cuban black beans & ropa vieja +thoughts on cuban sandwich

BLACK BEANS
pretty standard. I eat beans and rice pretty much every day. every culture had their own style.

soak 1ib black beans overnight. dump water, rinse & add 10 cups fresh.
add in a cored/quartered green bell pepper and boil 45min

sofrito: finely chop
-onion
-green bell pepper
-garlic
fry in some oil til golden. add a portion of the black beans to the sofrito, stir and mash.

add 1+tsp oregano, 1+tsp black pepper,
1 bay leaf, 1 TBS salt, 2 tsp sugar
2tsp vinegar, 2tsp sherry
add back into the bean pot, stir well, lower heat to simmer for another hour.

splash in some olive oil & serve w long grain white rice

ROPA VIEJA
it means old clothes. probably because it's an easy laundry day meal & it also looks like laundry in the wash.

2ish ibs flank steak, good for shredding
1 cup broth
1 14.5oz can crushed tomatoes
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 onion, thin sliced
1 red pepper, thin sliced
garlic
1tsp cumin
1/2c spanish olives (or more cos olives are good)
1 1/2 TBS olive brine(or more cos olives are good)

season meat generously with salt+pep. sear meat 3-4 min both sides high heat. put in slowcooker with tomatoes, onion, pepper, garlic, cumin and more salt+pep. put on low for eight hours. shred meat w two forks. add in olives+brine.

CUBANO sandwich
fuck I love these god damn sandwiches so much it makes my heart hurt when I think about them. recently I went to puerto rico with my partner, and we had a layover in miami. I ate cubanos every chance I got. that was my first time near real cubano-land.

prior, my only experience with them had been reading a wikipedia article and trying to recreate what I thought that was like. I don't remember trying very hard--pickles mustard and ham are important factors here. If my life was a house at Hogwarts we'd be called "Pimientos" and our colors would be pinkish green and shit your pants yellow & we'd specialize in cooking too much food, getting drunk, and anti-social behavior mixed with deep feelings of displacement and apathy. oh, and Conjuration and Mysticism are the coolest magic schools in TES, so we'd be good at eating souls and summoning spears which eat light and produce icy fumes. come get some "slytherin"

now that i'm far away from the carribean back home i can make my own!! so what goes in a cubano? i'm glad i asked!
1 cuban bread is like french bread but it has lard in it because cubans are awesome
dill pickles + mustard
smoked ham
roasted pork
swiss cheese
salame (this happened because cubans & italians lived in the same neighborhoods in Tampa and they decided to make the world a better place by intermingling their cultures--in cuba they don't do salame)let this be a lesson to you!! don't go to nazi rallies just eat cuban sanwiches or something
TWO THREE! KINDS OF PORKit makes me sad when i eat pork, just kidding i don't have feelings.
then its smashed in a panini to make a dank grilled cheese, or you can use 2 cast irons.

the hardest ingredient to imitate here is the roasted pork. cubans just have this stuff lying around but in america you gotta roll up yer sleeves and do it yourself *chomps corncob pipe and snaps suspenders*.

CUBAN STYLE ROAST PORK
head garlic, minced
2tsp cumin
2tsp pepper
small handful oregano leaves
1/2c orange juice (about 2 if you squeeze em)
3-4 limes of juice
1/4c olive oil

1 6-8 ibs boneless pork shoulder roast

cubans love mojos and sofritos. so do I.
MOJO: whisk together garlic, cumin, pepper, oregano, olive oil, orange + lime juice. season w salt.
marinade pork in this overnight.

put oven rack on lower-mid position & preheat to 275
line baking sheet w double layer foil, put in pork+juices and fold up into a packet, leavin a little room inside to circulate air.
roast 3 hrs
 open pork evelope to crust & raise temp to 325
baste occassionally, til it falls apart; about 2-3hrs more
let rest 10 minutes

god i'm so hungry now fuck
(i steal all these recipes from places, adapt them to my liking, and put them here so months down the line i can go "oh yeah! i wanna make that thing--where is that recipe?? on my blog!!" *types vi enter into browser*) prooof:

COLOMBIAN CHICKEN STEW
4 large potatoes
1 large onion
4 big ass tomatoes
1 whole chicken in 8 pieces, or some thighs or whatever
bay leaves
salt+pep

cut everything into big lazy chunks or don't. dump all things into pressure cooker. cook 25 minutes on high pressure.