some sugar
some vinegar
some alcohol (wine or rum)
some sauteed onion, green pepper, and garlic added after an hour of cooking the beans in water
dried herbs including oregano and a bay leaf for sure, cumin possibly
hot sauce either at the table or in the beans as they cooked

So here’s what I did.

1 pound black beans
water to cover plus 2″ (I didn’t measure)
1 green pepper, chopped

1/3 cup olive oil
another green pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

1 Tbs salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 rounded teaspoon sugar
1 bay leaf

3 Tbs red wine vinegar
1/4 cup rum

Soak the beans and the first green pepper in the water. You could do this overnight. I just threw the beans and the chopped green pepper in the water this morning and left it there till 3:30pm when I came down to start them cooking. I did drain the beans and add new water. That’s optional. Just make sure you cover the beans plus 2″ of water when you start them cooking.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook an hour.

At some point during this time saute the second green pepper, onion, and garlic in the olive oil until soft.

After the beans have cooked an hour, add the cooked pepper, onion, and garlic to them. Add the salt, pepper, oregano, sugar, and bay leaf. Cook another hour, covered, at a simmer.

Stir in the vinegar and alcohol. One recipe called for 2 Tbs wine, which I hardly think would be noticeable. Another called for 1/2 cup dark rum. I went for something in between. I used rum in the marinade for the pork, so I opted for the rum but slightly less than 1/2 cup, although I think the 1/2 cup would have been fine. Cook, covered, another hour.

You’re probably left with a lot of broth at this point. Take the cover off and simmer until it thickens up. Use a potato masher to mash up some of the beans to thicken it.

These were really good! I served them over white rice with the sliced pork. What a feast.

In another day we’ll have Cuban Pork Sandwiches with the leftover roast. I saved the juices from the roast to make the mojo sauce.

If I’d read this recipe first I would have saved some of the pork juices from the roasting pan to mix with the mayonnaise. But I didn’t. So I mixed up their “mojo sauce” instead.

1/2 cup olive oil
6-8 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Make the mojo sauce by heating the oil and garlic and cooking until just lightly colored, just a minute or two. You don’t want burned garlic. Stir it often and watch it sizzle a bit but don’t let it darken too much.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients, then put the pan back on the heat for another minute, stirring. Cool the sauce. You can keep it covered in the ‘frig for a week.

To make the sandwiches, gather:

thinly sliced leftover Cuban Roast Pork
mojo sauce or leftover juices from the roast
mayonnaise
sliced Swiss or Fontina sandwiches (I used Fontina)
slices of ham or prosciutto
thin slices of tomato (not in season here so I left them out)
slices of pickles
slices of red onion
good French rolls

Mix the mojo sauce into some mayonnaise, about 1 Tbs mayo and 2 Tbs mojo sauce per sandwich.

Spread the insides of the rolls with mojo sauce, then layer the meats, pickles, onions, tomatoes, and cheese. Put the top on and spread a bit of butter on both sides of the roll.

Grill in a sandwich press or pan and cook over low heat, about 5 minutes per side, pressing down with some weight. I used a big cast iron skillet. You want the meat warmed and the cheese starting to melt. My girls loved these, although I left out the onions on theirs. And I liked them so much I made another for lunch the next day, using the last of the pork roast.

The roast was a bone-in cut. I wanted half it to make pork carnitas again, so cut the roast roughly in half. They came out as delicious as always. I served them with corn tortillas, diced avocado, refried beans, cheese, diced red onion, lettuce, and sour cream. Mmmm…. Had some of the leftovers for lunch today and they were fantastic!

I wasn’t sure what to do with the other half of the roast. I browsed through a few cookbooks. I also remembered that a while back I asked for ideas about what to with a pork roast and got a ton of great-sounding recipes from readers. I eventually settled on this recipe for Cuban Pork Roast, partly because my oranges are in full swing right now and I’m always looking for ways to use some up. This is from The Complete Meat Cookbook. I had a neighbor over for a glass of wine on New Year’s Eve and it turns out she knows Denis Kelly, one of the authors, so the book was sitting out ready to catch my eye!

I did marinate this for a day and a half, which I’m sure had something to do with the totally fantastic flavor! I did not serve it with black beans and fried plantains. I made some brown rice and some green beans with garlic, one of my favorites. So I essentially had the same meat for lunch and dinner but it sure didn’t taste the same!

Marinade:
2 Tbs minced garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 cup rum (recipe called for dark; I only had light)
3/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice
3 Tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp black pepper (recipe called for 1 tsp and next time I’ll do that.)

1 pork roast, bone-in or boneless, 4-6 pounds (but I just did half a roast)

Mix up the marinade. and marinate your roast overnight. I like to use gallon-sized bags to marinade meat like that. You can also freeze meats in the freezer bags with the marinade. Just pull the meat out of the freezer to defrost the night or two before you want to cook it. This is a great way to take advantage of some of the deals at the warehouse stores.

If you remember, pull the roast out of the frig an hour or so before you start cooking. I forgot to do this so added a bit of time to the cooking.

Preheat the oven to 325 or 350. (The recipe calls for 325. I forgot to pull the meat out AND it was going to be a late dinner so I cooked it at 350 and it came out great.)

Put the roast on a rack in a roast pan and pour the marinade over it. Bake 1.5 to 2 hours, basting now and then. If the juices in the bottom of the pan evaporate, add a cup of water. Check with a meat themometer and pull the roast out when it hits 150 degrees F. Cover with a foil and let it sit for 15 minutes or so, while you cook up your side dishes, set the table, etc. Carve the meat into slices.

My youngest could not get enough of this. The eldest liked it as well, just not quite so intensely. I’m thinking tomorrow I’ll stop by the store for some good sandwich rolls and try the next recipe in this book, Cuban Roast Pork Sandwich with Mojo Sauce, essentially olive oil, garlic, orange juice, and cumin. How could you go wrong? Pork, prosciuto (which I’ll leave out), Swiss or Fontina cheese, red onion, and dill pickles. Mmmm.