Greatest and Easiest Meat Ever!

I have found my new favorite dish to cook. It is simply the best. And I don't mean to toot my own horn or anything. But this is good.

Carnitas is simply one of the greatest meats out there. "Little meats", carnitas is simply slow cooked, shredded pork, though you could really do it with any kind of meat. It makes superb tacos, even better with an entirely themed Mexican night.
I made this for the first time on our third night at the beach. Because the meat cooks slowly, I was able to go up to the house to start the meat, head back down to the beach for happy hour, return to the house, shower, and make side dishes before the meat was completely done. In that same time, my sister's boyfriend caught a bluefish down at the beach. They brought it back to the house, where he, my sister and my dad cleaned, scaled, and hacked it apart so that we could bake it.
I had been wanting to make Carnitas for a very long time, and had looked for a recipe from a reliable source, and our plethora of cookbooks at home. Finally I found a recipe from another blogger, taken from Diana Kennedy. The recipe follows, but please check out the blog to get a history and back story on Carnitas.

Ingredients
3 lb. pork butt/ shoulder
3 cups water
1 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons salt

1. Cut pork into cubes, about 2 or 3 inches. Pour liquids and salt into pot, or dutch oven, placing meat on top. Bring liquids to a boil before turning heat to low. Let meat simmer for 2 hours. (Original recipe says uncovered, but I accidentally covered the pot, and it turned out fine, while also preventing too much of the liquid from steaming off).
2. If you covered the pot, uncover near the end of 2 hours.
3. After 2 hours, turn heat up to medium high, letting liquid boil off, uncovered. Stir occasionally to keep meat from sticking to the bottom. (Some meat will stick no matter what).
4. Once liquid is gone or almost gone, you can shred the pork with a fork if you so desire ( and I much desire).

Homesick Texan's Carnitas

The key to this recipe is not to freak out if you make a mistake, such as when I covered the simmering pot; do not worry if the meat looks kind of funky after the two hours of boiling (the meat will be plump, and pale); and most of all, you cannot be afraid of fat. True carnitas from Mexico are often cooked in lard. This recipe renders the pork's own fat, rather than adding extra fat to it. And most of all, do not freak out if the meat sticks to the bottom of the pan. Scrape it off with a spatula, and you'll be pleased with a little crispness in the largely soft and juicy meat.
With the meat, we served warm tortillas, beans and onions, fresh salsa, avocado, fresh cole slaw (without mayonnaise), and roasted corn with cilantro butter. And, who could forget, the fresh fish, drenched in butter, lemon juice, garlic, and old bay, wrapped in foil, and baked. It basically tasted like crabs, with all the old bay. But it was still delicious, tasty, and most importantly, really really fresh! It also made good tacos with the cole slaw.
It was a full kitchen, once again.