Tacos in the time of COVID-19

Just as Gabriel Garcia Marquez would have said, when times are tough, we must make tacos (would have being the operative word).  Seriously though, I've been in a sort of cook's paradise for the last several weeks.  No alarm near my bed, pajamas until noon or 1 or even 4 pm (that's a day I'm not particularly proud of).  After some good exercise and fresh air,  I begin rummaging around for what to make for dinner.  If you're like me, you've already been thinking about this as your legs carry you into the street for a wide berth between you and the I'm-seriously-getting-sick-of-you couple also getting in their steps before dinner.  The other day I took a piece of pork butt out of the freezer, but it was only on the counter for a couple of hours when I decided I must cook it now instead of tomorrow.  I had a hankering for carnitas and nothing else would do.

The pork was mostly still frozen, but I made fast work of cutting it into 2"  (still frozen) chunks.    I knew I had the perfect one stop shopping spice mix for the occasion - Spicetribe's Mombacho Cafe .  I rubbed it liberally with the yummy blend of cumin, espresso, oregano.  Then added a little salt, some chopped white onion, a couple of cloves of garlic and a rough cut orange that I stole from a neighbor's tree. Popping it all in a baking dish covered with foil,  I slid it into a slow oven  (275F),  donned my running shoes and left the house.

Here's the Recipe:

1.75 # Pork Butt, cut into 2" chunks

1/2 white onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

4 T Spice Tribe Mombacho Cafe Blend

1T Salt

1 medium orange, sliced (rind and all)

When I returned an hour later and sneaked a peak, the pork had a nice glisten, but I wasn't fooled, as pork butt needs a bit of time in the oven to break it down to its proper texture.  After another half hour I removed the foil, and half an hour after that, turned the now browned nuggets over.  After about another half hour, my patience was wearing thin, so I removed it from the oven, tented it with foil, and took a bath.  It was a short one, as the smell of deliciousness was calling, and I needed to answer! Don't bother trying to recreate my timing from the previous ramble, here it is:    1.5  hours covered, 1/2 hour uncovered, turn the pieces over for another 1/2 hour uncovered (this last hour is for the browning, slight drying out and carmelization that you want with delicious pork butt).  Remove from the oven and rest for yet another 1/2 hour.  That's 3 hours.  Seem like a long time?  Think of it this way, that's 3 hours of Walking Dead, The Tunnel, Better Call Saul or whatever show you happen to be binging at the moment!  

Griddle up some tortillas, chop some fresh onion, a few sprigs of cilantro, your favorite salsa and even a few shreds of cheese.  You will be making this recipe again and again. 

Let's say you don't have this kind of time, or don't have cloistered neighbors not noticing you raiding their orange trees.  Make easy tacos with any cooked leftover meat, cut into small chunks and sauteed with liberal amounts of Mombacho Cafe, a little oil, a little salt, and little squeeze of citrus and you're done.