
(Recipe adapted from Saveur Magazine)
Serves 8-10 (so have a taco party!)

For the salsa:
6 tomatillos, husked and cored
3 garlic cloves, peeled
2 plum tomatoes, cored
1 canned or jarred whole picked jalapeño, stemmed, plus 3 tbsps. pickling liquid

1. Heat broiler. Place tomatillos, garlic and tomatoes in cast iron or other heavy skillet. Place under broiler and cook until everything is charred and blackened, turning often, 10-12 minutes. Transfer vegetables to blender. Add jalapeños, pickling liquid and salt to taste and blend until smooth. Set salsa aside.

For Carnitas:
3 tbsps. lard or canola oil
3 pounds skinless bone-in pork shoulder (or, you can use boneless, like I did) cut into 3-inch pieces
Kosher salt to taste
3/4 cup whole milk
8 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
6 canned or jarred whole pickled jalapeños, plus 1/3 cup pickling liquid
1 large white onion, roughly chopped
2 limes and 2 oranges, juiced

1. Heat the lard or canola oil in an 8 quart saucepan (or large dutch oven that will hold the pieces in one layer) over medium-high. Season pork generously all over with salt, Cook, turning, until browned, 10-12 minutes. Add milk, garlic, jalapeños, and pickling liquid, onion, and lime and orange juices. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and cook, covered, until pork is tender, about 2 hours.
2. Let pork cool and transfer to a cutting board. Chop into bite size pieces. Strain cooking liquid (I actually skipped this step, since all the vegetables had pretty much broken down) and return to pan. Stir in pork and keep warm.

Assembling tacos:

Corn tortillas, warmed over a burner 

Chopped Cilantro

1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced.

1 orange, cut into wedges

1 lime, cut into wedges

Pickled jalapeños 

1. Spoon carnitas onto warm tortillas.  Top with Salsa, chopped cilantro, and radish slices. Serve with lime and orange wedges on the side, along with more pickled jalapeños.