Wow, it's been four days already.
The carnitas turned out awesome - some of the best I've ever had - despite my inability to follow directions and my intentional adulteration of the recipe in some places.
First off, I didn't marinade at all. I didn't plan ahead enough and was running out of time.
Next, I started rubbing all of the spices into the meat before realizing that the quantities given were meant to create a batch (a whole cup) of rub and that I was only supposed to use one tablespoon for the recipe...
..OMG. I was pretty certain I had destroyed the pork with that overload of spice and salt-- but I decided to press on....
Switching into mad scientist mode, I browned the completely spice blackened pork and threw it in the crock pot on low with all of the ingredients called for in the marinade section of the recipe (minus the soy sauce because I certainly didn't need any more salt).
Miraculously, it turned out fantastic. I think the slow cooker thing kind of has a tendency to mute flavors, so it was probably a blessing that I over did the seasoning to such a huge extent.
I served the carnitas in warm corn tortillas with homemade pico de gallo, sour cream, shredded cabbage and chopped avocado(..and a Salvestrin 2005 Sauvignon Blanc...)
I will definitely make these again -- I hope I can re-create such a happy accident!
