Carnitas

Cut the boneless pork shoulder roast in half lengthwise and pull off the netting.

Fit the pork into a pan just large enough to hold it tightly, with little space around it.

Crack the black peppercorns coarsely in a mortar, only enough to break them, and halve the peeled garlic.

Sprinkle a teaspoon of salt over one side of the roast, flip and do the same on the other.

Drizzle the orange juice around the pork, tuck the bay leaves and garlic where they touch the liquid, and sprinkle the oregano and cracked pepper over everything.

Cover and cook in a 300F oven about an hour and a half until completely fork tender.

Uncover, raise the oven to 450F and cook about 30 minutes until all the moisture has evaporated and only fat is left in the pan.

For the slow cooker version, cut the same three pounds into pieces about three inches and salt them on all sides with tongs.

Melt two cups of pork lard in the slow cooker on high, add the cracked pepper, oregano, bay leaves, halved garlic and orange slices, then nestle the salted pork down so it is just barely covered.

Put the top on and leave it on high about four hours until the pork is tender, cooking in fat as in a confit.

For the immersion circulator version, salt the cut pork, mix it with the cracked pepper, oregano, bay leaves, orange slices and halved garlic, then add about a cup of rendered pork lard.

Pack it into bags, standing each bag in a quart container to fill it, and seal with as little air as possible.

Lower the bags into the circulator at 185F, cover the surface with plastic wrap and cook eight hours.

Break the pork into bigger pieces, turn everything over and keep turning it in the fat in the 450F oven about 20 minutes until the pieces are beautifully browned, then about 10 minutes more.

Cool the bags in an ice bath; they keep sealed in the refrigerator three or four days. When opened, keep the pork broth and the rendered fat separate and save the fat for the browning.

Heat a pan with some of the fat, pat the pieces dry with paper towel and lay them in over medium heat to brown.

Serve with roasted tomatillo salsa, a dollop of guacamole, lime squeezed over and a couple of cilantro leaves.