Cuban Roast Pork Christmas Dinner

It's sometimes hard to think of Christmas when the weather is hot and sunny. Our minds are so conditioned to dream of a Northern Hemisphere White Christmas, with chestnuts roasting o'er an open fire, warming ourselves with hearty meals to ward of the wintry blasts....

But I'm not complaining, we were blessed with a fantastic weekend of weather down in New Zealand this Christmas. To set the scene for a very tropical Christmas, I scoured the internet and decided to try a Cuban theme: Cuban Roast Pork Shoulder (Lechon Asado), accompanied by Beans and Rice (Moros y Cristianos).

Ground cumin, pepper, garlic and salt

Cuban Roast Pork
Ingredients:

• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tsp coarse salt
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• zest of 1 orange
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup dry sherry
• 3 Tsp lemon juice
• 3 Tsp fresh lime juice
• 2kg pork shoulder, trimmed and tied

Pork shoulder and marinade

Method:

1. Toast the cumin and black peppercorns in a dry pan, then grind them up with coarse sea salt, oregano and chopped garlic
2. Add this to the orange, lemon, lime juices and sherry.
3. Score the skin of the pork shoulder, then trim and tie.

   

   Pork shoulder, trimmed and tied

4. Place meat in a large zip-lock bag or non-reactive bowl, pour over marinade and leave for 24h -36h in the refridgerator (minimum 6-8h). Turn over 2-3 times to ensure marinade gets to all parts of the meat.
5. On the day that you are going to roast the pork, take it out of the 'fridge and let it come to room temperature - this will take about 2h at least. 
6. Preheat the oven, 165C
7. Transfer pork and marinade to roasting pan, cover tightly with foil and roast for 1h.
8. Remove foil cover and roast for another 1.5h, or until an instant read thermometer inserted into the centre reads 70C. Baste the meat (not skin) every 20-30min to keep it moist.
9. At the end of the cooking period, if the skin has not become nice and crackly, crank up the heat to 200C for about 5-10min. (Keep an eye to prevent the skin from charring).
10. Remove from oven and rest for 10-15min before carving.

Cuban Roast Pork

Rice and beans are a common accompaniment. This dish has many variations and is sometimes called Moro's y Cristianos, with the black beans representing the Moors and White grains of rice, the Christians. Not very PC, but heck, it's delicious, just call it by the humble moniker, Beans n Rice.

Cuban Beans and Rice

Beans and Rice

• 1 cup long grain rice
• 2 cups water (approx)
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 finger pinch of salt

1. Fry the garlic in a bit of olive oil till golden, add the rice, fry in oil till all the grains are coated with oil, add the water. (I was taught to add enough water so that if I placed my middle finger on the surface of the rice, the water level will come up to the first finger crease - ie just enough to submerge the distal phalanx. This works with any quantity of rice in any sort of pot)
2. Add remaining ingredients, give it a good stir and bring it to boil. 
3. Simmer for 10min over low heat (lid off), then
4. Cover with lid, turn off the heat and let the rice steam for another 10min before eating.

A nice bit of salad to serve alongside this meal would be beetroot and citrus salad or just a simple green salad.

Enjoy!