And finally we get to the pièce de résistance, the reason for which I decided to try this menu in the first place! I've been leading up to this over a few posts now, which had me momentarily debating whether posting things by the time stamp of the last photo taken is such a good idea. I hope you consider trying this one...it's really good.
Slow-Roasted Pork with Lime Mojo
adapted from Bon Appetit, January 2000, also found at Epicurious
click to print
Lime Mojo
2 tbsp ground cumin
1 1/2 c olive oil
2 jalapeño chiles, minced and seeded
12 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
3/4 c fresh lime juice, about 6 limes
1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Pork
3 tbsp Latin Spice Mix
1 3 1/2-lb boneless pork loin
Lime Mojo
Stir cumin in heavy skillet over medium-low heat until fragrant, about 4-6 minutes.
Heat oil in heavy large saucepan until thermometer registers 175°F (do not boil). Remove from heat.
I heated this oil until it looked like there were stretch marks forming in it. Using a (meat) temperature probe I learned that was about 175°F.
Mix in cumin, jalapeño, garlic, salt and pepper, then fresh lime juice, chopped cilantro and vinegar. Cool completely.
Rub 3 tablespoons Latin Spice Mix all over pork.
Place pork in large resealable plastic bag.
Squeezing that pork into this bag took a little bit of doing. I wound up squishing it around so it was on a diagonal within the bag.
Place bag on platter or shallow baking dish in case of leaks. Add 2 cups Lime Mojo. Close bag and refrigerate pork overnight.
Into the fridge1/1/13 at 3:23 a.m.
Cover remaining Lime Mojo and refrigerate.
Preheat oven to 450°F.
Discard marinade from pork. Place pork on rack in large roasting pan.
Out of the fridge 1/2/13 at 8:39 p.m. That's about 40 hours of marinating time for my pork, about 5 times the recommended time if "overnight" means 8 hours.
Roast 30 minutes.
I stuck the probe in the pork. Now we know that cooking a loin for 30 minutes will bring it to 88.3°F.
Reduce oven temperature to 300°F and roast until thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 150°F, about 45 minutes.
Instead of the 150°F the recipe called for, I pulled the pork when the temperature probe beeped at it's default of 145°F. The temperature dropped momentarily but started climbing again after the foil was put on.
Tent with foil; let stand 15 minutes.
Transfer pork to serving platter or cutting board. Cut pork into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Spoon reserved Lime Mojo over pork.
The pork is two different colors not because part of it is uncooked but because there are two different muscles. If your roast is center-cut you will have uniform color.
Wow, wow, wow! Fantastic! The Limo Mojo is just excellent and seasoned the pork very nicely. The roasting times were spot-on, yielding a tender, moist roast without being mushy from my extended marinating time. Dad made proclamations about how good the pork was and he doesn't just say that sort of thing to say it. Remember, he didn't say one word about the Chayote Slaw. The older Mom gets the more she leans toward vegetarianism. She ate some of the roast and liked it too but her words were mostly criticisms of the overly-Spiced Butternut Squash, which I totally agreed with.
This recipe is definitely on the list of things worth repeating. And I don't think I'd change one single thing, which hardly ever happens. And 5 bucks says the Lime Mojo would be great with chicken.
There's still quite a lot of pork leftover; I'm going to swing some tacos with it and I bet they'll kick ass too!
Cost:
- olive oil: $2.82
- jalapeño chiles: $0.27
- garlic cloves: $0.31
- limes: $1.28
- fresh cilantro: $0.49
- Latin Spice Mix, $0.50 SWAG
- boneless pork loin: $10.86
0 comments:
Post a Comment