PASS THE PORK

If you know anything about me, you know that I like to cook food slowly. The more elaborate and time consuming a recipe is, the more interested I become with making and eating it. One of the tastiest and easiest ways to give slow food a try is to make tasty tasty carnitas.

Don't worry too much about the ingredient amounts you use. You can modify the spices to suit your taste, and it should come out just fine. Make sure you have a friend or two, a few movies, and some mexican beers along for the ride. This is pretty hard to mess up, so man up, drive yourself to the nearest butcher, buy the biggest piece of pork you can find, and settle in for day of meaty anticipation.

3-4 pounds Pork Butt (or Pork Shoulder, its the same thing...bone in is just as good as the de-boned variety except that the bone in version will cook a little faster)
Cumin
Kosher Salt (Try not to dwell on the irony for too long here)
Black Pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Minced Garlic
6 Limes (at least)

• Heat your oven to 500.
• Rinse the pork off with cold water and pat it dry with paper towels.
• Rub equal amounts of the spices onto all sides of the meat. Just eyeball it. You want a nice healthy layer of spices here.
• Rub minced garlic all over the meat... again, just use your own judgement on the amount, and please, please, DO NOT buy pre-minced garlic in a jar. I don't know what they make that stuff from, but that is not garlic.
• Put your happy, massaged meat into a deep pan that hugs the meat pretty closely. Think pork hot tub, not pork swimming pool.
• Squeeze two of the limes over the meat, and put it in the oven for 20 minutes.
• Turn the heat down to 275 and let your masterpiece cook for about 8 hours. This time is just an estimate. It takes what it takes, so don't stress if it is taking longer or done sooner. 
• Baste the meat every 30 minutes with its own juices, as well as a fresh squeeze of lime juice. Use about 1/4 of a lime or so for every basting.
• Around the 6 hour mark, you might develop a bond with the pork. Don't resist the temptation to name it, as this is perfectly normal.
• Towards the end, you can keep your bastings at 30 minutes, but if you really want to go for it, start basting every 20 minutes, then every 15.
• You'll know that its done when the meat has slowly expanded slightly, and then shrinks. You should be able to easily shred it with a fork.
• Shred the meat into a bowl, and add the drippings to taste.
• Whenever you're ready to eat, re-fry the meat in hot vegetable oil. Don't turn it too much here... Just let it sit, then flip it all when it is nice and brown (Think...pancake, not scrambled egg). You'll probably need to do this in a few batches.
• Serve with tortillas, fresh salsa, and beans.
• Try not to cry when you taste that first succulent bite... trust me, its embarrassing for everyone in the room.