Mojo Redo

A couple of weeks ago I cooked one of our favorite dinners, Cuban Pork Chops with Frijoles Negros and Mojo Sauce, thinking it'd be a good one for the blog.  Dinner was delicious, but I wasn't pleased with the photos. Time for a Redo!

The timing of the redo was great because Alan Carmichael was able to join us while his wife Cynthia Moxley was out of town and give his feedback. Spoiler: He liked them!

With this recipe, my secret is using a sous vide. What's that, some of you may be asking?

Read about it here.

https://anovaculinary.com/

I recently discovered my friend, Joseph Lenn, chef/owner at JC Holdway, pictured below at his restaurant, also has a sous vide and finds his helpful.

"I don't have to babysit it," he said. "I like it because it's great for cooking tougher cuts, such as pork neck. My favorite is a thick cut bone-in pork chop because the meat cooks evenly. It's also a good way to infuse flavors."

A sous vide will give you both precision and flexibility. The guides tell you precisely the water temperature you want & how long it should remain at that temperature. It's a holding device. A water bath.

I found a book that not only has some good recipes but has basic sous vide cooking guides: i.e. what temperature for how many hours to cook what item.

Back to Mojo! One of our favorites is Cuban Pork Chops with Frijoles Negros and Mojo Sauce, which came from the cookbook pictured above. I like to serve it with saffron rice.

The rub and mojo sauce would complement pork chops cooked any way, not just using a sous vide, but I do like using the sous vide for this recipe. The saffron rice was a grocery store brand. I forget which one. You can take the chops out of the water bath and toss them into the refrigerator for a day or two before searing.

Searing the pork chops and cooking the beans and rice takes almost no time and makes a great quick dinner, but I have also dressed it up and served it at dinner parties.

I hope you'll try this and let me know what you think.


THE RECIPE

Cuban Pork Chops with Frijoles Negros and Mojo Sauce

For the Pork Chops
Salt & pepper
1-2 pounds boneless pork chops
1 T. garlic powder
1 T. ground cumin
2 tsp. ground oregano
2 tsp. onion powder
I don't keep onion powder on hand, so I increased the amounts of the other three

Using your sous vide, heat a water bath to 140. Mix together the spices in a bowl. Salt and pepper the pork and then coat it with the spices. Place the pork chops in a gallon-size zip lock bag, with as much air squeezed out as possible, and seal. Place the bag in the water. Cook the pork for 2-3 hours.

For the Mojo Sauce
3 T. olive oil
8 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 c. orange juice
1/3 c. lime juice
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 T. chopped oregano
Salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil and garlic in a pan over medium-high heat. Cook until garlic begins to soften, about one minute, then add orange juice, lime juice, and cumin. Bring to a simmer, stir in the oregano, salt, and pepper, and remove from heat.

For the Frijoles Negroes
Olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 c. cooked black beans
1 T. dried oregano
1 tsp. ground cumin
salt and pepper

Heat the oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add onion and green pepper and cook until softened. Add garlic and cook for one minute. Add beans, oregano, and cumin and cook for 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm until ready to serve.
For easier bean prep, omit the onion, green peppers, and garlic and simply add some orange juice, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper to drained, canned black beans.

To Assemble
Take pork out of bag and pat dry. Heat iron skillet with a tiny amount of oil. Place chops in skillet. Brush mojo sauce on side facing up and flip the chops. Repeat a few times, until chops are fully coated, cooking 30-45 seconds per turn. Remove from heat. They're already cooked to perfection; you just need to sear them.

To Serve
Place cooked rice (any kind) on plate. Add beans and pork chops. Serve with additional mojo sauce on the side.