recipe: mostly-mexican pork shoulder

i never thought to ask for shoulder at whofo until just the other day - for some reason, i figured they'd display all the cuts that they offer. i mean, it's hard to move product when your customers don't know you carry it. but i asked, and it turns out they have it and it's cheap and that's great. they probably end up grinding most of it into sausage.

the cooking time on this is pretty hefty - at least three or four hours. but it gave me an excuse to run the oven all afternoon (raising the apartment temperature from below 50* to a balmy 55*) and to spend most of my time in the corner practicing no-handed trackstanding on my bike (insufferable hipster fakenger training). all in all it was a pretty nice day off.

spice mix:
a handful of large dried hot peppers - i haven't lived around good enough mexican food to have the ability to differentiate; i used a few cayennes that were kicking around
a few dried thai hots
a couple inches of cinnamon stick
allspice
black pepper
coriander seed

grind everything - there should be a few tablespoons of really red powder

assembly:
2 1/2lb pork shoulder in one piece, any giant hunks of pure fat cut off
1 large orange
1 lime
2 small or one large onion, peeled and sliced thin
salt

preheat your oven to around 325*. lay the onion slices on the bottom of a dutch oven, then juice the orange and lime on top. add the orange peel, torn into a few large sections. don't worry that there's pulp and stuff adhering to the peel. place the shoulder on top, and rub the spice mix all over it. while you're at it, rub in a pretty healthy amount of salt. cover the dutch oven, and put it in the oven. now go practice trackstands or something. after about an hour, turn the shoulder over. after the second hour, uncover the dutch oven. for the next hour or two, turn and baste the shoulder regularly. when it starts falling apart when you try to turn it, it's probably done. pull it out of the oven and leave to cool.

finish:
a little water or wine or whatever
tortillas
various tortilla fillings - your choice

once the pork is cool enough to handle, remove from the pot and shred coarsely - remove any egregious bits of gristle or fat. mix with the lovely brown sludge remaining in the pot. reheat the empty dutch oven over medium heat, splash in a little liquid, and use the liquid to dislodge all the fond and caramelized orange juice on the sides of the pot. boil it down for a minute and add to the shredded pork. correct for salt, and serve.

makes a whole lot - four ample servings, maybe even with leftovers.