Mojo Marinade

At the beginning of June, my sister Erin, who lives in Michigan, came back to Pennsylvania for a long visit. So al threel of my sisters, their husbands, and my nieces and nephews converged on my moms house the first weekend she was home. My brother in-law, JD, planned a “Staycation” menu for us for the weekend. First up was “Quarantine is Jamaican Us Crazy” themed, with caribbean inspired foods, and more importantly, drinks!

He made Jamaican Jerk chicken legs and Mojo Pork with chorizo rice and beans and Mexican street corn.. To say we stuffed ourselves is an understatement. The pork was so delicious I knew I had to recreate the marinade at home.

Mojo Marinade:

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon orange zest

3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice (bottled will work too)

1/2 cup lime juice (fresh squeezed or bottled is fine)

1 cup cilantro finely chopped

1/4 cup lightly packed mint leaves finely chopped

8 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tablespoon minced oregano (2 tablespoons dried oregano)

1 teaspoon salt

Here’s the thing about recipes. Yes, they taste great when you follow the directions to a T. They also taste pretty good if you have to adapt, eliminate or modify the recipe. If you don’t have oranges, eliminating the orange zest won’t be the end of the world. No fresh herbs? Substitute dried.

My brother in law combined all of the ingredients in a bowl, whisked it together and poured the marinade over the pork in a large bag. I chose to blend all of my ingredients together in a blender because I didn’t want to take time to cut up all of the herbs. Plus, I had an accident with the lime juice (I knocked over my lime juice and spilled it all over the counter. Watch out, Food Network!) When that happened, I knew I was going to need more lime flavor in the marinade so I decided to put everything into the blender so I could grind the lime rinds in with the other ingredients. LIme zest would help with the flavor. I just put everything in the blender, blended it well and poured it over the pork butts, rubbing it into some of the nooks and crannies. If I had done this with a chicken, I would used bone-in pieces or a whole bird.

For the butt, my brother in law used a boneless five pound butt, and roasted it in the oven at 350 degrees until a thermometer read 145 degrees. He then took it out of the over, let it sit for 10 minutes under foil and then sliced it.

I chose to cook my pork butts low and slow at 180 degrees all day - preferably 8-12 hours or until the pork is fork tender (that means when you stick a fork in it you can pull a piece of meat off without needing a knife). You can go up to 250 degrees to cut the time it takes to cook the pork, but I like to be able to put the pork in first thing in the morning and not think about it for the rest of the day. I also think cooking it at a low temperature for a long time allows the fat to breakdown better and keep the pork juicy. I LOVE cooking roasts and pork shoulders in my cast iron enameled dutch oven. I use the less expensive discount brands sold at TJ Maxx because Le Creuset is out of my price range for the slze I need, but any roaster would do. You can even use an aluminum disposeable pan, just be sure to cover the pork with foil.

Once it is cooked, just place the pork on a platter surrounded by some lime slices, add your favorite sides and enjoy!

Come backe and visit soon!