Mojo Marinade

Eggecutioner

After having some really good cuban sandwiches recently, I am inspired to do a "Cuban" pork roast.[p]I found this Mojo Marinade in the archives. It calls for sour oranges, if you cant find them use a combo of sweet oranges, lemons, and limes. Well here is my question: My family and I are real big fans of Lime, anything good lime juice makes it better. Do ya'll think that I could do 50/50 orange/lime? Or do you think I still need some of the lemon flavor to get a "Cuban" tasting roast?[p]"Mojo Marinade:[p]20 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1 and 1/2 cups sour orange juice (In a pinch, use two parts orange to one part lemon and one part lime)
1 cup minced onion
1 teaspoon oregano
1 and 1/2 cups Spanish olive oil[p]Mash garlic and salt into a paste, using a mortar and pestle. Stir in sour orange juice, onion, and oregano. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or longer.[p]In a saucepan, heat olive oil to the boiling point and remove from the heat. Whisk in the garlic-orange juice mixture until well blended. Makes 1 quart [p]I'm planning to make this in the next day or two, but I'm thinking I'll put the garlic and onion in the blender with the juice."[p]
Thanks,
Joe

fishlessman

Eggecutioner,
go with the limes. ive followed this recipe a few times and its good
[ul][li]WDAN's lechon asado[/ul]

Rumrunner

<p />Eggecutioner, follow the below link for a couple other variations of Cuban Mojo Pork that I do. They are really simple and tasty.
Rum

[ul][li]Cuban Mojo Pork[/ul]

StumpBaby

Rumrunner,[p]
Rum..I gotta thank you for the advice on restaurants in the keys. We was only able to stop at one of them..porkys bbq in Marlboro Key...my first time tastin mojo pork..holy moly..this my friend was an undies changin event..I just could not believe how good that mojo pork sammich was..and how big it was too..we ate there twice..I had a combo pulled pork and pulled beef platter the second night..very very good stuff. My wife got all you can eat ribs the second nite..for 14 bucks..big ol pork spares..my wife..bless her stump lovin fuzzy little self..is the reason all you can eat pork spares works at 14 dollars a plate..she had I think a halfa rack only..hurt me seein that..I triedem and they were good..but I liked mine better..but the rest of the food..good god...thats some good stuff..out by the waters edge..open sea air..cole key west drafts at a buck a pop at happy hour..they is lucky I left when I did..matter of fact everybody was prolly lucky I left when I did..[p]
Thanks again,[p]StumpBaby

Rumrunner

StumpBaby, glad you enjoyed it. The last Mojo I did pretty well nailed Porky's. I also made a sauce of 50-50 Mojo and French's Chipotle mayo.[p]Porky's also has an awesome dessert, tho it's not on the menu....deep fried Key Lime Pie

crkscrw

Eggecutioner,[p]Goya puts out bottled sour orange juice...great stuff.

Eggecutioner

fishlessman,[p]That one sounds even better! Thanks!!! Do you think I should use the Guava wood for this? Or no smokin wood at all? What do you use? I am pretty sure I don't want to use hickory, or mesquite. I might consider oak or maple... Dang, so many options.[p]Joe

fishlessman

Eggecutioner,
i use a mix of cherry and hickory, but ive got some guava on the way, i would try that.for leftovers i like to mix some of the mojo sauce with elder wards vinegar sauce, its very good, and when making sandwiches try mixing this sauce with some mayo and yogurt. the garlic isnt overpowering like you would think, you can kick it up with some sliced pieces in the meat before cooking

DobieDad

Eggecutioner,
I moved from South Florida to the Chicago area less than two years ago. Used to do Lechon on a regular basis, using sour oranges which were easy to find there. Must have burnt two tanks of gas looking for sour oranges in the greater Chicago area, and concluded that they just don't make it up this way. I tried Goya's bottled sour orange and found it a little dull. I now use fresh orange:lime in a ratio of 1:3, and it works very well.[p]WDAN's recipe comes closest to what I'm accustomed to but for one missing item. White onions. Cubans put white onion in a wide variety of dishes when they cook, then garnish with raw diced white onion on top just before serving. What I would suggest is thinly slice two or three (yep... don't hold back) large white onions and add them to the marinade. I also add half a bay leaf and a shot of dry sherry. After marinading, place half the onions in the bottom of a non-reactive deep roasting/casserole dish, like Le Creuset. Set your pork on top, and top with the rest of the onions. Pour in most of the marinade - as if you are brazing.[p]At this point, I used to put a foil tent on it and put it in a very slow oven and cook it overnight.[p]I've made Lechon just like this in the oven since I've been in Illinois, using orange/lime, and it has been great. What I have not yet done is cooked it in the Egg, as I've had my Egg for only 8 months and am still experimenting. Next time I do Lechon I would slow cook in the Egg without a lid on the Le Creuset and let the smoke penetrate the dish. I would bet the Egg would keep the meat quite moist without the need of a lid or foil tent. It could be 'to die for'.[p]I too serve it with white rice and black beans and a 'mojo' sauce that is similar to WDAN's. [p]Lightly cook 6 - 8 cloves thin sliced garlic in 1/3 cup Spanish olive oil. Then add 2/3 cup lime juice (or orange/lime) plus 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin. Bring to a brief boil. Take off the heat and add salt and pepper to taste and let cool. This is best fresh made.[p]HTH! Looks like you will beat me to cooking Lechon on the Egg. Let me know how it comes out![p]DobieDad

QBabe

Eggecutioner,[p]That's a recipe I posted a while back. As I recall it was very good. I don't see any reason why you couldn't use just limes...[p]Tonia
:~)

Eggecutioner

DobieDad,[p]Wow thanks for that inspiration. Yesterday got away from me. My wife decided we shoukld celebrate Cinco de Mayo on the sixth. Seemed like a good plan. Lots and lots of the "Perfect" margaritas... Any way I guess I am going to do this next weekend. Because I don't have enough time to marinade and cook one this weekend.[p]Let me ask you this. Is this Lechon stuff the meat that they use on the "Cuban" sandwiches? Or is it more like the Mojo marinade? Or are they all used interchangebly? Ultimately I just want to make cuban pork with black beans and rice. On day 2 I want to make Cuban sandwiches...I love those. I mean LOVE those.

Eggecutioner

QBabe,
You know I agree. We used about 25 last night in those drinks...WOW my head kinda throbs...

DobieDad

eggecutioner,
Lechon (with an accent on the 'o') is the term for suckling pig. Pork shoulder is a common substitution. Asado means roasted or baked. Mojo is a sauce used at the table. Mojo Criollo is the prepared marinade.[p]Yooouuuu Betcha! Sandwiches with lechon are higher on my list than turkey sammys after Thanksgiving. They are called 'pan con lechon' (bread with roast pork) and include thin sliced white onion and a sprinkle of mojo. I dip mine in mojo, but then, I am REALLY into that flavor.[p]The most common Cuban sandwich in Miami is ham, cheese and sliced roast pork in a Cuban white bread roll. The roll is buttered on the outside and compressed in between the hot plates of a sandwich press for a minute or so. It comes out warm and with a flavor of the heated butter. I always found these rather dry. The bread is real basic fine grain white bread, and that never turned me on. But you can also get 'Cuban' sanwiches that include everything but the kitchen sink and will feed a couple of people. But IMO the best is pan con lechon.[p]Glad you are into some of the less common foods to barbecue, as I am. Good luck with the Lechon asado next weekend, and let me know how it comes out.[p]DobieDad