I lived in what is called "The Greater Los Angeles Metropolitan Area" for almost 30 years before I finally said ya, basta!, and moved away. Living in LA did have its benefits, though. There are lots of immigrants, and lots of good ethnic food to be had. One of my absolutely favorite restaurants in Los Angeles was a modest Cuban joint in Culver City, by the name of Versailles. They didn't accept reservations, and there was always a line outside. Quite often, the line was 20 deep out the door. They were lined up for one of two things: Chicken or roast pork.
I always ordered the pork.
If you've never had Cuban style roast pork, I won't go so far as to say you haven't eaten. But I must say, they know how to do it right.
Tonight we are having roast pork, Cuban style, with the most common sides: Moros y Cristianos (black beans and rice) and platanos maduros (ripe plantains). I think you'll like it...and if you've never tried platanos before, prepare yourself. They may never replace yams in this country, but if you give them a try, you're in for a treat. The platanos are the only ingredient in this dinner that might remotely be outside of the shopping parameters of most people. Everything else is immediately available. And if you look a little harder in your own community, you might find that platanos are, indeed, available.
Mojo, by the way, is pronounced "Mo-Ho"...not "Mo-Joe". At least in this context.
The thing that gives Cuban roast pork it's distinctive flavor is the marinade, mojo, which is a garlicky citrus concoction made from sour oranges. The sour orange, or more properly Seville orange, grows all over Cuba, and came to Florida as a backyard fruit tree with the wave of Cuban immigrants. They are not easily found in the markets, unfortunately, because of their limited use. If you can't find sour oranges in your neck of the woods, you can approximate the taste by using 1 cup of orange juice mixed with 1/2 cup of lemon juice and 1/2 cup of lime juice. A large pork shoulder is marinated overnight in the mojo, and roasted slowly the next day for 3 to 4 hours until the meat is fall off the bone tender.
When it's done, and you're ready to plate up and dig in, you'll have something like this...
Let us begin...
Choose a large pork shoulder roast...around 5 pounds. Don't worry if there's fat on it, because it will render out during roasting, and provide basting juice. And if 5 lbs sounds like a lot of meat...trust me, you'll be making some incredible sandwiches with the left overs.
With a sharp knife, pierce the roast all over, pour a generous 2 tbsp of coarse salt into your hands and massage it into the meat, working it into the slits you made. Pour one cup of the mojo over the roast in a large bowl, massage it into the meat and slits, and let it marinate overnight in the fridge. If you have one of those meat syringes, as I do, I like to inject some of the mojo right into the meat.
mojo
2 c sour orange juice
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp coarse black pepper
20 garlic cloves, peeled (two heads of garlic)
Place all of the above ingredients into a blender and frappe until the garlic is chopped up and no longer chunky. Save half of this marinade in a jar for later.
2 large onions, sliced into rounds
1/2 cup reserved mojo
1/2 cup reserved pan drippings
Bring the roast out of the fridge the next day and allow to come to room temp. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees, and place the roast in a roasting pan, along with any of the marinade standing in the bowl. You still have 1 cup of reserved mojo left, and you should pour a half cup into the pan before placing in the oven. A 5 lb roast can take 5 hours to cook, and you should baste in with the pan juices once per hour. Don't cover the roast...if it looks like it's browning too quickly, you can loosely tent it with foil, but don't crimp the foil down over the meat. As they say, the meat is done when the juices run clear.
When the roast is done, move it to another pan and let it rest for a bit. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pan juices from the roasting pan. You're going to saute the onions in that. Saute your sliced onions in the pan drippings over medium high for about a minute, then add the last half cup of reserved mojo to the onions and continue to saute for another 5 minutes.
Afetr the pork has rested for 10 or 15 minutes, you slice or simply pull all of the meat apart with two forks. Pour your sauteed onions and pan juices all over the meat, and take a big whiff. Smells devine, doesn't it?
Now for the sides...
Baked Sweet Platanos (Plantains)
4 good sized, ripe (mostly brown) platanos, peeled and sliced on the bias about 1 inches thick
2 oz Rum
1 stick of cold butter, sliced
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350, and spray a covered baking dish with some Pam. Place the platano slices in pan and drizzle with the Rum. Dot with butter slices, sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon on top, cover and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake for about 10 or 15 minutes till nicely browned.
Black Beans & Rice (Moros y Cristianos)
1 & 1/2 cups black beans, dried
1/4 cup olive oil for sautéing
2 & 1/2 cups onion, diced
2 & 1/2 cups green pepper, seeded and diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
3 teaspoons cumin, ground
1 teaspoon oregano
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 &1/2 cups chicken stock
3 cups long grain white rice
Cover the dry beans with about four cups water in a two-quart saucepan. DON'T add any salt yet! Bring to a boil, and boil for three minutes. Remove from the heat and let it stand, covered for one hour.
Drain and rinse the beans. Add enough water to cover once again and bring to a boil; reduce heat to low, cover and cook until tender, about 40 to 50 minutes. Drain.
Rinse the rice with cold water until the water runs clear.
Use a large, eight-quart covered stockpot. Sauté the onion and green pepper in the olive oil until tender. Add the garlic, and sauté another minute or two. Add the tomato paste, black beans, oregano, cumin, bay leaf, and vinegar. Cook for about five minutes, stirring gently.
Add the chicken stock and the rinsed rice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for about 20-30 minutes – until the rice is fully cooked. Adjust salt and pepper to your taste, and remove the Bay leaf before serving. If you are an onion lover, you can top the rice and beans with a bit of minced fresh onion after plating.
This is meal satisfying, delicious comfort food of the first order. Your house will smell incredibly good as it is cooking, and I'm pretty sure everyone will clean their plates.
Before sitting down to this feast, reward yourself for your culinary accomplishment with a Mojito cocktail:
1.5 oz White Rum
12 fresh spearmint leaves
1/2 lime
7 oz club soda
4 tsp. sugar
gently crush mint leaves with sugar and lightly squeeze lime in a cool tall glass. Fill glass with ice, add rum, club soda, and stir mojito well. Garnish with a lime wedge a few sprigs of mint.
I hope you give this recipe a try. What's for dinner at your place tonight?