re: Lechon Asado (with pics)

Lechon Asado

1 large pork shoulder (I did a 7 lb one)
2 bottles sour orange juice (pictured juice from Latin market)
2 tbsp dried oregano
2 tsp cumin powder
2 1/2 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
20 cloves fresh garlic peeled
2 large onions sliced in thin rounds
1/2 cup seville orange juice reserved

Make deep cuts on both sides of the ham as pictured in the OP.

Put the garlic, salt, pepper, cumin and oregano in a food processor and combine until garlic is minced. Put mixture in a bowl and add 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and mix thoroughly. Rub garlice paste all over pork shoulder making sure to get it into every cut made. Put in pot, pour sour orange juice over the pork, cover and marinate for 24 hours.

Remove pork from fridge and let it set out at least an hour before cooking. Put shoulder in roasting pan with juices. Preheat oven to 450 (I used broil) and cook fat side up until top is crispy and to your liking on color. Reduce heat to 325 and cook until internal temp is 170 for slicing and 195 for shredding. Baste with juices from pan every hour or so.

The recipe called for the onions to be on the bottom of the roasting pan under the pork. I don't like soft, limp onions so I cooked them stovetop with the 1/2 cup of reserved sour orange juice and caramelized them.

You can also use drippings from the pan to cook the onions stovetop. Comes about the same but get the flavors from the paste instead of just the sour orange.


Cuban Black Beans (Moros y Christianos)

1 1/2 cup long grain rice
1 1/2 cups dry black beans
2 cups cooking water of beans
1 onion diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 lb bacon, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 bay leaf
6 cups water
3 tsp salt
1 tbsp vinegar

Marinate beans overnight in a lot of water. Two inches or more over the top of the beans.

Put the beans in the water and bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for an hour. Add two tsp of salt to the beans for the last 10 minutes. Reserve two cups of the water the beans were cooked in.

Render the bacon fat over medium heat in the olive oil. Add the onion and minced garlic to the bacon and cook about 5 minutes until onion is limp and translucent. Add the cumin, salt, vinegar, bay leaf and rice and stir until well mixed and all the rice is coated in oil.

Add the beans, 2 cups of reserved bean water, vinegar and two cups of water. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 35 to 40 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed by the rice.

Remove from heat, fluff and let stand for five minutes.

My pleasure.

When I started typing it out I realized how much I'd deviated from individual recipes and combined them to make it my way.

I hope you enjoy it!

Man that looks good

You can use even more garlic and cut additional slits and plug the slits with garlic. I'm definitely adding that to the recipe the next time I make it.

Let me know how you like it.