Slap Swine Flu in the Snout with these Carnitas

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo this Tuesday by taking off that face mask and embracing that other white meat.

You will need:

1 5-6lb bone-in pork shoulder

1 carrot

1 stalk of celery

1 onion

1 jalapeno

3 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon each cumin, chile powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper

1 bay leaf

½ cup water

Chop the carrot, celery, onion, and jalapeno into small chunks. Smash the garlic and throw all of it into a shallow baking pan. Rub the pork shoulder on the outside with all the spices. Put the pork on top of the vegetables, pour in the water and drop in the bay leaf. Cover the pan with foil tightly and braise in a 200 degree oven for 6-8 hours. While the pork is doing its magic make up a batch of margaritas, some guacamole, salsa, or just take yourself a little siesta until dinner time.

After the pork is done you should be able to pull out the bone without any trouble and the meat should come off easily. Let cool for fifteen minutes and shred the meat with a few forks or your biggest, baddest meat cleaver incorporating the cooked vegetables and drippings from the bottom of the pan. Serve on tortillas with guacamole, cheese, sour cream and salsa. Impress your friends by telling them it took all day to make this dish when really you were watching Food Network letting the oven do all the work.