I bought a pork roast the other day because they were on sale and have proceeded to make two seemingly similar but very different-tasting dishes.
The roast was a bone-in cut. I wanted half it to make pork carnitas again, so cut the roast roughly in half. They came out as delicious as always. I served them with corn tortillas, diced avocado, refried beans, cheese, diced red onion, lettuce, and sour cream. Mmmm…. Had some of the leftovers for lunch today and they were fantastic!
I wasn’t sure what to do with the other half of the roast. I browsed through a few cookbooks. I also remembered that a while back I asked for ideas about what to with a pork roast and got a ton of great-sounding recipes from readers. I eventually settled on this recipe for Cuban Pork Roast, partly because my oranges are in full swing right now and I’m always looking for ways to use some up. This is from The Complete Meat Cookbook
I did marinate this for a day and a half, which I’m sure had something to do with the totally fantastic flavor! I did not serve it with black beans and fried plantains, as was suggested. I made some brown rice and some green beans with garlic, one of my favorites.
My youngest could not get enough of this. The eldest liked it as well, just not quite so intensely. I’m thinking tomorrow I’ll stop by the store for some good sandwich rolls and try the next recipe in this book, Cuban Roast Pork Sandwich with Mojo Sauce, essentially olive oil, garlic, orange juice, and cumin. How could you go wrong? Pork, prosciuto (which I’ll leave out), Swiss or Fontina cheese, red onion, and dill pickles. Mmmm.
Cuban Roast Pork
Ingredients
- 1 pork roast, bone-in or boneless, 4-6 pounds
- 2 Tbs minced garlic
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 cup rum recipe called for dark; I only had light
- 3/4 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 3 Tbs olive oil
- 1 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Mix up the marinade. and marinate your roast overnight. I like to use gallon-sized bags to marinade meat like that. You can also freeze meats in the freezer bags with the marinade. Just pull the meat out of the freezer to defrost the night or two before you want to cook it. This is a great way to take advantage of some of the deals at the warehouse stores.
- If you remember, pull the roast out of the fridge an hour or so before you start cooking. I forgot to do this so added a bit of time to the cooking.
- Preheat the oven to 325 or 350. (The recipe calls for 325. I forgot to pull the meat out AND it was going to be a late dinner so I cooked it at 350 and it came out great.)
- Put the roast on a rack in a roast pan and pour the marinade over it. Bake 1.5 to 2 hours, basting now and then. If the juices in the bottom of the pan evaporate, add a cup of water. Check with meat thermometer and pull the roast out when it hits 150 degrees F. Cover with a foil and let it sit for 15 minutes or so, while you cook up your side dishes, set the table, etc. Carve the meat into slices.
Hi Ellen –
I tried your pork roast this week, and it was yummy. But I thought it needed something more – a sauce or gravy. So I modified a recipe and WOW. It is a tangy sauce that perfectly matches the pork, and should work well on sandwiches as well.
Here is the Lime – Cumin Sauce for your pork roast:
1/4 Cup Mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 Tablespoon olive oil
fresh ground pepper to taste
Whisk together and heat gently until warm. You can easily double the recipe for more.