Dinner #21: Pork Shoulder with Sour Orange Mojo

Wednesday, March 18, 2009: I finally had the pork tonight. Took me 3 days to get to this point. One day to make mojo & marinate the pork, one night to overcook it (more on that later), then finally tonight to re-heat & eat it. To make it a true stereotypical "guy food" meal, my vegetable was beans.



The overcooking of the pork still irks me. I thought the pork was a bone-in shoulder so I cooked it longer as meat with a bone it it takes longer than meat without. However, once I pulled out out I realized that it didn't have a bone. I should have been tipped off by the fact that it was tied up with string, but how many times do you run across a 5 lbs boneless pork shoulder? Every one I've seen before is closer to 3 lbs. Anyway... it was still very good but just needed a little extra mojo to keep it moist.

The beans are also one of my favorites. These are "quick cowboy beans" from Rick Bayless' Mexican Everyday cookbook. These start out so well simply because you start with bacon. If there's any better smell than bacon cooking, it's bacon & garlic cooking together - which is the second ingredient to the beans. Also combined with diced tomatoes, pinto beans, chicken stock, & pickled jalapenos. Worth every effort to make - especially given that they are super easy.