Cuban Pork STRAIGHT FROM HEAVEN

Two bits of back story to make this latin gem complete:

1. I have a group of friends who get together on a regular basis for a potluck dinner in the theme of whatever country the host/hostess chooses.  We've done Granada, Spain, even Afghanistan...and last night was Cuba.  No one brought cigars.  Cue disappointment. 

2. Not too long ago, I was sucked in by Albertson's grocery store's buy-1-get-2-free (yes, you read that right) meat special; I ended up with more meat than I knew what to do with....so last night, I cooked it. I cooked it real good. 

The recipe involved a slow cooker, so automatically, I was all in from the get-go.  

Y'all know I love a good slow cooker recipe

I substituted 7 rib chops for the one bone-in shoulder the original recipe used, which allowed me to cut the cook time almost in half.  I drizzled grapeseed oil in the crock pot, tossed the pork in it, then added 10 whole cloves of peeled garlic (yummm), cumin, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and some cinnamon.  I squeezed 4 fresh limes into the pot and topped the mixture with about 1/2 a can of frozen orange juice concentrate.

Those weird orange turdlets are the OJ concentrate.  I swear.  

I turned the crock pot on high and let it cook for an hour, then switched it to low and cooked until the meat fell off the bone; about 6 hours.  In the meantime, I painted my house.  

You know, the usual mid-cooking rampage activity.  No big deal.  Whatevs.  

Once the pork was tender, I stuck the whole crock pot in the fridge to cool.  Of course, this felt like it took forever.  

Yea lord, give unto me the strength to NOT EAT ALL OF THIS RIGHT NOW. 

Once cool, I shredded the meat with two forks while I made a reduction of the pork juices: I strained out all the solids: 

Yes, that's ALL garlic.

and simmered the pork juice, 2T apple cider vinegar, more garlic (I chopped all those cloves I roasted with the pork in the crock pot), more crushed red pepper, more lime juice, and salt and pepper.  I whisked it occasionally over medium-high heat until it reduced to about 1/4 its original volume.  

I poured the sauce over the shredded pork in a casserole pan and tossed the two together.  

¡y....voila!  

It seemed wayyyyy too simple to be this delicious; but no, it is NOT too good to be true!  It even got a shoutout from the Cuban host himself.  Then momma went and had way too many mojitos and that's where the story ends.  Y'all enjoy.