Oh CHILD, I am so behind on blog posts. It’s kind of a nice place to be though – having a bunch in the hopper ready to type out and share, but just not having time to actually sit and do it. But it’s all for good reason as I’ve been keeping busy on some fun house projects, have started cleaning up the garden, and have been having fun with the hubs cooking way more at home (as opposed to take-out), so all in all having a grand time!

We made (well okay DAVE made) this pork shoulder roast over a month ago for a little dinner party we had, and I had so much fun and it was so tasty, I’m ready to do it again! The only downer about waiting so long to post a blog is that I sort of wing-dinged the coleslaw, which was really good – but I don’t remember ingredients or measurements AT ALL. I am such a bad blogger. LOL.

Regardless, the meat was the star of the show, so without further ado, let’s get to it babes! We grabbed this recipe from Serious Eats and it was everything we wanted it to be – bold, tangy, bright, delicious. Highly recommend, which of course, is why I’m sharing it! 😀

Servings: 8-10
Prep Time: 30 minutes*
Cook Time: 6 hours
*Though requires marinating overnight

Ingredients for the Mojo Sauce
8 minced garlic cloves
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup minced fresh oregano leaves
1/2 cup fresh juice from 1 to 2 oranges (see note)
1/4 cup fresh juice from 4 limes (see note)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
kosher salt

Ingredients for the Pork + to Finish
1 6 to 8 lb boneless pork shoulder roast, rind removed
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint leaves
3 tbs finely chopped fresh oregano leaves
lime wedges, for serving

First to make the mojo, combine the garlic, cumin, pepper, oregano, orange juice, lime juice, and olive oil in a large bowl and whisk together. Season to taste generously with salt. Then transfer half of the mojo sauce to a sealed container and reserve in the refrigerator. Add the pork to the remaining mojo and turn well to coat.

Transfer pork and marinade to a gallon-sized zipper-lock bag and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to overnight before continuing. We did overnight and it was perfect.

To cook the pork, adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 275°F.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with a double layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Place the pork and the juices on top and fold up the foil, crimping to seal loosely but making sure that there is room for air to circulate inside. Place this in the oven and roast for 3 hours.

Fold back the foil and increase the oven temperature to 325°F, and continue roasting and basting the pork with the pan juices occasionally, until the pork shows almost no resistance when a metal skewer or knife is inserted into it and the surface is crackly and brown, 2 to 3 hours longer. Remove the pork from the oven and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes.

Pour accumulated pork juices into a bowl and discard all except 1 cup. Add reserved mojo sauce to the pork drippings, along with fresh chopped mint and oregano. Whisk this together and season to taste with salt. This is what MAKES this dish y’all.

Finally, shred the pork and serve with a side of the crazy good mint mojo sauce and some lime wedges.

Now while the pork itself is FANTASMIC, turning this shredded pork into the base of a cubano is perfection.

We did a pretty traditional one with the pork from above, ham, salami, pickles, mustard and swiss cheese on a crusty roll. You’ve just gotta do it.

Happy eating!