Barking with the Spuds

The RV Season is here! The RV Season is here!

We are on the road again for more than just a service visit to Foretravel in Nacogdoches, Texas (land of two suns, no shade to be found anywhere!) or to McKinney, Texas to help the folks (mostly Dad) install new day/night blinds in the coach.

It's our second day on the road, and we find ourselves at the Buffalo KOA in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. Just an overnight stop on our way to Maine. We're enjoying the newly-recovered sofa, although I tasted it today and it does NOT taste like "salsa", which Mom says is the color. I think it tastes like pleather which I did not like, so now I'm not sure how I will pass the hours on the road without my trust old couch, aka the salt lick.

Bentley was worried that the folks would forget him, so he packed himself in the new "bling box". That's where the folks keep the fragile, decorative items while the coach is moving.

One of the other improvements to the "home on the road" is the tiled kitchen backsplash which Mom is quite pleased with. She got to admire it up close and personal today while making some homemade flour tortillas that she said look like amoebas but taste much better (we didn't get any so have to take her word on that). She made them because of the quick dinner choice for the evening, Dad chose a package of carnitas we had in the freezer.

Carnitas means "crispy bits of little meat" and it's something Mom makes lots of in the slow cooker, then freezes the extra portions. Here's her recipe that she found on the Cooking Light board and modified to use the roasted Hatch chiles she keeps in the freezer:


Crock Pot Carnitas

For the carnitas:

6 to 9 lb pork butt roast
oil for browning
1 very large or 2 medium yellow onions, sliced into rings
6 to 8 garlic cloves
1 Tablespoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
1 Tablespoom ground cumin
6-8 roasted Hatch green chiles, chopped
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped, leaves only
12 ounces beer, preferably Mexican like Bohemia or Dos Equis
salt and pepper

To serve:

2 onions, sliced and sauteed until golden brown
flour tortillas
various toppings such as shredded cheese, sour cream, guacamole, etc.

1. Insert garlic cloves in roast
2. Season with salt and pepper and brown on all sides in a stovetop pan with olive oil
3. Place in slow cooker with onions, herbs, chile peppers, and cilantro. Pour in beer. Cook on high 4 to 6 hours until fork tender.
4. Shred meat and remove any bone and visible pieces of fat. Season to taste with more salt and pepper if needed. You can turn the slow cooker up to high to evaporate off some liquid or transfer some of the contents to a skillet to brown further, if desired.
   
5. Serve with warm tortillas, caramelized onions, shreddded cheese, sour cream (especially Crema Mexicana Agria) guacamole, salsa, etc.

Ree