Carnitas and Spinach Ravioli (but not together)

We had the carnitas yesterday. I followed the instructions as closely as possible: crockpot on low for 6 hours, then scoop onto a cookie sheet and pour over oj and grate on orange zest. I also used a little lime zest, since I got limes for the wraps (soft tacos, burritos, fajitas, whatever you call them). Then cook at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes to crisp up the cubes of pork. I only did about 20 minutes, because it seemed like they were drying out more than crisping up. I probably diced them too small. I put the meat back in the crockpot with the cooking liquid, so I'm not sure the baking made any difference.

The whole reason I wanted to make carnitas was because of Chevy's. Hubby was so happy when Chevy's opened here - it was at least as good as the restaurants we used to eat at in San Diego county, and light years better than the "Mexican" places you might find around here. We went there whenever we could afford to go out, which was not weekly, but often enough. Then it closed down. Hubby was anguished. He couldn't drive past the empty building without getting distressed all over again. Years later, he still isn't quite over it. The carnitas was my favorite dish there, so I decided to try making some. Later on, I will have to re-create chicken nachos from the now-defunct Grilled Pepper. I'd rather just go pick some up. Sigh.

The meat turned out much more tender than I was expecting. I don't know why I thought it would be dry - maybe because "the other white meat" looks a lot like chicken breast when it is diced and slow-cooked, and chicken breast can get dry if you are not careful. Moist and tender, yes; flavorful, no. It was quite spicy, yet surprisingly lacking in flavor. That is one of my least favorite tastes - Empty Hot. Burning Bland. Bleh. We ate it on flour tortillas with crunchy-good cabbage, avocado (not quite ripe, so also flavorless), sour cream, and a squeeze of lime. I wished it was a fish taco and not flavorless carnitas. I have 2 quart freezer bags left - I just have to figure out how to make it taste good. I'm thinking lots of mild enchilada sauce and cheese.

I Googled Chevy's carnitas, and it turns out you can buy a whole cookbook of authentic Chevy's recipes, including carnitas. I can't fathom why I did not do this in the first place.

I have been trying to think of a way to fix frozen ravioli for my kids that does not require boiling the ravioli. I hate babysitting it to make sure it is just simmering, then trying to drain them without breaking them, which they inevitably do anyway, making a mess in pots and colanders alike. I can't just dump in some pasta sauce and throw it in the oven, because they won't eat it that way. They like it with butter and maybe a bit of parmesan.

Today I mixed up a "sauce" of 1 cup chicken stock, 1/2 cup lemon juice, and 1/2 cup (eek) butter. I put a few layers of frozen spinach ravioli in the crock pot and poured the sauce over each layer (hoping if all the raviolis were wet, they wouldn't turn into a very sticky pasta cake). Cooked on low for 4ish hours. The top was a bit dry and the bottom a bit soggy, but it was delicious. And not stuck together. And some of the soggy ones split open, but at least the mess is contained in one pot and not stuck in colander crevices. All of the sauce was absorbed (which means we actually ate all that butter...) One kid complained about a "weird taste" that turned out to be the lemon. It was pretty lemony. Maybe I could reduce the lemon and butter and use more chicken stock.

As I was putting them in the crock, it hit me that I should be steaming them like dumplings or tamales. Maybe I will try that next - but only if I can devise a mess-free, dishwasher-safe steamer.