Cuban Roast Pork with rice and beans.
Local chef Ric Orlando makes this Cuban Roast Pork to serve in sandwiches but it’s so delicious you will want to eat it on its own or atop rice and beans to catch the savory juices. Do not skimp on the garlic chips; they disappear in the finished product, leaving only their magical flavor in each bite. Makes enough for a crowd, 8-12 as a main dish or more in sandwiches.
Ingredients:
Pork picnic or butt roast, bone in or not, 4-6 pounds
6 or more garlic cloves, sliced into coins
¼ c lime juice
¼ c orange juice
Kosher salt, maybe ¼ c
1 T ground black pepper
1 T ground cumin
1 T paprika (smoked if available)
1 T dried oregano
Method: make slits in the surface of the roast with a small sharp knife and insert a garlic coin in each slit; repeat until all areas on all sides are covered evenly, adding more garlic if you need/want. Combine lime and orange juice in a Ziploc bag; add pork roast and marinate at least 2 hours and preferably overnight, turning occasionally to expose all sides to the juice.
Cuban Roast Pork, hot out of the oven! One of our tasters grabbed the first bite before we could take a photo.
In the morning, preheat oven to 300 degrees. Remove the roast from the marinade and pat dry, reserving the juices. Rub the roast generously with Kosher salt, then ground black pepper, paprika, cumin and oregano, in each case turning the roast to evenly coat all sides. Transfer the roast in its pan with the citrus juices to the oven, skin or fat side up. Cook for 1 ½ hours per pound until the roast is very tender and falling apart, basting occasionally with pan juices.
Serve Cuban Roast Pork hot over rice and beans, with sliced onions and white vinegar or quartered limes or lemons for garnish if you like. Leftovers heat beautifully and are even better the next day.
