Holiday Party Favs: Pulled Pork and Prosciutto Wrapped Roasted Asparagus

Every year my mom hosts a holiday party at the house for all of her managers/employees. This year I was there to help her through every step of the way. Let me tell you what, hosting a party is HARD WORK. We were cooking and cleaning and prepping all. day. long. It is fun though, when everything comes together and is beautifully presented and you get loads of compliments on the food!
This year we had two big hits.
Over Thanksgiving, we were mulling over food ideas for the party, and thought about buying a spiral ham and turkey and some mini buns and having people make little sandwiches for something a little more hearty. Then I had the (brilliant, if I do say so myself) idea of making the pork carnitas recipe from the Pantry again, but adding a barbeque sauce after it's done to create (quasi) pulled pork for sandwiches.
Seriously, it was amazing. People were raving. People are still raving.
If I didn't convince you in the previous entry that this is the best pork recipe ever, I darn well better be convincing you now.
I'll admit, I was a little nervous at first, because it's not quite the same consistency. After I added the BBQ sauce, it appeared to get mushy, but then I thought we could throw it in the crock pot set on low and that way it would hopefully brown up a bit, or char a little on the edges. It did just that AND the flavored deepened even more. SO fab.



Carnitas
(recipe from the The Pantry at Delancey)

4 pounds pork shoulder, with fat intact
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups fresh squeezed orange juice
3/4 cup pure cane sugar coke (mexican coca-cola or Boylan cola)
5 garlic cloves, peeled
2 teaspoon kosher salt
4-5 orange peels

Cut the pork into 2-3 inch chunks. Combine everything in a large pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until pork is tender and fat is liquifying, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours. **slow and low = tender**

Uncover and boil the pork until the liquid completely evaporates and the meat browns and begins to get crisp, stirring often. The should take a little over an hour.

Cool the meat slightly.
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The other hit of the night was a simple, yet delicious appetizer that I think would compliment any party. We served them on a red serving platter, and they looked beautiful and so festive!

Prosciutto Wrapped Roasted Asparagus
(recipe from our friend, Christie)

1.5 pound asparagus, trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
about 8 paper-thin slices prosciutto, halved lengthwise
4 oz. cream cheese or goat cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Trim the stem ends off of each asparagus. Using a knife, spread a dab of cheese around the middle of 2 asparagus spears, then wrap with a half a piece of prosciutto, exposing ends and tips.
Place each bunch on a heavy baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Roast until the asparagus is tender, about 15 minutes.