TLC In The Kitchen

Years ago my friend, Caridad, taught me to cook a few Cuban dishes. One of my all time favorite meals is Cuban style pork with lots of lemon and garlic, served with black beans and rice. That is what’s for dinner tonight!

You have to plan ahead for this meal. The meat needs to marinate for at least 24 hours, so I started yesterday on this dinner. I also bought an inexpensive pork shoulder roast that will require a very long, slow cooking time, so I had to plan to have it ready to go into the oven before I left for work. The black beans also take a fairly long time to cook, so I put them in the crock pot this morning. A little planning will go a long way, because this is a delicious dinner. Here are the recipes:

Cuban Style Pork

Ingredients:
pork roast (I have used pork loin, pork shoulder and pork butt roasts for this meal)
lemons – at least one lemon per pound of pork
garlic – 3 or 4 cloves per pound, depending on how garlicky you want it to be
salt and pepper to taste

At least 24 hours before you need to put your roast in the oven, zest your lemons and squeeze out as much juice as possible. Peel and finely mince the garlic and mix with the juice and zest. Place the roast in a large bowl and pour the garlic and juice over the roast. I rub in the marinade before I cover and place in the refrigerator. Turn the roast in the marinade several time over the next 24 hours.

I cook this recipe on low heat for a long time. Heat your oven at 325°F. Place the roast in a heavy roasting pan with a lid or a cast-iron skillet and cover well with foil. Save the marinade in the refrigerator and every hour or so, baste the roast. Cook for about one hour per pound of meat. You will know when the roast is done, because it will be browned and falling apart. Slice or pull apart with a fork and serve with the following side dish.

Black Beans and Rice

Ingredients:
1 pound dry black beans
1 large onion
1 large green bell pepper
2 stalks celery
4 – 6 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 – 16 oz. can of crushed or diced tomatoes
4 cups of water for beans
2 cups of white rice
4 cups of water to cook rice

Chop the onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Place the dry beans, vegetables, salt, pepper and canned tomatoes to the crock pot. Add the 4 cups of water and turn on high for approximately 5 hours. Check after a few hours and add more water if necessary to cook the beans until tender.

About half an hour before you are ready to serve dinner, boil the four cups of water. Add the rice to the boiling water. Turn down and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve the black beans over the white rice with your delicious Cuban style pork!