Pork Shoulder Pernil Spanish Style Recipes

SPANISH ROASTED PORK (PERNIL)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Rub pork shoulder all over with lime.
• Mash garlic into paste in a mortar and pestle or pilon. Transfer to a bowl; mix in salt, 1 tablespoon oil, oregano, black pepper, adobo seasoning, and vinegar.
• Lift skin off the pork to 1-inch from the narrow part of the bone. Make 3/4-inch slits all over the pork with a sharp knife. Stuff seasoned garlic paste into the slits. Pull skin back over to cover the pork.
• Mix remaining 1/2 teaspoon oil and sazon seasoning together in a small bowl. Rub over the skin of the pork.
• Transfer pork to a large roasting pan. Pour in beer. Cover with aluminum foil, sealing well.
• Roast in the preheated oven until slightly pink in the center, about 3 hours.
• Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Uncover pork and continue roasting until skin is golden brown and crispy, about 2 1/2 hours. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before carving.

PERNIL

Steps:

• Place the pork shoulder, fat-side up, on a cutting board. With a sharp knife, score the skin and fat in a cross-hatch pattern, making diagonal cuts about 1 1/2 inches apart and cutting down to the meat so the marinade can penetrate. Transfer the pork to a large re-sealable plastic bag set over a baking dish or bowl.
• To a blender, add the garlic, oregano, cilantro, cumin, lime juice, orange juice, chipotle and adobo sauce, 3 tablespoons salt and 1 tablespoon pepper. Drizzle in the olive oil and pulse until you have a nice puree. Pour the marinade all over the pork, being sure to get it into the deep cuts. Zip the bag closed and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Add about a 1/2 inch water to a roasting pan fitted with a roasting rack. Remove the pork from the marinade and place in the center of the rack.
• Cover with foil and roast until the pork is fork tender and deep brown in color, 4 hours. Check on the pork after 3 1/2 hours; if skin is not deep brown, remove the foil for last 30 minutes. Transfer the pork to cutting board and let rest for 20 minutes before slicing into thick pieces. Spoon any remaining pan juices over the meat to serve.

HOW TO MAKE AUTHENTIC CUBAN PERNIL

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. (Once marinated for desired amount of time.)
• In a large mixing bowl, with a sharp knife, carefully lift 3/4 of the skin from the meat. Once skin is lifted, gently poke holes throughout meat.
• Season generously with salt and pepper.
• Fill holes with garlic.
• Make a paste with oil and remaining seasonings. Generously rub pork with paste.
• Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least two hours. After two hours, add in a cup of mojo to bowl, continue to marinate for another hour or overnight in fridge.
• Into a large roasting pan, add pork, skin side up. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 5-7 hours. Remove foil and raise heat to 350 degrees for twenty minutes.
• Remove from heat, let rest for ten minutes. Sprinkle lime juice before serving, if desired.

PERNIL (PUERTO RICAN PORK SHOULDER)

Steps:

• Wash the pork shoulder.
• With a sharp knife, make 1 inch deep cuts into the pork.
• With mortar and pestle crush garlic, oregano and black pepper together. Add olive oil, vinegar and salt. Mix well.
• Spoon some of the garlic mixture inside the small cuts around the pork, and spread remaining mixture all over the pork.
• Place pork in an aluminum turkey pan (skin side up); cover with aluminum foil tightly. Refrigerate at least 8 hours. (I have marinated this for as long as two days.).
• Bake in pre-heated 325 degree Fahrenheit oven for about 5 to 6 hours.
• Remove aluminum foil and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for another hour or until skin is crisp. Closely watch this so you don't burn the skin (chicharrone).
• Pork should be well-done and tender.

SPANISH-STYLE PORK SHOULDER STEAKS

Steps:

• In a small pan, toast the fennel and black pepper.
• Add the fennel, black pepper, paprika, and salt to a spice grinder and grind.
• Put the pork in a large, (2-gallon, if possible), resealable plastic bag. Add the garlic, vinegar, olive oil and the spices. Seal the bag, and massage the marinade all over the pork. Put the bag into a glass or metal pan (in case bag leaks) and refrigerate for 4 hours. Remove from refrigerator and let come to room temperature.
• Add 2 tablespoons cilantro, lime juice and 1 cup of crema to a small bowl. Combine well, pour into squeeze bottle and refrigerate.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Heat corn tortillas in oven, wrapped in foil in packs of 8, in the oven while you are grilling the pork.
• Heat an indoor or outdoor grill to medium heat. Add the pork steaks and grill until medium, turning, for approximately 10 minutes total. Remove to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes, then slice into long thin strips.
• Serve in warmed tortillas, topped with tapenade, squeezed with lime wedges, drizzled with crema and topped with remaining chopped fresh cilantro.

PERNIL

Steps:

• Heat oven to 300 degrees. Score meat's skin with a sharp knife, making a cross-hatch pattern. Pulse garlic, onion, oregano, cumin, chili, salt and pepper together in a food processor, adding oil in a drizzle and scraping down sides as necessary, until mixture is pasty. (Alternatively, mash ingredients in a mortar and pestle.) Blend in the vinegar.
• Rub this mixture well into pork, getting it into every nook and cranny. Put pork in a roasting pan and film bottom with water. Roast pork for several hours (a 4-pound shoulder may be done in 3 hours), turning every hour or so and adding more water as necessary, until meat is very tender. Finish roasting with the skin side up until crisp, raising heat at end of cooking if necessary.
• Let meat rest for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting it up; meat should be so tender that cutting it into uniform slices is almost impossible; rather, whack it up into chunks. Serve with lime.

THE BEST PUERTO RICAN PERNIL (PORK SHOULDER)

Steps:

• Make the marinade:.
• In medium bowl, combine garlic, lime juice, oregano, soy sauce, olive oil and salt and black pepper. Set aside.
• Wash the pernil in vinegar and water, pat dry with paper towel.
• Place on a cutting board fat side up.
• Leaving the fat in a single piece and attached at one end, use a knife to remove the layer of fat from the shoulder, opening it like a book to reveal the meat. Then, use the knife to poke 1-inch deep holes into the meat on all sides (about 20 holes).
• Place pernil in roasting pan skin side up. Rub the marinade all over the pernil, making sure you work it into to the holes. Return the skin back to its original position. Score the skin with diagonal cuts and sprinkle salt to taste over the skin.
• Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours.
• On day of Cooking:.
• Remove pernil from refrigerator 45 minutes before roasting.
• Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
• Add a little water to the roasting pan so that it comes up about 1/2 inch up the sides.
• Cook pernil uncovered for 1 hour. Turn oven temperature down to 225 degrees F, tent pernil loosely with aluminum foil, and cook for 8 hours. Remove foil and cook for 1 hour.
• Let pernil rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

PORK SHOULDER PERNIL SPANISH STYLE

Steps:

• Place the 8 pounds pork shoulder into a roasting pan with the fatty side up. Puncture the surface of the meat with a fork. Rub the paste into the punctures of the meat.
• Mix together in a small bowl, blend minced garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, adobo seasoning and olive oil.
• Cover with plastic and store in the refrigerator overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Remove the plastic wrap from the pork shoulder and replace it with aluminum foil.
• Cook for 3 1/2 to 5 hours, checking the meat every 30 minutes after the 3 1/2 hour mark.
• Remove the foil when the pork is nearly done and allow to cook for another 20-30 minutes to become crispy on the surface.

SPANISH PORK SHOULDER

Steps:

• Mix sazon seasoning, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and oregano together in a small bowl.
• Rinse roast and pat dry. Separate the fat from the meat with a sharp knife, starting at the wide end and going to the narrow end; don't cut it off all the way.
• Season the inside of the fat a little bit. Make very deep slits all over the meat and rub seasoning all over, making sure it goes into the slits. Pull the fat back up and over the meat. Wrap roast with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours.
• When ready to cook, remove roast from refrigerator. Unwrap and place in a deep roasting pan. Let sit for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 30 minutes. During this 30 minutes the roast will reach room temperature (total of 1 hour out of the refrigerator).
• Place roast in the preheated oven and cook for 1 hour. Reduce heat to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C); cook roast until meat is tender and can be easily pulled apart with a fork, about 6 more hours. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 145 degrees F (63 degrees C).

PERNIL

Steps:

• Prepare the adobo by combining all the ingredients and grinding in a large pilón or mortar and pestle, or simply mixing together well in a small bowl.
• Prepare the pork: Rinse and dry meat well with a clean towel. Place pork skin-side down on a large rimmed sheet pan and poke deep, 1-inch holes throughout the meat and in the fatty layer with a paring knife, being careful not to pierce the skin. You can't have too many holes.
• Pour over adobo in batches, using your fingers to push adobo deep into the meat. If you're worried about your hands smelling like garlic - which they will! - wear gloves.
• Set out a long sheet of plastic wrap, layering with subsequent sheets as needed to ensure you can securely wrap the entire pork shoulder. Transfer pork to plastic wrap and wrap tightly, adding sheets of plastic as needed to ensure pork is completely airtight and juices are contained. Let marinate in the fridge overnight if possible, or at least least 2 to 3 hours. Set on a rimmed baking sheet or disposable aluminum foil pan in case it leaks.
• Once the pork has marinated, heat oven to 400 degrees. Working over the sink, carefully remove pork from plastic wrap, discarding any remaining adobo. Place the marinated pork shoulder skin-side up in a deep roasting pan, and wipe the skin with a clean cloth. Rub skin with 1 teaspoon salt.
• Loosely tent foil over the pork shoulder, spraying the foil with cooking spray or brushing with oil in any areas that may touch the skin, as it will stick. Transfer to the center of the oven.
• Roast in the oven for 1 hour, then carefully remove the foil and rotate the pan. Continue roasting for another 2 to 3 hours, rotating every hour or so, and watching closely. Add water to the pan as needed when juices evaporate. The meat is done cooking when the juices run clear and the thickest part of the leg registers 160 degrees with a meat thermometer. The skin may take more time to crisp, but watch closely so that it does not burn. Tap the top of the skin with the back of a knife or metal spatula, and listen for a decidedly hollow sound.
• Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes, then transfer to a large cutting board. (For cleaning instructions for the pan, see Notes.) If desired, remove the skin from the roast by slicing it along the underside of the bone with a long, sharp, slender knife. Run the knife underneath the skin starting from the bottom until loosened, then lift the skin from the meat. Use kitchen shears to cut into serving pieces, and let them rest in the warm oven until ready to eat. Trim excess fat from the meat if desired, and slice as desired, in large chunks or slices, to serve.