I have made pork pibil before, using my Sun Oven to cook it. A Sun Oven is a solar oven that uses only the power of the sun; it is a great way to save energy. But given the short days in January and limited sunlight, I made a modified pork pibil in the crockpot.

I started with a recipe from the New York Times, and modified it. I didn’t use banana leaves and I couldn’t find my package of achiote paste. I swear I have some in my cupboard somewhere. But God only knows where. So is it really pork pibil without the achiote paste? No clue. Also, I added carrots. Why? Again, no clue. “I had carrots” is as good a reason as any.

Another variation is that I added a bit of honey because standard pork pibil is a bit too sour. I don’t like black pepper at all, nor spicy hot foods. So I left out the black pepper and reduced the amount of chile powder from 1 T to 1/2 tsp. If you look at the original recipe from the NY Times, you will see that it calls for marinating the pork in a rub. I didn’t do that either.

I served the pork pibil with corn tortillas and lime wedges.

Here is what I did.

Pork Pibil, aka Mexican-style pork tenderloin

1 pork tenderloin (1.5 lbs)

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 yellow onion, cut in half and sliced thinly

1 T honey

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp chipotle chile powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp salt

1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch long chunks

juice and grated rind from two oranges

juice from two limes

1/2 C water

Place all ingredients in crockpot and cook for 6 hours on high. Serve the pork and onions with corn tortillas and lime wedges, with the carrots on the side.

The orange and lime juices were from my mini-orchard. I used juice that I froze from last year’s crop. Here is a shot of this year’s crop of oranges, with the first one ready to harvest. It sure is fun cooking with things I grow in my garden.