My dad is a fan of giving food as gifts, especially on Christmas. I can always count on receiving some fantastic cheeses, beautiful nuts and dates, and other fare that makes me feel like I’m in that scene from “It’s a Wonderful Life,” where Donna Reed is welcoming the Martini Family to the hood. However, this year we got sidetracked a bit and didn’t exchange gifts until a day or two after, even though he lives just around the corner. So, when I opened his gift this year and saw two beautiful Pork Loin Roasts. I quietly wondered if they’d been in his garage for awhile because he’s famous for short-cuts. Yes, they were cold and had been refrigerated. No, they hadn’t been frozen. All in all, they were about 3 days old. They needed to be cooked.

Don’t tell anyone, but some days I don’t feel like high maintenance cooking. And with Pork Loin, I like to make them with a Mushroom Port Wine Reduction as a reward for surviving Winter, and because I love how the wine sizzles when you add it to the mushrooms. When faced with these slabs of luxurious pig, I realized I wanted something, or someone to do it for me. Which is why God invented slow cookers, and why I knew it was time to figure out how to make shredded meat carnitas enchiladas at home because it’s one of my husband’s favorite ‘eat out’ meals.

The following was a sure thing. Moist, tender, flavorful and super duper easy. The spice was perfect, the tanginess balanced, the cumin unobtrusive but present. You don’t HAVE to use pork tenderloin, indeed this is a bit of a luxury for peasant food, but I’m telling ya, it really makes a difference in the sweetness and the texture of the entire meal.

Ole, Dad. And Gracias for another great gift!