Here, Piggy Piggy

A little while back, my grandparents took delivery of half a pig, naturally raised on an organic farm in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I just got back from visiting them, and I'm now the proud owner of a fresh ham, a picnic shoulder, fresh pork belly, several pounds of ground pork, a loin the size of a yule log, and many, many butts. I had no idea how many butts a pig could have.

I'm trying to make carnitas tacos for dinner tonight, and after searching the web and cobbling together some recipes, I've come up with this so far. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Carnitas

2 1/2 lb. pork, trimmed of major fat and cut into chunks
1 medium onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried cilantro leaves, or 1/4 c fresh
1/2 tsp oregano
2 c hot chicken bouillon
2 tsp vinegar
juice of 2 limes (optional, but I like it)
hot sauce, salt and pepper to taste

Put it all into a crock pot set on high, and cook until the meat is super tender and ready to shred. Pack it into warm corn tortillas with guacamole, black beans, chihuahua cheese, pickled red onion (see below), hot sauce, fresh cilantro, and anything else you think might be good.

These pickled onions come from a Cuban friend of a friend who brought them to a barbecue this summer. They were excellent on tacos.

1 red onion, halved and sliced
1/2 c vinegar (cider or white)
1/2 c water
2 1/2 T sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Put everything in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes, let cool, and pack into a sterile jar. Keeps for a few weeks in the refrigerator.