Doug's Carnitas Enchilada's in Green

Doug is a friend I met in graduate school. His enthusiasm for cooking inspired me to no longer settle for instant rice and powdered mashed potatoes. He and his wife, Heather, are both excellent cooks. I've never tasted anything even average that came out their kitchen.

In his honor, I've created Doug's Corner. Here is his first submission. Even cutting and pasting made my mouth water. No pressure, Doug, but keep them coming...


This is really good and easy. The meat is what makes it. I could give you a more detailed recipe for homemade green/red sauce but it is a lot of work and the store bought sauce has worked well enough. This will make enough for you and some friends or leftovers for sure. You can also use the meat in homade tacos or burritos.

Carnitas Ingredients:
1 ½ pounds of boneless pork butt, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 cup of water
1 cup of apple juice
1 ½ tsp ground mild red chili (or to taste)
1 tsp of each; ground cumin, salt and pepper
2 bay leaves

In a deep skillet (I use a 4 quart sauce pan) combine the meat, water, apple juice, ground chili, cumin, salt, pepper and bay leaf. Bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 1 hour.

After the hour take out the bay leaves. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat until most of the liquid evaporates and meat browns. At this point you turn off the heat and shred the pork with two forks. Stir the shredded pork until it is well coated with the spice residue in the pot.

Enchiladas Ingredients:
1 ½ cups each shredded Monterey Jack and mild Cheddar cheese (be generous)
1 8 oz can of pitted ripe olives, drained
1 can of Green Chile Verde Sauce (They also have a red sauce that is good, but green is better)
Vegetable oil for frying
12 corn tortillas

Preheat the oven to 350°. Mix the two cheeses together and set aside. Thickly slice 12 olives and set them aside. Chop the rest of the olives and mix them with the meat.

Heat ½ an inch of oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Place one tortilla in the oil and cook for about 2 seconds on each side. Lift the tortilla out with tongs and let the oil drain off. Put a place next to the pan and put some of the green sauce on it. Coat the tortilla with the sauce. Put a little less than 3 tbsp of the meat and 2 tbsp of the cheese across the center of the tortilla. Roll it up an place it in a 9x13 pan. Repeat for the other 11 tortillas.
When all the enchiladas are in the pan, pour the rest of the green sauce over the over the top of them. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover the dish and sprinkle the rest of the cheese and then scatter the olives over the cheese. Continue baking uncovered for about 10 more minutes or until the cheese is melted.