Forty Days

So for Lent this year I took it one step further and parted ways with meat (fishies are still allowed), but before I did that I had quite the encounter with a pork shoulder.

You see, it was high time I learned how to make a shredded pork dish.  One that’s from those far-off Mexican lands in the Yucatan I read so much about in my anthro class, and I also felt it was high time to make some homemade corn tortillas (Roni, meanwhile made a pimp mango slaw and asian guacamole).



Asian guac is so good

It was time for a lot of things, it seems.

All the citrus I juiced for the Cochinita. 

We had a few friends over for dinner and made a lot of food.  Too much food, it seemed, until it was clean up time and we realized there were almost no leftovers. How this is humanly possible I cannot tell you.  What I can tell you is that the food was fresh, colorful, and well-seasoned, and, coincidentally, was definitely the largest amount of meat ever cooked in our apartment ( and will be the last for the next forty days-ish).  But still, I am dreaming of it:  Cochinita Pibil. 

I went to my local Latino grocery (Best Way) and found a pork shoulder that I wrassled with a bit to trim and skim of fats and such.  Not my fave part, I can tell you, but I did emerge triumphant AND confident and that is a great mixture of things to feel in the kitchen.

I also dodged multiple dirty looks from Roni every time I tried to open the oven to take a peek while all the juices simmered and braised away.  And by juices I mean an Achiote paste mix with a great blend of grapefruit, orange, lime and lemon.  Our apartment was the epitome of heavenly smells, I promise you.  Hey-o! 

We whipped up some corn tortillas right quick (another tortilla that I've been condemned from ever buying in the store again.  Homemade only, from here on out, folks)  And, thanks to my handy dandy tortilla press (thanks Aunt Deb!) corn tortillas are ridiculously easy to make.  In fact, I made them on three separate occasions in the space of six days.  Yeah.  I'm like a tortilla factory up in here.

The night ended with an epic game of Up and Down The River, Taboo, and us shouting out random food facts from my sweet Foodie Fight game.  Our combined pride at having made an authentically awesome (Mexi-Asian? Aisiexican?) dinner party from scratch was a pretty sweet touch too, and made the segway into Lent a smooth one, paved with shredded pork and corn tortillas.  Cochinita:  I'm lookin' at you come May.