Pernil

That's not the most flattering photo, but I was busy working and didn't have time to make it pretty. The main lesson to learn from this recipeis : if the ingredients list sounds weird, listen to your instincts. I was inspired to make this Puerto Rican dish by an internet post and I am glad I tried it. This is definitely a weekend thing though, 3 hours minimum marinade time plus 3hrs of cooking time definitely requires some free time.

Ingredients

• 1 boneless pork shoulder (about 4 pounds), skin on
• 4 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 handful fresh oregano
• 4 teaspoons Kosher salt (1 teaspoon for every pound of meat)
• 1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Directions

1. Take the pork,  and using a sharp knife, score the surface of the meat with small slits, occasionally twisting to make slightly bigger holes.
2. Mash the garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper into a paste on a cutting board with the flat side of a knife or a mortar and pestle (M&P is the superior way to do this if you have one)
3. Place the paste in a bowl and stir in the oil and vinegar. 
4. Rub the garlic paste all over the pork, being sure to get into the incisions so the salt can penetrate the meat and pull out the moisture - this will help form a crust on the outside when cooked.
5. Cover the pork with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or up to overnight.
6. Allow the meat to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
7. Roast the pork for about 3 hours, uncovered, until the skin is crispy-brown and the interior is 165.
8. Let the meat rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes before slicing.
   
   
   
   

Thoughts:
This is not complex, the original recipe called for tablespoons instead of teaspoons of salt though, which made the whole outside of the roast too salty to eat. This was rectified by sprinkling a bit of sugar on the meat and that killed off the extra saltiness fortunately though. I also didn't have a skin-on roast, skinless worked just fine though.

One thing worth mentioning though, this is a lot of meat, so unless you are serving a lot of people, you will have extra meat. If you shred the meat, this makes an excellent sandwich. I enjoyed that very much and am looking forward to more.

Next Time:

• Use above amounts of salt.
• Maybe try some fancy side dishes?
• Cook slightly shorter than 3hrs to just get interior to 165 as opposed to 170.