[Sca-cooks] OOP (maybe): Pernil al horno recipe... longish!

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Hullo, the list!

I've threatened to post this a couple times, and in an e-mail I sent  
out earlier today, I wrote:

> I'm taking the day off from visiting my mother's house, cleaning  
> out my brother's room, etc., and am sitting, drinking iced coffee,  
> watching the ball game on TV, and roasting a pernil asado al horno  
> (generic Latino, but specifically Puerto Rican slow-roasted or  
> barbecued pork picnic shoulder with too much garlic ;-)  ). Maybe I  
> should bite the bullet and post the recipe to the cooks' list; I've  
> now used it often enough to determine that it is basically  
> foolproof, criminally simple, utterly delicious, and elevates an  
> otherwise almost unpleasantly humble cut of meat to the status of  
> holiday food. I have a long childhood history to overcome, one  
> which consisted largely of hating the roast pork shoulder my Mom,  
> who was a pretty darned good cook in her day, would prepare for her  
> ungrateful mob of wretched children ;-). This is _almost_ on the  
> scale of discovering a recipe that would make me look forward to  
> eating eggplant. Not quite, but almost.

Here's the recipe, pulled from the currently defunct elboricua.com  
website after a frantic search for such a recipe; the search was  
initiated after my discovery in a small, hole-in-the-wall restaurant  
in uptown Manhattan that this dish was, in fact, really surprisingly  
edible. It's hugely versatile, goes with nearly anything, can be  
shredded for tacos, and is absolutely essential for a proper press- 
toasted Cuban sandwich...

> Note: Season the meat one day ahead and refrigerate.

> 5 lbs. pork shoulder - picnic cut (with fat)
> 7 garlic cloves (You may use powder garlic or ground garlic sold in  
> glass jars - 1 tsp. equals one clove.)
> .5 teaspoon black pepper
> .5 teaspoon crushed oregano
> 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
> 1.5 teaspoon salt
> 1 sm packet Sazon Goya

> Crush the garlic in a pilón. If you don't have a pilón (shame on  
> you!) crush the whole garlic with the side of a wide
> knife then dice the pieces. In a small bowl mix together the  
> garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, Sazon, and olive oil. Mix
> well.

> Wash the meat and pat dry.

> With a sharp knife cut the fat away from the meat keeping it all in  
> one piece. Start at the wide end and go to the narrow
> end. You don't have to separate it completely - just leave enough  
> still connected so that you can flip the fat over to the
> side while you season the meat itself. The fat will be placed over  
> the seasoned meat and will cook over the meat giving
> it more flavor. Season the side of the fat that goes over the meat  
> with a bit of the seasoning also - just that one side. The
> other side - the top - should only have salt.

> Make very deep slits all over the meat and season the meat making  
> sure that seasoning goes into all the slits. Put the fat
> back over the meat to look the same as before it was cut and  
> sprinkle it with salt.

> Refrigerate the shoulder, covered with plastic wrap, for 24 hours.

> Let the meat get back into room temperature before cooking. (About  
> one hour).

> Place the meat in a deep pan with the fat side up. There will be a  
> lot of grease so be sure to use a deep pan that is at
> least 2" deep. The fat side up will make nice crunchy "cueritos."  
> Do NOT cover with foil.

> Preheat the over for at least 30 minutes before placing the meat  
> inside. Cook in a 400 degree F. oven for one hour, then reduce
> temperature to 300 degree F. for about 4 hours or so - DO NOT TURN  
> MEAT. When the meat is done, you can prick it on the
> side with a fork to see if it shreds. If the "cuerito" is not  
> crispy enough for your satisfaction, then leave it in the oven and
> raise the temperature again to 400 degrees F. and cook another 15  
> minutes or so until it is crispy. It will crisp fast so keep your  
> eye on it.

> Remove the meat from the oven and let it rest on the counter for  
> about 20-30 minutes before carving.

> To carve, remove the cuerito completely and set aside. Carve the  
> meat and then cut the cuerito into pieces and place
> over the meat. If you're going to take this to a party put it in an  
> oven-safe container and put it back in a 200 degree oven to keep it
> warm, DON'T COVER IT because the crispy cueritos will get soft if  
> you do.

> Tips . . .
> If using a meat thermometer, it will be ready when it reaches 185  
> degrees F.
> If the picnic cut is not available just buy a pork shoulder - it  
> won't have the fat and you won't get any cueritos - but it
> will be delicious.

When I've made this, which by now is probably six or seven times in  
the past year, the only changes I've made have been to bone, roll,  
and, carefully wrapping it in its skin, tie up the meat. This is  
definitely optional, though, since the meat is tender enough to pull  
off the bone with the fingers. I also sometimes omit the Sazon Goya;  
most of what's in it is already in the recipe, with the exception of  
MSG. If MSG bothers you, omit it. But if it doesn't, be aware that if  
you ordered this in a restaurant, it'd probably be in there, and I'm  
not prepared to say that its presence would be detrimental to the  
quality. Your call. My own experience with MSG is that some people  
are allergic to it, some like it, some don't, and then there's a  
small percentage of snobs who'd never know it was there unless you  
told them, but would then claim not to like it and/or to be deathly  
allergic to it <shrug> ;-) . I sometimes include it, or things  
containing it, for my own personal use. When others are involved I  
play it safe and omit it.

Have fun!

Adamantius








"S'ils n'ont pas de pain, vous fait-on dire, qu'ils  mangent de la  
brioche!" / "If there's no bread to be had, one has to say, let them  
eat cake!"
     -- attributed to an unnamed noblewoman by Jean-Jacques Rousseau,  
"Confessions", 1782

"Why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy -- or go on Prozac?"
     -- Susan Sheybani, assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry  
Holt, 07/29/04