There are some countries where it’s extremely hard to pick just one dish to make. Some times I don’t need to make that choice because I’m either having a bunch of people over, or I have loads of time to cook, so it’s easy to go a bit overboard. Or, and this was the case with Cuba, there are so many great sounding dishes that are similar or extremely meat heavy so unless I was having a pack of hungry carnivores over (which I’ll admit Matt and Rooney do kind of count) I don’t want to venture too far down that dark path.

This week, we spent a week up in the country in rural Pennsylvania where I’m working in a tiny kitchen and don’t have all of the comforts of my own kitchen, from knowing where every device is to having access to all of the ingredients I need on a moment’s notice. Here if I forget something, I have to drive 20 minutes into town.

To keep things simple, I chose to make this Cuban Mojo Marinated Pork which as a standalone is a hearty meat dish…but you can also kick it up a notch and use it to make Cuban sandwiches. The recipe (shown below) came from a promotional piece on the movie “Chef” (which is a household favorite-I love Jon Favreau) and is legit good. The marinade was very simple and a great combo of citrus, herbs, and olive oil. This cooked perfectly fine in an old electric oven and I found the right dish to cook it in so that fat could drip away properly. This is great for a big crowd of 6-8 people and probably a bit too ambitious for two people used to a steady weeknight diet of chicken, fish and vegetables. But damn it was good going down.

Recipe here: https://thefoodcharlatan.com/cuban-mojo-marinated-pork-recipe/

Overall Level of Effort: 1

Skill Level: Beginner

Would Make It Again? Yes.

Additional Notes: This was a great recipe but I didn’t feel it held as well the following day or two. We did attempt to make some sandwiches with it but the meat was cut too thick (a result of a duller knife in this kitchen than I would have liked). So if you’re looking to have a Cuban-style food party with a bunch of people, this is a great option.