[ed-Seth: Special thanks this year to Matt Gase, Michigan grad and CEO of Eat Well Embrace Life, for being a most excellent sponsor of Joe Pichey’s most excellent recipes. I don’t know if I’d have tried his stuff if he wasn’t a sponsor, but now that I have I freak out when my wife forgets to pick up more. He’s also got some plain ones out there now that I plan to try.]

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As soon as I knew we were playing in the Orange Bowl against the Seminoles, I started thinking CUBAN PORK. I asked a few friends that may or may not be cheering for the other side if they enjoyed a good CUBANO while attending FSU. They all agreed that it’s a Florida staple. That made my decision easy for the last recipe of the 2016 season. This one can even be done in the oven and will make your house smell INSANELY good.

Ingredients:

[Hit THE JUMP for a very buttered bun]

Directions:

Place all of the MOJO Marinade ingredients into your food processor or blender and mix for 5 seconds or until all the herbs have been chopped. Once fully mixed, set aside.

With a sharp knife, make about a dozen slits in your pork butt. Slice your remaining 5 garlic gloves in thirds and start filling those holes.

Try and get the garlic cloves deep into the meat so they don’t fall out during the cooking process.

Once the pork is all garlic’d up, place it in a large ziplock bag and pour in the marinade. Massage it a little so that the PB and MOJO get acquainted. Squeeze out the air and seal up the bag. Place it in the fridge for at least 8 hours and up to 24. I like to place the bag in a shallow bowl or foil pan in case it springs a leak.

Once you are ready to cook, you can go 2 routes. Of course, I went with the smoker, but you can also cook this in the oven and it turns out GREAT. Either way, fire em up to 425 degrees. If you are using the smoker, toss on a few pecan wood chunks and get the smoke rolling. Once your smoker/grill/oven hits 425 degrees, throw in your pork butt. We are going to cook this for approx. 30 - 45 minutes at this higher temp.

After 30 minutes, turn your oven down to 350 degrees. This is a little harder to do in the smoker than the oven as lowering the heat is tough to do on the average smoker. You should have some charred and crispy edges. MMMMMMMmmmmmmm so tasty.

Let the PB go until we hit 185 - 190 degrees internal. This will take about 3-4 hours. Typically, I let my pork butts go to 200-205 degrees internal so they pull apart easily. At 190 degrees, they are super tender, but I can still slice em. You should also notice that the bone has started to stick out a little. This is a good sign.

Once we hit 185 degrees internal, remove from the heat source and loosely tent with foil. Let it rest for 15 minutes before slicing. This pork is super tender and flavorful. The exterior is dark and covered in tasty, crispy bits. Those are my favorites. You can enjoy this pork as is if you’d like along side some beans and rice. Save some of the MOJO sauce and heat on the stove for 5 minutes and start dipping.

I love making CUBANO Sandwiches with the MOJO PORK. You may remember these from the movie “CHEF”. These sandwiches are fantastic! All you need is some Italian or French bread, thinly sliced MOJO pork, ham slices, swiss cheese, pickles, mustard and some melted butter. (DAD JOKE ALERT) I’ve named the pickles “Allen” as they are the kicker. The pickles are key.

Assemble and brush with melted butter. Brush some melted butter on the hot skillet as well. Medium heat.

Toss on your panini press or a cast iron skillet. Place something heavy on the sandwich and let it go for about 5 mins. You can use another cast iron pan or even a brick wrapped in tin foil. Flip after about 5 minutes.

The bread will flatten and get super crunchy.

Holy Momma, these are good. It’s 8:51 am on Thursday and I am eating this CUBANO as I type this recipe up. My keyboard has cheese and mustard on it. NO LIE! Sorry Seth, this is why the recipe is late.

Don’t forget your favorite CUBAN cigar to go along side this fantastic sandwich. Just kidding, that would be illegal, right? Wink Wink. These go great with a side of plantain chips and Zest Sriracha Carrot Hummus from Eat Well Embrace Life. I love this stuff!

Is it too early for a cigar on my way into work?

GO BLUE