Señorita Carnita

taco overloaded-toothpicks employed to keep it together

I have been lusting after Jackfruit Carnitas from the first time I read about them. I can't remember where it was first, but it was either from quarrygirl's blog or The Urban Housewife. I could never find the right jackfruit at regular stores and did not have the presence of mind to look at asian grocery stores, where I would have found it much sooner. When we were in L.A. I managed to cajole my sister into stopping at Figueroa Produce where I managed to take the last four cans they had on the shelf. Sorry to whomever else wanted some.

I used the recipe from The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life, by Melisser Elliott a.k.a. The Urban Housewife. The directions are really simple and you can make these in the crockpot or stove top. They probably come out better in the crock but I am still crock-shy so I opted for the range. Everything was going great until I realized I had timed things so poorly. I had to take the dog for her walk and I didn't want to leave the pot unattended when it was so close to almost being finished. So I stupidly added a bunch more liquid, knowing there was no way it would all cook out by the time I got back. Eveything was cooked but it was still too wet, so I simmered for another hour or so before calling it quits for the day.

A day or two later I took them out and drained the excess liquid. Then I tried to shred them up a bit and toast them in a pan. They were more like small chunks than stringy carnita goodness but they still tasted great. I will have to cut the spices/simmer time when I make them again since they were a bit much for my sister, which meant there was no way my niece could try them. I fixed up a huge taco like so: bean layer on the bottom, "carnitas", onions, cilantro, radishes and squirted the whole thing with lime juice. I washed it all down with mexicoke. ¡Delicioso!

p.s. Today is my late great-grandmother's birthday. She passed before I was vegan or even really learned how to cook. I wonder what she would think of this. It's also my friend Judy's birthday.¡Feliz Cumpleaños!