When I was looking for a cauliflower rice recipe I came across the Food Charlatan blog. She had this recipe at one of her top 10 recipes. The pictures looked great so I wanted to try it. She got this recipe from People magazine’s article about the recipe for the Cubano Sandwiches from the movie Chef. Which Henry and I watched that movie several months ago so I decided to give it a go. It was good but I need to tweak it a little. First off, the meat was too dry. I set the timer for a couple hours and went to the gym since I had been eating way too many of the orange and lemon rolls from earlier in the week. Next time I need to stay home and watch the temperature and I am going to stop at 150 degrees. My piece of meat was too thick and the marinade couldn’t reach the center and there was less crust surface area which is the best part. Also, I didn’t salt the meat first before sticking it in the bag with the marinade. I just salted the marinade. I salted it just before cooking it but it wasn’t enough. This needs much more salt because the flavors of citrus, garlic, cumin and mint are really cool and you want to bring them out. She accidentally used a bone in shoulder and I want to try that next time. I bought my piece of boneless pork shoulder from Eataly for $27 for 3 1/2 pounds. I might try a butcher in the village next time. She doesn’t mention using the marinade and reducing it down as a glaze but it tasted great. It is strong though. This made a lot and I have the rest wrapped up in the freezer. I used some for some tacos for Henry. Maybe I will bust it out for something else sometime. I thought of using it ground up in a ravioli filling.
Cuban Mojo Marinated Pork
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 3/4 cup fresh orange juice
- 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
- 1 cup cilantro, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup lightly packed mint leaves, finely chopped
- 8 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon minced oregano (2 teaspoons dried oregano)
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- Kosher salt and pepper
- 3 and 1/2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, in one piece, could also use bone in
Instructions
- If you have a food processor: Add the orange juice, cilantro leaves, mint leaves, and smashed (not minced) garlic cloves, and pulse until everything is finely chopped. Add this mixture to a ziplock bag, along with the rest of the oil, zest, lime juice, oregano, and cumin.
- If you don’t have a food processor: In a large ziplock bag, combine olive oil, orange zest, orange juice, lime juice, chopped cilantro, chopped mint, minced garlic, oregano, and cumin. Shake it around a bit to mix it up, then add the pork shoulder.
- Place the zipped up bag in a baking dish, and put it in the fridge overnight, or several hours at least.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place a wire rack (I used a cooking rack) over a rimmed baking sheet.
- Place the pork on the rack and discard the marinade. Salt and pepper the pork well.
- Roast the pork for 30 minutes. It should be lightly browned.
- Turn the oven down to 375 degrees F. Roast for another 1 hour and 20-30 minutes, or until a meat thermometer reads 160.
- Transfer to a cutting board, cover with aluminum foil and let rest at least 20 minutes.
- Carve against the grain and serve.