A trip to sunny Cuba

I invited a few new Dutch friends for dinner and immediately fell into panic mode. “What do I serve?” It’s been a cold, rainy summer in Amsterdam, so I decided to take us all on a trip to sunny Cuba—with a few twists. I was not attempting to replicate classic Cuban dishes, but rather to bring a sense of travel to the palate. This is a fairly easy meal, packed with flavor, and thanks to Spotify’s half dozen choices for Cuban Café music, you can easily set the mood.

Dinner menu
Serves 6

Cuban Roast Pork with Mojo Sauce
Black Beans and Rice
Pineapple Salsa
Cuban-Style Salad
Chess Pie with Whipped Cream

Start your pork roast the day before. The balance of the meal comes together with about an hour of prep time. The Chess Pie recipe is on page 246 of my cookbook Just Cook with Sally.

Cuban Roast Pork 

4 to 5 pounds boneless pork shoulder
5 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon oregano
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2  tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon sumac
1/4cup olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves
zest from 1 orange
3 oranges, juiced
2 limes, juiced
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup water

 Directions

1. Make your marinade the day before serving. Place garlic, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, sumac, olive oil, and mint leaves in a mini blender and purée.

2. Place orange zest in a two-cup measuring cup. Juice oranges and limes into the measuring cup. Blend the herb and spice purée into juice.

3. For extra flavor, use a meat injector (if you have one) and insert marinade into the meat in numerous places. Tie meat if needed, place in a Ziploc bag, pour remaining marinade over the meat and massage. Place in refrigerator overnight and up to 36 hours in advance. 

4. Seven and a half hours before serving, preheat oven to 275°. Pour marinade into a deep casserole or Dutch oven, add the stock and water, then the pork, fat side up. Cover tightly with tin foil and a lid if the pan has one. Place in oven and slow bake for 7 hours.

5. Remove pork, place on a cutting board, and let rest a few minutes. Use a knife and fork to discard string if used, fat, and any gristle as you pull and cut the pork into serving-size chunks.  

6. Degrease the stock. Taste and adjust seasonings. You could add some finely minced mint or cilantro to freshen the sauce.

7. Plate the meat over or beside the black beans and rice (recipe below) and drizzle with sauce. I served mine family-style on a large platter with the rice mounded in the middle, surrounded by pork, with sauce drizzled over the pork and extra in a gravy bowl.

Black Beans and Rice

3 cups water (or half water, half chicken broth)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon butter
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1-1/2 cups basmati rice
1 teaspoon butter
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
2 scallions, finely minced
1-1/2 cups canned black beans, well rinsed and drained

Optional: 2 tablespoons minced cilantro or mint

 Directions

1. Start rice 30 minutes before serving. In a saucepan, bring water (or water/stock combo), salt, butter, bay leaves, and turmeric to a boil. Add rice, stir once, cover tightly and reduce heat to the lowest possible setting.

2. Melt butter in a small skillet. Add cumin seeds and toast until very fragrant. Remove from heat.

3. Toss scallions with black beans. When rice is almost finished cooking (about 15 to 20 minutes depending on age of rice and your elevation), add black beans and scallions to top, but do not stir in. When rice is done, let sit a few minutes, then use a wooden spoon to gently toss, adding toasted cumin seeds and optional cilantro or mint. Serve with the Cuban Pork.

Pineapple Salsa

This refreshing spicy-sweet salsa pairs well with the pork and would also be brilliant with grilled or fried fish. You could serve it with chips as an appetizer.

1/2 red onion
1 tablespoon cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh mint
1 tablespoon fresh red or green jalapeño
1/2 teaspoon sumac
1/2 teaspoon ancho chile powder
pinch of salt
1/2 pineapple (about 2 cups)
1-1/2 limes, juiced

 Directions

1. Finely mince red onion, cilantro, mint, and jalapeno. Place in a medium bowl with sumac, ancho chile, and salt. 

2. Cut pineapple in half. Use a paring knife to remove the eyes from the fruit, then peel and dice pineapple into small pieces. Mix into bowl with herbs. Squeeze lime juice over and toss. Taste and adjust. Refrigerate for a few hours before using so flavors blend. Taste again before serving.

Cuban-Inspired Salad

This is a lovely summer salad that’s delicious with just about any meal. I like to use a mix of halved cherry tomatoes, chunked slicing tomatoes, and yellow or heirloom tomatoes if available.

Dressing

1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 lime, juiced
1 tablespoon white balsamic or sweet white vinegar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
few shakes of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon honey
1/3 cup olive oil 

Salad

2 avocados, chunked
1-1/2 cups peeled, quartered and chunked English cucumber
2 cups chunked tomatoes (mix up the tomatoes, use some yellow if available)
6 radishes, cut in half then sliced thin
1 cup finely chopped Italian parsley
1/4 cup homemade croutons (page 276 in Just Cook with Sally)

 Directions

1. Place all dressing ingredients in a jar and shake to blend. Taste for seasoning.

2. Place all salad ingredients in a bowl and lightly toss with dressing. You can prepare this salad ahead by putting the avocados in the bottom of the bowl and tossing them in some dressing. Then pile on cucumber, tomatoes, and radishes and top with parsley. Cover with a slightly damp paper towel and refrigerate for up to 3 hours. When ready to serve, toss in additional dressing but being careful to not overdress, then finally the croutons.