Wildabeest
Well-known member
Yum!
Shelter-in-place cooking
- Thread starter Little Canyon Creek
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Art Vandeley
Well-known member
I don't know what Conchinita Pitbil means but it looks pretty dang good. Want to share the process?
Hunting Wife
Well-known member
Elk burritos and elotes tonight. I literally can not get enough Mexican food. 
Also curious about the Conchinita Pibil @Wildabeast...
Also curious about the Conchinita Pibil @Wildabeast...
Wildabeest
Well-known member
It's cochinita pibil, not conchinta. Not sure how that extra "n" snuck in there!
It's very similar to pulled pork. Same cut of meat - anything from the shoulder - whole shoulder, boston butt, picnic ham. Boneless is easiest since you cut it up vs. cooking it whole. I used a 6# bone in boston butt since it was on sale. Would also work with a javelina shoulder! The main difference between this and BBQ pulled pork is the spices you use give it a more earthy/savory flavor vs. the sweetness of most pulled pork spice mixes. The main spice is called achiote (made from annatto seeds) and would replace the paprika in BBQ spice mixes. Also, there's no brown sugar. The classic versions aren't spicy, but I did add some serrano pepper to mine. Other spices typically included are cinnamon, cloves, allspice, Mexican oregano and cumin. You can either buy achiote paste, or buy annatto seeds and grind them with using a coffee or spice grinder. I couldn't find the paste, so I did the latter. You may need to go to a Latin grocery to find some of these things, including the banana leaves, or order them online.
Most recipes use a marinade vs. dry rub. So you mix the spices together with some acidic fruit juices (traditional recipe calls for Seville oranges which are more bitter/sour, but I couldn't find any so used a combination of regular orange, lime and grapefruit juice). I put the spices and juice in a blender along with 10 cloves of fresh roasted garlic and two serrano peppers and blended well. Cut the pork into 2" cubes and then marinaded them overnight with the spice/juice mix in a large zip lock bag. I then separated the marinaded meat into 4 batches and wrapped each batch (about 1lb+ of meat in each batch) in banana leaves. The banana leaves lock in the moisture and add some flavor in the process. Even after 12 hrs of smoking at about 235 degrees, the outer leaves were completely dried out and crispy, but the inner leaves were still moist and the meat was steaming when I opened the wrap. I wrapped each batch with about 6-10 layers of banana leaf, in alternating directions to get a good seal. Before wrapping, I put some red peppers, onions and roma tomato slices on top of the meat. Next time I may put the whole roasted garlic cloves on top of the meat vs. in the marinade. I love whole roasted garlic! I might also cut back to just one serrano since it was pretty spicy and somewhat overwhelmed the other flavors. You can also make it in a dutch oven, crock pot or the oven. Low and slow is the key! Banana leaf is not required, but I'd recommend it. You could just wrap in foil instead.
Traditionally it's served over white rice with some black beans. I forgot to pick up black beans, so put it over Mexican rice with corn tortilla's and made little street tacos with it. I also planned to serve it with some whole smoked jalapenos, but forgot to put them on the smoker :-(. If doing tacos, some pickled onions and/or fresh sliced avocado would go good with it as well.
I'll definitely make it again with a few tweaks to dial it in some. In retrospect, serving over white rice with black beans would have been the better way to serve it - along with smoked jalapenos and some fresh avocado slices. I don't have a specific recipe. Looked at several online and then mixed and matched what I thought I would like. This video is a good place to start. I did put tequila in mine as well
.
It's very similar to pulled pork. Same cut of meat - anything from the shoulder - whole shoulder, boston butt, picnic ham. Boneless is easiest since you cut it up vs. cooking it whole. I used a 6# bone in boston butt since it was on sale. Would also work with a javelina shoulder! The main difference between this and BBQ pulled pork is the spices you use give it a more earthy/savory flavor vs. the sweetness of most pulled pork spice mixes. The main spice is called achiote (made from annatto seeds) and would replace the paprika in BBQ spice mixes. Also, there's no brown sugar. The classic versions aren't spicy, but I did add some serrano pepper to mine. Other spices typically included are cinnamon, cloves, allspice, Mexican oregano and cumin. You can either buy achiote paste, or buy annatto seeds and grind them with using a coffee or spice grinder. I couldn't find the paste, so I did the latter. You may need to go to a Latin grocery to find some of these things, including the banana leaves, or order them online.
Most recipes use a marinade vs. dry rub. So you mix the spices together with some acidic fruit juices (traditional recipe calls for Seville oranges which are more bitter/sour, but I couldn't find any so used a combination of regular orange, lime and grapefruit juice). I put the spices and juice in a blender along with 10 cloves of fresh roasted garlic and two serrano peppers and blended well. Cut the pork into 2" cubes and then marinaded them overnight with the spice/juice mix in a large zip lock bag. I then separated the marinaded meat into 4 batches and wrapped each batch (about 1lb+ of meat in each batch) in banana leaves. The banana leaves lock in the moisture and add some flavor in the process. Even after 12 hrs of smoking at about 235 degrees, the outer leaves were completely dried out and crispy, but the inner leaves were still moist and the meat was steaming when I opened the wrap. I wrapped each batch with about 6-10 layers of banana leaf, in alternating directions to get a good seal. Before wrapping, I put some red peppers, onions and roma tomato slices on top of the meat. Next time I may put the whole roasted garlic cloves on top of the meat vs. in the marinade. I love whole roasted garlic! I might also cut back to just one serrano since it was pretty spicy and somewhat overwhelmed the other flavors. You can also make it in a dutch oven, crock pot or the oven. Low and slow is the key! Banana leaf is not required, but I'd recommend it. You could just wrap in foil instead.
Traditionally it's served over white rice with some black beans. I forgot to pick up black beans, so put it over Mexican rice with corn tortilla's and made little street tacos with it. I also planned to serve it with some whole smoked jalapenos, but forgot to put them on the smoker :-(. If doing tacos, some pickled onions and/or fresh sliced avocado would go good with it as well.
I'll definitely make it again with a few tweaks to dial it in some. In retrospect, serving over white rice with black beans would have been the better way to serve it - along with smoked jalapenos and some fresh avocado slices. I don't have a specific recipe. Looked at several online and then mixed and matched what I thought I would like. This video is a good place to start. I did put tequila in mine as well
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Wildabeest
Well-known member
You'll also see it referred to as Puerco Pibil. The difference is "puerco" is pork and cochinita is suckling pig. So I guess mine was technically puerco pibil. But pretty much all of the recipes online for either one call for a boston butt or shoulder, not a suckling pig.
44hunter45
Well-known member
I just chopped garden Rhubarb. More coming. We seem to have a big crop of wild strawberries on the way, but they are still in flower.
So no Strawberry/Rhubarb pie tonight. Momma is doing Rhubarb Cobbler.
So no Strawberry/Rhubarb pie tonight. Momma is doing Rhubarb Cobbler.
Wildabeest
Well-known member
Leftover pibil made some For some good nachos tonight...
Wildabeest
Well-known member
Are we done with shelter in place? I hope not because I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this thread!
Made some meatball subs tonight with venison Italian sausage. Next go round I’m going to have more of my grindings done as Italian sausage. I use it at 2x the rate of either burger or breakfast sausage. Use it in lasagna, spaghetti, Italian sausage hogies and now meatball subs. I love an elk burger, but not a huge fan of a plain mule deer burger. Anyway, I’ve gotten tons of great ideas from the posts on this thread. Thanks all for your contributions. As Steve Rinella would say “I hunt to eat”.
Willet old fashioned to the left. Using real maple syrup as the sweetener.
Made some meatball subs tonight with venison Italian sausage. Next go round I’m going to have more of my grindings done as Italian sausage. I use it at 2x the rate of either burger or breakfast sausage. Use it in lasagna, spaghetti, Italian sausage hogies and now meatball subs. I love an elk burger, but not a huge fan of a plain mule deer burger. Anyway, I’ve gotten tons of great ideas from the posts on this thread. Thanks all for your contributions. As Steve Rinella would say “I hunt to eat”.
Willet old fashioned to the left. Using real maple syrup as the sweetener.
wihunter12
Well-known member
SaskHunter
Well-known member
Made 25lb of German Bear/Pork and 25lb of Onion and Garlic Bear/Pork sausage yesterday.
Tonight was Wyoming sage fed antelope steaks with fresh veggies!
Tonight was Wyoming sage fed antelope steaks with fresh veggies!
JohnCushman
Well-known member
I had fish sticks and fries because that's what my son wanted
Wildabeest
Well-known member
We’ve all been there Cush! Kudos to your for your sacrifice!
cahunter805
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Stuffed peppers with elk, jalapeños,onion,garlic,mushrooms and diced tomatoes. Topped with pepper jack and cheddar.
SaskHunter
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Tonight was Ukrainian feast; perogies, bear cabbage roll, bear sausage and sauer kraut! Topped off with a local brew.
Big Slick
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RidgeRoamingRichard
Well-known member
Please excuse the plating. Braised Asian venison over fried rice. Found a bag of random chunks from 2018 that must not have made it to the grinder, so I wanted a recipe that would soften up the conective tissue and cover up a little freezer taste. 
RidgeRoamingRichard
Well-known member
Tried to corn a venison roast last week. It had decent flavor, but the texture wasn't quite there. I didn't get the separation between the muscle fibres like I have with beef. Has anyone done this with better results?
