Crockpot Pork Carnitas

 I don't know when it was, but at some point in the past 5 years, Mexican food became one of my favorite cuisines. Maybe its the melted cheese, maybe its the guac, but nothing gets me more excited than washing either of the two down with a frozen strawberry rita. I make tacos at home a good amount, but have never made my go-to dish to order: pork carnitas! When I saw this recipe in my new slowcooker cookbook I was ppuuummmpppeedd.

Ingredients:
4lb pork shoulder (preferably boneless)
1 can chopped green chiles
1/3 cup OJ
1/3 cup lime juice
1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tbsp ground cumin
Small white tortillas
Mexican cheese
sour cream

 

Cut the pork into two inch cubes. I kinda felt like a clumsy Dexter doing this, almost chopped my fingers off a few times so be careful!

Mix the cubed pork, chiles, OJ, lime juice, garlic and cumin in the crock pot.

 

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

 

With a slotted spoon remove the pork out of the crock pot and place it on your tortillas. Cover with cheese, sour cream or whatever else you want!

 

 

OMG these were so good! Such a good change from my normal taco night. The pork melted in your mouth and tasted like restaurant quality carnitas! Ole!

Fuddruckers-900 Broadway, Saugus, MA

 

I have been a Fuddruckers fan for as long as I can remember. In middle school and high school it was the go-to place for team dinners, fundraisers, or any other excuse you could come up with. Guys would walk around bragging about who was taking on the famous Fuds 1lb burger, while girls would spend their change on cheap mood rings and temporary tattoos.

Like clockwork, I would order my $5.00 cheeseburger kids meal (best deal in the house) that came with a 1/4 lb burger, and a ton of steak fries. I would then proceed to load up my burger with a fresh tomato, lettuce and doused my steak fries in the most amazing house honey mustard on the planet.

This was my go-to routine for at least the past 10 years.

About a year ago, my experience at Fudds started to become very disappointing. The first and mainly last straw was that they replaced all condiment machines with the KENS line of condiments. I wish someone could have taken a picture of my face when I went to load up my tray with my favorite honey mustard, and noticed they had made the change.

 I. WAS. HORRIFIED....ANGRY...SAD...there were too many emotions for me to handle. I wanted to throw my burger and fries on the ground, and stomp out of their like a child, but somehow, I found it in my "mature" 26 year-old self to continue through the condiment line and walk back to my table.

 

I have also noticed that the once overflowing tray of fries has dwindled its way down to 10-12..max...and the kids burgers itself are  shriveled up and overcooked. Maybe I just need to start ordering grown up meals..

BUT they still do have some good things going for them- mainly their golden brown, buttery and soft burger buns. mmmm.. and of course their shakes (PB cub one is bomb.com). Also, their menu has gotten substantially better over the years, now offering a menu of over 10 "specialty burgers" with tons of topping options.

Believe me, dumping on my Fudds experience does not make me happy inside. It actually feels like a giant betrayal. But as a blogger, I have to be true to the food, and the meals I have had are just not cutting it.

Next time, I think I will try one of their specialty burgers and see if it makes a difference...but they could win me over just as easily by bringing back my honey mustard.

Fogo de Chao-200 Dartmouth Street, Boston, MA

*WARNING*What you are about to read may result in the mouth watering desire to eat endless types of juicy and delicious meats.

 

Fogo de Chao is an upscale Brazilian steakhouse located in historic Copley Square, across from Boston Public Library and steps from Trinity Church. I have been here once before, about a year ago and was utterly amazed by the overindulgent and heavenly experience, so when I got a gift card for Christmas, I could have shouted from the rooftops!!

Now why is this place so amazing? Hmm, let's see...

Step 1: You're greeted and seated quickly (make a reservation) by a friendly and professional host or hostess.

Step 2: Your server quickly comes over, takes your drink order and places a bowl of fresh pao de queijo (cheese bread) on the table. These things are literally my favorite restaurant bread in the world (and we all know how I feel about Not Your Average Joes bread). They are small popovers, warm and soft and filled with cheese. The cheese is melted, and literally looks like butter. OMG these things are to die for.

Step 3: Your server welcomes you to serve yourself at the salad bar. And no, its not your average salad bar..it is overflowing with over 30 items, including cured meats, imported cheeses, Brazilian side dishes and fresh vegetables. I enjoyed some fresh mozzarella, pasta salad, prosciutto, bacon and smoked salmon!

The salad bar was way too crowded to get a good pic, so I pulled this from their website- but it looks identical to this!

Step 4: When you get back to your table, you find that your server has dropped off some family style garlic mashed potatoes, fried bananas and polenta.

 

Step 5: After 2-3 pieces of bread and picking at your salad bar plate, you glance down at your table and realize what you are really here for...

Step 6: The restaurant gives each person a two sided cardboard circle, one side red and the other green. When you place the card green side up- the fun begins. You are bombarded with servers carrying the most amazing meats on a giant skewers. There are over 10 different meats to choose from at anytime, and while that card is still facing up green, they keep on coming! ITS MADDNESS I TELL YOU- MADNESS!!!I tried the top sirloin, bottom sirloin, house special, filet wrapped in bacon, lamb chop and ribeye. Other options included pork ribs, chicken wrapped in bacon, sausage and pork loin. These guys run around this place so many times and are always friendly and professional. They cut you a slice of meat cooked however you like it, and you get to take it out of their hands with a fun pair of tongs!

 

Step 7: Put your card on red, and enjoy the meat you have collected as well as some of the family style side dishes provided by your server (usually about 15 min). Then, you take a nice deep breath, set your mind right, and flip that baby to green again...

Step 8: Repeat steps 6 and 7 until food coma ensues.

If you can't tell- I am obsessed with this place. For $51.50 a person you get great customer service and an endless supply of amazing food! Its the best game of red light, green light I've ever played, that's for sure!

http://www.fogodechao.com/locations/boston/

The Yard House-340 Market Street, Lynnfield, MA

I have actually been to the Yard House in Dedham several times over the years, but now that they have one in Fenway and Lynnfield, it is a lot more convenient for me to go! I have always been a big fan of this place because it has a great atmosphere, tons of beers on tap and really good food. My experience was no different when I tried the new restaurant at Market Street in Lynnfield!

The setup in Lynnfield is much like the one in Dedham with a big bar in the middle and a mix of pub tables and big booths. The only thing I will say is it is pretty loud in there, so if you are hoping to go and have a nice long dinner with great conversation, you might lose your voice doing so!

Now my mom's side of the family are big appetizer people, and my dad's side are big dessert people. So when we go out to dinner as a family, its a giant pigout fest of all three courses. For apps we ordered the truffle fries, sweet potato fries and tower of onion rings. The onion rings and sweet potato fries were paired with special sauces (as you know I love a good dipping sauce), my fav being the maple bacon sauce for the sweet potato fries (yes, I said maple bacon sauce- they should bottle that ish)! And of course I can't deny a divine bowl of truffle fries, which we devoured in minutes.

The menu at Yard House is like a hipper version of the cheesecake factory menu. It is pages and pages of modern dishes covering all sorts of cuisines. From burgers, to pasta, to salads, to sushi- it was so hard to choose! I ended up going with the street tacos, and ordered an additional side of truffle fries, cuz I just couldn't get enough! My tacos were so good, full with carnitas, onions, pico de gallo, pineapple and guac. They were paired with beans which I didn't touch and rice, that was a little too spicy for me. If I went back, I would probably replace those two for another side. Everyone loved their food, and licked their plates clean!

CARNITAS TACOS
roast pork with grilled onions, pico de gallo, guacamole and pineapple

(MAC+CHEESE)2
chicken breast, applewood bacon, wild mushrooms, cheddar, parmesan, campanelle pasta and truffle oil

BAJA FISH TACOS
crispy white fish with lemon sriracha aïoli, green cabbage, cilantro, pico de gallo and guacamole

GRILLED CHEESE + ORGANIC TOMATO BISQUE
roasted roma tomatoes, cheddar, gorgonzola, swiss and fontina on artisan bread

MARGHETRITA PIZZA
roasted roma tomatoes, roasted garlic, mozzarella and fresh basil

SHRIMP RICE BOWL
bok choy, baby corn, snap peas, carrots, peppers, broccoli, celery, shiitake and jasmine or brown rice

 

But that doesn't mean we didn't have room for dessert...



MINI CREME BRULEE
with vanilla bean custard and chocolate topped with caramelized bananas



KONA COFFEE ICE CREAM SUNDAE
java chip ice cream topped with oreo cookie crumbles, macadamia nuts and chocolate sauce served with macadamia nut cookie



SALTED CARAMEL BUTTERSCOTCH PUDDING
topped with house made whipped cream, chocolate cookie crumble and maldon sea salt



MINI CHOCOLATE SOUFLEE

Another great experience at the Yard House! I loooveee it when you can go to a restaurant knowing that no matter what you order you will have a more than satisfying eating experience! This place is my jam.

Angela's Coal Fired Pizza- 880 Broadway, Saugus, MA

I'm kind of a picky pizza person. This has developed over time...as most things do. I've grown to hate the overly cheesy, thick crust pizza towered with toppings. I find myself learning towards a thinner crust with simple and clean flavors. That being said, I went to Angela's Coal Fired Pizza with my siblings a couple weeks ago and had some seriously good ZA!

While I have had coal fired pizza before, I had never heard of coal fired WINGS. Although, I'm not really a "wing" person, so for all I know all wings could be made this way. But I will tell you, their wings are the BEST I have ever had. They cooked to perfection in rosemary, garlic and drenched in onions. The wings are accompanied with soft focaccia bread ready to be soaked up by all those extra yummy juices..mmm...

For pizza, we ordered two of their specialties- a Lady Grace and Chicken Parm  for everyone to share. The Chicken Parm was by far the fan favorite, covered in crispy chicken cutlets, tomato sauce and cheese.

 

CHICKEN PARMBreaded chicken cutlet smothered in mozzarella & romano cheese w/ fresh San Marzano tomato sauce



LADY GRACE
Sliced tomato, fresh buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil w/ a twist of sea salt.  

 

I thought the pizza was really good! Made with really fresh ingredients and cooked perfectly. I was only able to scarf down 2 slices before going into a food coma. This is definitely up there as one of the better pizza places in the area, BUT I will say, my MVP here are those wings, and that is the reason I will go back sooner rather than later!