Achiote Rice Supper with Pork Carnitas

Delicious, and not too heavy.

Step one is preparation of Essential Garlicy Achiote Seasoning Paste. I resorted to an old coffee grinder, as the achiote seeds were very difficult to crush with my mortar and pestle. This smells heavenly!

Pork carnitas are first prepared by boiling cubes of pork shoulder until the water is gone, and then browning them in oil produced from the meat. I was pretty skeptical, and it didn't smell very good, but was surprised by how tasty these were.

After cooking the meat, rice (medium grain - I used goya brand from the hispanic store), onion, roasted and diced poblanos, and diced carrots are cooked in beef broth + the achiote seasoning paste. At the end, I threw in frozen (thawed) peas.

I really enjoyed this dish. If you've got the seasoning and broth, its not too difficult to prepare - mostly hands off time.