Receta Like a Fine Swine.
There's nothing like getting a series of serious sinus infections to make you dislike food for a while. Well, I'm on some sort of beginning of a mend and thankfully food seems appealing once again. No more cans of chemically enhanced soup and cough drops for dinner. Nope, I'll be using my teeth to chew things from here on in.
So I don't know about you but when I get better from a cold or whatever I get a serious craving for meat. My inner carnivore monster comes crawling up with a thirst for blood. Not in a creepy I crave human flesh, zombie kind of way but in a "I sure would like a giant chunk of meat to go all cavewoman on" sort of way. You know, I want a brontosaurus steak that I can hold like a barbarian with meaty juiciness dripping off my chin. Don't you get that way? No, it's just me?
Anyways, one of the first things I crave after a meatless streak is pork. Must be the Cubano in me. One of the first meals that I've actually had the pleasure of cooking in quite a while is Cuban Roast Pork. Marinated in mojo (garlic, citrus, cumin, oregano, pepper, etc) for at least 12 hours and roasted low and slow for half the day. This chunk of meat will quiver and threaten to fall apart just by glancing at it. Served up with a side of arroz con frijoles negroes (vinegary Cuban black beans and steamed white rice) and a ensalada de aquacate (avocado sliced with sherry wine vinegar and Spanish olive oil tossed gently with red onion and cilantro).
After eating this meal I actually started to feel sort of human again. As human as I ever felt being a creature from the depths of the darkness. Hahahahahaha! Okay, enjoy my super secret pork recipe that I'm just going to tell you. Don't tell anyone else. It'll be our secret.
Cuban Roast Pork
(mojo marinade)
- 10 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
- 1 tsp oregano oregano
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 cup sour orange juice, or 1/2 cup orange juice plus 1/4 cup each fresh lemon and lime juice
- Put of the mojo ingredients in a blender and pulse until the garlic is minced up.
- (for the pork)
- 4-6 lbs. pork shoulder roast
Pour the mojo over the pork shoulder and marinate overnight. The following day preheat the oven to 250F degrees. Transfer the pork (fat side up) and marinade to a roasting pan and cook for 4 hours basting every 1/2 hour. Add a little water to the pan when it starts to dry out. Pull the pork out and let it rest for 15 minutes. It should be so meltingly tender that it falls apart just by touching it. Enjoy.
Oh and you wanna know the best thing about making Cuban roast pork? The next day (or that same night even) you can have Cuban sandwiches. Yum to the tenth degree. Make sure you have sliced ham, swiss cheese, Cuban bread (or a soft baguette), dill pickles, and mustard.
Just talking about it has made me hungry. I would kill for one right now. No really, I would kill you and take your Cuban sandwich if you were nearby and happened to be holding a Cuban sandwich. You should be glad that that is not that case. Anywho, I need to go find someone with a Cuban sandwich. Hmmm, or maybe I'll just make one. Less jail time that way. Yeah, that's what I'm gonna do. You should make one too. xoxo