Wow. I only missed this by a week? ;- My apologies Maureen, my life's been a little topsy-turvy lately and my time on these forums is pretty limited. Puerco Asado (Pork Roast) is a classic Cuban dish. I highly recommend you first try the quintessential Cuban Garlic Sauce, Mojo Criollo (Moho Cree-o-yo). Make extra if you like, because it'll last for weeks, refrigerated, and you can use the sauce over pork, chicken and it's also served over root vegetables, like yuca (cassava). Mojo Criollo 10 cloves garlic 1 medium onion, thinly sliced ½ cup sour orange, or ½ cup sweet orange juice and ¼ cup each fresh lime and lemon juice ½ cup pure olive oil Use a mortal and pestle or a food processor to crush the garlic and salt to form a paste (If using a food processor, make sure to keep it running when you drop the garlic in, so none of the cloves get buried under the blade. Combine the garlic paste, onion and sour orange juice. You can refrigerate it at this point, or, leave it at room temperature for up to 1 hour. Before you're ready to serve the mojo, heat the oil over medium-high heat, in a medium-size pan until hot, but not too hot or it will splatter when you add the Mojo. Add the garlic sauce, stir quickly and serve hot. For a Cuban Pork Roast, you'll want to start this the night before serving. You can use a 4-5 lb. leg or shoulder of pork, a boneless pork tenderloin or if you're feeling really adventurous, a Lechón, which is a whole Suckling Pig. Puerco Asado 5-6 pound leg or shoulder of pork 10 cloves of garlic 1 teaspoon dried oregano ½ teaspoon ground cumin 1 tablespoon salt ¼ cup olive oil ½ cup sour orange, or ½ cup sweet orange juice and ¼ cup each fresh lime and lemon juice ½ cup dry sherry 2-3 large onions, thinly sliced freshly ground black pepper Pierce the meat all over with the tip of a knife. With a mortar and pestle, or food processor, combine the garlic, oregano, cumin, and salt and mash into a paste. Rub the paste into pork and into the slits. Sprinkle generously with the black pepper. Add the sour orange juice, olive oil, sherry and onions. Cover and refrigerate overnight, turning the meat several times. Four or five hours before serving, preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the meat from the marinade and pat it dry, reserving the marinade. Roast the pork, always with the skin side up, in an aluminum foil lined roasting pan. Roast 1 hour, turning to brown on all sides. Insert a meat thermometer. Lower the oven temperature to 300°F, pour the reserved marinade over it and cover loosely. Cook for another 3-4 hours, basting frequently, until meat registers an internal temperature of about 160°F. You don't want to go over 160°F because once the pork is removed from the oven, and allowed to rest, the residual heat will continue cooking the meat. Remove the foil during the last 30 minutes of roasting. Remove the roast from the oven, and allow it to rest, covered, about 20 minutes before carving. Serve with Mojo Criollo, and the traditional sides: Black Beans and White Rice, or Congrí; Tostones (Fried Green [not ripe] Plantains) or Yuca con Mojo. Enjoy Maureen. Sol

Shaun, if you still have that thread could you post it..it was Jan 2005. I must have just printed it out one time when I was deleting a lot of saved html files. Basically she used some Adobe seasoning, sazon, garlic powder and black pepper, poked holes in the roast and rubbed the seasoning in, and then rubbed it with olive oil. In the bottom of the marinade pan/pot she added sliced onions and white wine. I am marinating mine in Mojo Criollo and and will brown it in olive oil. LindaC says to then put it in a covered roaster and cook for 5 hrs (Shaun's was a 8lb roast) @ 325. Baste every hour and then more frequently after 2.5 hrs. In the last hour push the onions off the top of the pork ( so I guess they are on top for the majority of cooking. I'd say that means a whole lotta onions.) When done to fork tender, tent meat, skim fat and make gravy which will be quite dark. And even better, I'll ask Sol to give her details. Maureen

Like Linda, I like to rub them with some stuff and do them on the grill. YUM! These two recipe are great too and a big hit with my group. Sharon's calls for a rack but I've used the loin many times. Herb Crusted Rack of Pork (Sharon) 3 TBSP olive oil 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt 4 garlic cloves, minced 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil 1/4 cup chopped fresh thyme 1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary 1 TBSP coarse ground pepper 1/4 cup butter cut up 1/3 cup flour 2 cups chicken broth (more or less) 1 TBSP tomato paste 2 TBSP chopped fresh sage salt and pepper to taste fresh thyme or rosemary sprigs for garnish Rub pork with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Combine the garlic and next 4 ingredients and press into the pork. Place pork on a rack in a roaster or broiler pan , cover the bone tips with foil so they don't burn. Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 1 hour and 115 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees...don't over cook. Transfer pork to a serving dish. Pour pan drippings into a skillet. Add butter and cook over medium heat until butter melts. Whisk in flour until smooth. Cook whisking constantly until it is a rich carmel colour. Gradually add the broth and next three ingredients, cook over medium heat until for 2 or 3 minutes until thick and bubbly. Slice the pork between the bones and serve with the sauce. Use the thyme or rosemary sprigs for garnish. NOTE: original recipe called for cooking to 160, I think that is too much. I cook to 145 and then let the temp rise as it sits. APPLE CIDER BRINED PORK ROAST (Annie) 3 cups apple cider 3 cups water 1 bay leaf ¼ cup salt 1 tbls black peppercorns 1 tbls coriander seeds 1 2 lb. Pork loin, trimmed 2 cups cider 1 ½ tsp chopped fresh rosemary 1 ½ tsp chopped fresh sage 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper Combine the first 6 ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until salt dissolves. Remove from heat, cool, and pour into a Ziploc bag or container big enough to hold the pork loin. Add pork, seal and let marinate 8 hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 350, bring 2 cups cider to a boil over medium high heat. Boil until cider is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 15 minutes. Set aside. Remove pork from bag or container and discard brine. Place pork on broiler pan or baking dish and lightly coat with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining herbs and bake about 1 hour, until pork is done, basting twice with the reduced cider in the last 20 minutes of baking. Remove from oven, baste with remaining cider reduction. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Serves 8 200 calories per 4 oz. Serving, 6 grams fat David

The last pig roast I went to had the caterers start a fire, in a small pit, about 4:00 AM. They put the pig on a hand operated rottiserie. Acutally, it was a half pig, because I would guess the whole pig to go over 400 lbs. They tended to that pig until about 4:00 that afternoon. Then they took it off the rottisserie and put it on a big platter, along with a couple of sharp knives and let everyone go at it. OMG !!!! They had freshly baked loaves of Italian bread, all sliced up, and slices of sweet onion, (there were other things, but that's all I needed). That pork was so juicy and flavorfull that I actually thought I had died and gone to heaven. Just thinking about that afternoon gets my mouth a-waterin.