Carnitas Every Bit As Good When You Fix Them At Home

Well-flavored bits of pork or beef, called “carnitas,” are a favorite street food through the Southwest.

In “The Border Cookbook” (Harvard Common Press), Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison offer three different recipes, each more mouthwatering than the one preceding it.

However, the one that caught my eye was Roque’s carnitas. Roque Garcia operates a modest food stand in the center of Santa Fe, N.M. But when he starts cooking strips of marinated beef each day just before noon, the incredible, mouthwatering aroma draws people out of the nearby museums to his cart.

I never knew his name, but have often enjoyed his carnitas. It didn’t occur to me that the dish could be made at home until I read the Jamisons’ book.

No doubt Roque prepares the recipe in large quantities for the tourist crowds that come to Santa Fe each summer. The recipe in the book is for four. I trimmed it back further as an easy entree for two. A freshly made salsa is preferable, but given the quality of tomatoes this time of year, choose the best prepared salsa available.

Serve carnitas as a snack or round out the meal with a side dish of Spanish Rice and a mixed greens salad.

Carnitas

Adapted from “The Border Cookbook” by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison (Harvard Common Press).

3 tablespoons oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon crushed dried oregano

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 pound skirt steak, trimmed of fat, cut into 1/8-inch-thick strips

1 medium onion, cut into thin half circles

1 jalapeno chili, cored, seeded and thinly sliced

2 warm flour tortillas

Salsa and sour cream (nonfat sour cream is fine)

Place 2 tablespoons oil, soy sauce, oregano and garlic in glass bowl. Add skirt steak. Cover and marinate in refrigerator 4 to 8 hours. Drain.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in wok or skillet. Add beef and saute until browned, stirring frequently, 1 to 2 minutes; meat should be rare inside. Remove.

Add onion and jalapeno chili to skillet and saute until onion is limp, 3 to 5 minutes. Return beef to skillet just to reheat.

Place half the beef mixture on each of 2 flour tortillas. Top with salsa and sour cream (about 1 tablespoon each). Fold tortillas and serve.

Yield: 2 servings.

Spanish Rice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup diced onion or shallot

1/4 cup diced sweet red pepper

3/4 cup converted rice

1 cup canned diced tomatoes with 1/4 cup of can juices

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1-1/4 cups chicken broth

Freshly ground white pepper

Heat oil in medium pan. Add onion and sweet red pepper and saute 5 minutes over medium heat or until tender. Add rice and saute 1 minute or until rice glistens.

Add tomatoes with juice, paprika, salt and cumin. Stir in chicken broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Season with white pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Yield: 2 servings.