The Best of Pork and Beans

Carnitas. Chunks of New Creation pork shoulder simmered for a few hours in a couple of pounds of lard. After the first hour of simmering some oj and Mexican coke got dumped in the mix. Prior to simmering, the pork chunks had been seasoned with salt, Mexican oregano, and garlic and left to sit at room temp for an hour. Duck confit wishes it was this. Recipe from here.

With a simple red guajillo salsa and cilantro. And pinto beans with cotija cheese. The beans were soaked overnight and cooked simply in water with some sliced onion and garlic. Salted only at the very end, they cooked for about four hours really slowly to get super creamy. Beans and chilis from Urban Herbs, but they could have just as easily come from the Mi Pueblo mercado on Lorain, where the cotija was purchased along with some tortillas.

Mexican soul food at its finest.