Hog Heaven

What would possessed me to make a pork shoulder roast for myself? Especially since they are usually sold in size: huge. I was watching a cooking show..."Mad Hungry" and Lucinda Scala Quinn was making a pork shoulder - Cuban Style. I happen to simply love "pernil". The crackling skin, the garlicky tender meat. I didn't set out to make it but I was in the supermarket and there was a sale and a shoulder that was just under 4 lbs. It looked tiny compared to the other gargantuan ones. It was do-able.

In the end, I didn't follow Lucinda's recipe which entailed grinding limes and garlic. Instead I found a recipe on-line and it was Tyler Florence's. It was easy and I had all the ingredients.

It called for at least 3 hours marinating time. I first stabbed the pork, making slits all over the meat. Then I mixed minced garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, oil and vinegar making a paste which I rubbed all over the pork. Wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to marinate for the allotted time. It probably would have been even better overnight but I didn't have overnight.

I recommend using a disposable aluminum pan or wrap your roasting pan with several layers of foil very well. Otherwise, be prepared to be doing a lot of scrubbing.

When the 3 hours were up, I pre-heated the oven to 350 and once heated, popped the roast in the oven for another 3 hours.

While that was cooking, I made white fluffy rice and my favorite side for this fragrant dish. Red Onion and Tomato salad. I thinly sliced red onion and squeezed a couple of limes over it to "cook" it. Then I seeded a tomato, sliced that thinly and tossed it with the onion. It's fresh and tangy flavor is a perfect compliment to the heavy pork.

The house was filled with the aroma of roasted meat and garlic making my mouth water.
I could hardly wait and stood by the oven counting down the last 60 seconds. I pulled it out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes.

When I made the first cut, the knife slid into the fall-off-the bone meat. And after plating it and finally making that first "perfect bite" - I actually closed my eyes and went to some sort of Nirvana. I wanted to do a happy dance and it was happening in my mouth. The meat was juicy and the skin crisp.

It was just oh-so-good and totally worth the wait.