You remember. Walk in to nearly any American home on Thanksgiving and the smells of tasty food are heady. Likely, you didn’t eat all day in anticipation of all the festive dishes coming your way. But who wants the same old Turkey Day fare? This is recipe number one of a Cuban/Floridian Thanksgiving.
This is a very loose recipe you can adjust for the number of guests. There’s nothing exact here. It’s more of a guideline for people who are fairly proficient in the kitchen.
I cooked my own pork butt in the crock pot the day before and then shredded it, but you can easily buy shredded pork to save some time.
We may have a little disagreement now. There’s only one type of rice I like to prepare because of the texture. It’s the Jasmine (Thai) variety of rice. Get out a two quart saucepan and begin.
Enough servings of rice for your guests. Boil the amount of water listed on the package with a pinch of saffron, then add the recommended amount of rice and give it a stir. Turn the burner off and cover for 15 minutes, then fluff with a fork. Give it a taste. It should be al dente. It not, turn it back on low for a few minutes, but for me, this method has worked every time.
Ingredients ( for 3-4 cups of cooked rice)
Rice
A pinch of saffron
One can of black beans, drained
Two cups of shredded pork (you can buy this of put a pork butt in the crock pot the day before for a few hours.
1/4 cup of homemade or store-bought mojo
Homemade mojo always has the same ingredients. We’re making extra for some of the other dishes.
1 cup of orange juice
1/1 cup lime juice
4 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
sea salt and white pepper
Method
Put a splash of mojo over the shredded pork and stir
Add the rice and black beans
Add a little more mojo to the desired consistency
Serve as a side dish with the turkey instead of heavy stuffing.
