Cochinita Pibil

Isabel Orozco-Moore’s cochinita pibil marinates pork shoulder with achiote paste, orange and lime juices, white onion, garlic and cumin. The selected oven route encloses it in optional banana leaves and slowly bakes it until the meat pulls apart.

A large blender smooths the achiote paste, supplied citrus juices, quartered white onion, garlic, kosher salt and ground cumin. The supplied large pork-shoulder chunks go into a large bowl, and the marinade is poured over them and tossed to coat. Plastic wrap covers the bowl for six to twenty-four hours of refrigerated marination.

In the selected fresh-leaf route, the optional banana leaves are wiped with a damp cloth and their thick woody side stems are removed. The oven is preheated to 325°F. The leaves cover the bottom of a Dutch oven and hang over its sides. The pork and all of its marinade juices are poured in, and the leaves fold over the meat.

The Dutch oven is covered and baked for three and a half hours, or until the pork is pull-apart tender. A slotted spoon transfers the pork into a bowl. A fork shreds it, and one-third cup of the same cooking liquid is added back to the meat.

The selected optional serving makes tacos with supplied warm corn tortillas, pickled red onion, queso fresco and chopped cilantro. Orozco-Moore describes this as a Yucatán-style Mexican dish; this version uses the oven for its covered slow cooking.