Make perfect grilled pork and plantains at home

Cubans love their pork. It's hard to find a Cuban or Cuban-American who doesn't have a memory of spending hours waiting for a lechon to finish cooking in someone's backyard, and then sharing it with family and friends. (I am certainly no exception.) What sets Cuban-style pork apart is the use of mojo criollo, a highly seasoned marinade made up of tangy citrus juice, vast amounts of garlic, cumin and oregano. And while roasting a whole pig is deliciously fun, smaller cuts are far more manageable and easier to work with.

Prepare the marinade
Mix all marinade ingredients in a bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.

Marinate the pork
If using a flavor injector (see cooking notes below), strain half the marinade into a bowl, adding the strained-out garlic to the other half of the marinade. Use the injector to take in some strained marinade, pierce the pork with the tip of the needle, and inject it into the flesh. Do this all over the meat until the strained marinade has been used up.

If you are not using a flavor injector, use a long, thin knife to create deep gashes all over the flesh and pour the marinade over the pork.

Place the marinated pork in a deep bowl or container. Generously season the outside of the pork with salt and pour the remaining marinade all over it, spreading the onion rings all over the top.

Cover well with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

Boil the marinade for basting
Remove the pork from the marinade and place it on a platter. Transfer the marinade to a saucepan, add the onions, and bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Place the boiled marinade and onions in a blender and puree until smooth. The marinade is now ready to use as a basting liquid.

Grill the pork
Before heating your grill, remove the pork from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature.

Heat your grill to 550 degrees F and close the lid. Wait at least 15 minutes before lowering the temperature to 300 degrees F. Oil the grill grates with a vegetable oil-soaked paper towel held with a long pair of tongs.

If your cut has the skin still attached, begin the cooking process with the skin side up (away from the direct heat).

Grill your meat about 2 1/2 hours total. Turn the meat over once when you are one quarter through with the cooking time, again when you are halfway through, and once more when three-quarters of the cooking time has elapsed. The pork is ready when it reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees F on the grill. (It will continue to cook when it's off the heat, raising the internal temperature to the desired 160 degrees F.)

COOKING NOTES:

Ingredients
Seville oranges: A Seville orange is a bitter orange that is sometimes referred to as a sour orange. Its thick skin is pale yellow and its flesh contains many seeds. Due to its very sour taste, it is not an eating orange. In the event you cannot find Seville oranges, substitute a 2:1 ratio of lime juice and regular orange juice.

Techniques
Flavor injector: Cuban-style pork is very well seasoned both inside and out. A flavor injector, a kitchen tool that resembles a needle and syringe, is used to marinate the interior flesh of thick cuts of pork. If you do not have one, simply make deep gashes with a thin knife all over the meat and pour the marinade over and into the cuts.

Injecting the flesh
To prevent the garlic from getting stuck in the injector tip, strain half of the marinade and use that in the injector.

When you inject the marinade into the pork, you will see a bulge appear close to the site of the injection. That is the marinade settling into the flesh. When the pork is cooked, you may see pockets of darker flesh in the areas where the marinade was injected; this is normal.

Freezing citrus juice
Because I use so much citrus juice in my cooking and insist on using only juice from fresh fruit, I always freeze leftover juice from recipes or from fruit that is just about to go bad for future use. If placed in an airtight container, citrus juice will keep for a few months. Simply thaw at room temperature before using.

Advance preparation
The marinade can be made a day in advance. All cuts can be left marinating for 24 hours.

Prepare the butter glaze
Place the butter and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved in it. Add the vinegar and stir well. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Prepare, grill and serve the plantains
Heat your grill to high (550 degrees F) and close the lid. Wait at least 15 minutes before lowering the heat to medium-high (450 degrees F) and continuing. Oil the grill grates with a vegetable oil-soaked paper towel held with a long pair of tongs.

Slice the unpeeled plantains in half lengthwise and place them cut side down on the grill. Close the lid and cook for 15 minutes. Turn the plantains over and baste the cut sides of the plantains with the butter glaze. Close the lid and continue cooking for another 15 minutes. Brush a bit more glaze on the plantains before removing them from the grill.

Serve the plantains in their skins while hot from the grill.

Advance preparation
You can prepare the butter glaze a few hours in advance. It will thicken when cool and will need to be reheated.

This is a very popular Cuban dish, and it's perfect for outdoor entertaining, as it can be made well in advance and be served at room temperature.

Mash the garlic and render the bacon fat
Put the garlic on a cutting board and sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt over the cloves. Let it sit for a few minutes, and mince it into a paste with a knife. Set aside.

Place the bacon and olive oil in a large pot and set it over medium-high heat. Sauté the bacon until it renders its fat and turns a golden brown color, about 6 minutes. Move the bacon around as it's cooking to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Sauté the vegetables and rice
Add the onion, green pepper and garlic paste to the bacon and sauté until the vegetables are limp and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of salt, the bay leaf, cumin, oregano and rice and stir for 1 minute until well mixed and all the rice is coated in oil.

Add the beans, simmer and serve
Add the beans and their liquid, along with the water and vinegar, to the pot. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 35 to 40 minutes, or until all the water has been absorbed by the rice. Allow the covered pot to sit off the heat for 5 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork and serve.

COOKING NOTES:

Ingredients
Canned black beans: If you do not want to use the liquid from the canned black beans, just add an extra 1/2 cup of water with the drained and rinsed black beans.

Technique
Cooking the rice: Rice requires a specific amount of liquid to cook properly. Because onions and green peppers can contribute a considerable amount of liquid to a recipe, a volume measure for each is given. While the measurements are approximate, making sure the chopped vegetables are close to these amounts will ensure that the rice cooks properly.

Advance preparation
You can prepare the recipe in its entirety the night before with very little effect on the taste and texture of the dish. However, you will want to warm the dish before serving. This can be done in the microwave or on the stovetop. Just sprinkle about 1/4 cup of water over the rice to make sure it does not dry out when reheated.

Rum cake has always been a Cuban staple at weddings, birthdays, Christmas parties and celebrations of all kinds. The secret ingredient in this recipe is the package of instant pudding mix added to the cake batter — it makes the cake perfectly moist every time. Another feature of this recipe is the touch of lime juice I add to the icing, and the mint garnish — it's my ode to the mojito cocktail.

Prepare the batter and bake the cake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan. Set aside.

Using a handheld electric mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until well combined and the mixture is pale yellow and fluffy, 2 to 4 minutes depending on your mixer. Add the eggs and continue beating until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula if necessary.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and vanilla pudding mix in a bowl and set aside. Combine the milk, rum and vanilla in a measuring cup and set aside.

Alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk mixture to the butter and eggs, mixing until all the ingredients are well incorporated. Pour the cake batter into the prepared Bundt pan and bake for 1 hour. The cake is ready when a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. You may also see the sides of the cake shrink away from the pan.

Prepare the rum syrup and soak the cake
Place the butter, sugar and water in a pan and simmer until the liquid becomes slightly thickened, about 8 minutes. The mixture will foam a bit. Stir occasionally and lower the heat if the mixture begins to bubble over. When the mixture has thickened, add the rum and stir well. Remove from the heat and set aside.

As soon as you remove the cake from the oven, poke holes all over its surface with a long skewer. Slowly drizzle all of the rum syrup over the cake (it may seem like overkill, but make sure you use all the syrup). Allow the cake to cool complete in the pan. Once the cake is cool invert it onto a serving dish.

Prepare the lime icing and ice the cake
Mix the lime juice and confectioners' sugar in a small bowl until the sugar is dissolved. It should be the consistency of mayonnaise. Drizzle or pipe the icy over the top of the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Garnish by placing plenty of fresh mint sprigs in the center hole of the cake.

COOKING NOTES:

Techniques
Piping the lime icing:In order to drizzle the icing properly, you can carefully pour it over the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Alternatively, you can create a piping bag with a resealable plastic bag and push it toward a bottom corner. Snip off the tip and pipe the icing through.

Bundt pan: I like using a Bundt pan for a couple reasons: It allows for easy slicing and serving, and its center hole is perfect for holding the bunch of fresh mint.

The mint should not be placed on the cake until it is reading to be served, as it will quickly wilt at room temperature.