FAKE OUT: Chipotle Grill's Carnitas

"Chipotle Grill sucks," said no self respecting American ever.

Chipotle Mexican Grill is finally serving carnitas again. They took them off of the menu for a while there and I had to recreate them. Duh.

We're going to talk about how to make, arguably, the tastiest thing on Chipotle's menu, and it begins with a BRINE.

Pork brine: Shoulder roast (bone in) w/ garlic & peppercorns 

In a nutshell: Brine it's a salty bath for meat (or veggies). If you've never brined your meat (a'hem) you should consider it? It's just what happens to give these carnitas they're flavor packed spunk!

BRINE RECIPE <-- click

Chipotle Carnitas Recipe:
Prep time (after brining): 20minutes
Crock pot: 4+ hours
Feeds: Small army



1 large pork shoulder roast- something with a bone and fat. (Bone and fat is what makes it yummy. This logic is also true for yours truly. A'hem)
2-3 tbsp Chipotle seasoning or Penzey's Northwoods Fire Seasoning. (Any chipotle spice is fine, but if I'm coming over for dinner, use Northwoods)
1tbsp Cumin
1/2cup Reserved brine
1tbsp Koher Salt & FRESHLY cracked Pepper
2 turns of Olive Oil
1 can of Chipotle peppers in adobo (Only use one of those peppers w/ 2 tbsp Adobo sauce)
1 medium onion, sliced
2 cups beef Stock
Crock Pot

1. Turn your crock onto the highest temperature setting.
2. Remove the roast from the brine and discard all but 1/2 cup of brine. Set aside. Drizzle the roast with Olive Oil and rub your salt, pepper and seasoning onto it. In a large pot or skillet on high heat, sear ALL sides of the roast.

Q&A:  Could you do this on a grill? Yes. 

Can I smoke it for hours and get the same effect? Of course.  

Is it more time consuming to do those things when you have s*** to do? Absolutely. It would be delicious, don't get me wrong, just not very time friendly. 

3. After you have seared the roast, remove it an place in crockpot. Add another drizzle of oil to the pan and add your sliced onions and reduce heat to medium. Sauté onions for 5 minutes and add 1 large chipotle pepper and the 2 tablespoons of sauce. If you like heat, feel free to add another pepper but be forewarned: Those peppers are NO JOKE H-O-T!  Sauté the duo together for another 5 minutes and add 2 cups of stock and 1/2 cup of reserved brine to deglaze the pan. You want the onions to pick up charred bits before adding the liquids. Pour all the yummy goodness onto the roast in the crockpot and cover. Walk away.

In the time it takes to crock this bad boy, you can prepare some black beans and rice.

Black beans are really simple. Spanish rice is a little more involved. Click here for my version. 
Chipotle Grill's rice is simple- when making your rice, add a smidge of oil, 1 tablespoon of lime juice, and equal parts lime zest. Here's my white rice recipe.

Set it and Forget it: Come back 4 hours later or until it is fork tender (Fork Tender: sounds dirty) and shredding apart with ease.

Discard almost all of the drippings and shred. Add another 2 tablespoons of adobo sauce and mix well.

Feel free to load that puppy up with as many fix'n's as your warm tortilla can hold and dig in. Make this recipe to satisfy your Chipotle Mexican Grill Carrrrrrrnita need... until those pig farmers get their acts together!