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Carnitas
Updated Apr 29, 2025
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I’m happy Nicole that you found a new relationship with the slow cooker! I have been using ours all summer, with the extreme heat the slow cooker is a great kitchen helper :)
I may also be in the market for a tortilla press, which do you recommend?
I have a Vasconia tortilla press, Lucy, but although I love it for fresh corn tortillas, I do not like it for flour tortillas at all. It just doesn’t get them thin enough. Hope that helps!
Carnitas!!!! I need these in my life. Made your tortillas a couple weeks ago. I’m considering getting a tortilla press because I couldnt – or, let’s be honest, was too impatient to – roll them out thin enough. Your recipe made me 7 tortillas (eek! I know)… They were thick but abosultely delicious. My gluteny roommate said they had way better flavor and texture than the store bought ones she gets.
I hate to be negative, but I have tried them on my press, and just couldn’t get them thin enough. The press works great for corn tortillas, though.
I agree with Michelle, anna! The press just isn’t great for flour tortillas. A rolling pin and some elbow grease go a long way! It gets faster and faster the more you do it, but if you made them kind of thick but they were still pliable, I’d say leave well enough alone!
Bummer. Thank you both for the replies! You just saved me the price of a tortilla press :) Ill just have to learn to be patient, or make them thick. They really were delicious. A little crackly but they held up just fine and had a nice chew to them.
Oh how I wish (especially after my day yesterday) that I could retire and just stay home and prepare fresh awesome gluten free meals and breads, tortillas, bagels, etc. and desserts. I would love to learn to garden and not kill things. I wish I was home right now prepping this to go in the crock pot! Sigh!
My husband is the gardener, Mare! And although it’s lovely (and cost-effective) to grow from seeds like he does, at one point every summer it’s a race against the clock to use all the vegetables without them going bad. Very stressful! Well, not in the grand scheme, but you know what I mean. ;)
My brother came home from Thailand (Vietnam war) with my sister-in-law. Both he and my SIL planted a garden. I still can taste those veggies! We have a big family (I am youngest of 7), so there was no issue with struggling to use! However, I know people who grow and freeze to have during the winter. This is what a friend does with chard and spinach:
I wash it, chop it roughly (I don’t like the ribs so i cut them out)
and then I put a bunch in a bowl, cover with saran wrap, and microwave
about 2 minutes. Pull it out – careful it’s HOT – let it cool a
bit, drain or wring most of water out, then put in a ziplock bag and
put in freezer. I put 2 of these “lumps” usually. To use, you can cut
it smaller while still frozen. I put it mostly in soup or pasta dishes,
but have also eaten it as a veggie with vinegar, or in a cream sauce. I
do the same with spinach.
I love carnitas but I’m so used to them in a burrito bowl that I’ll serve it like that. The kids like the tortillas though and beg me to make them for them…. we all love your fabulous recipes!! :)
I bet they have many fewer points without the tortillas, Jennifer! ;)
So not doing WW anymore – dieting would have been the death of me.
Yum! Great excuse to make those yummy tortillas! You can also do a whole chicken (on a bed of onions or something to keep it up so it doesn’t stew in its juices) and it ends up like a rotisserie chicken, or a beef roast for shredded beef tacos, salads, or sandwiches (traditionally on sourdough rolls w/ red salsa) I actually don’t like cooking soup in my crock pot because the veggies get too mushy, but it’s so darn hot here in the summer I use it for slow-roasting.
I think I forgot to tell you, but i made the yeasted waffles (my fav waffle recipe) a few weeks ago and substituted a little cornmeal for the flour. SO good, and delicious with blueberries.
Michelle: I mainly use my crockpot for slow roasting meats too – maybe it’s a MN thing, I’m not sure… thanks for all your tips about adding extra liquid to my breads – they are turning out amazing!!!
I am a 6th generation west coaster- didn’t even know what hotdish was until about 10 years ago- but I did get the chicken recipe from a midwesterner. I am so glad your breads are coming out well. It is so dry here, I think all of my dry ingredients are very dry, so the extra liquid helps. It has been perfect bread weather lately. I made some beautiful English muffin bread the other day and have some ricotta bread dough in the fridge. They both rose like crazy!
Reducing the juices is a nice touch here. I want to use that flavorful goodness, but it’s so soupy! This looks terrific!
I can’t bring myself to throw out all those juices outright, Donia! Like you said, so delicious but too soupy without reducing them. :)