Easy Marinated Pork Roast…Seville Oranges, Oregano, Cumin and Garlic!

I wish I could capture the delicious aroma in my kitchen and share it with you!  Roast pork always smells so delicious…but this one had been marinating for a whole day before cooking.  I may never cook pork roast any other way again!

Last week I was given these Seville oranges from Melissa’s Produce.  I had never heard of Seville oranges, so I did a little research.  There are stories to be found about these oranges!  They are not sweet at all,  in fact they’re downright sour.  And they’re full of seeds too.  Imagine having a tree of these gorgeous oranges, thinking they’re sweet, only to find out they aren’t edible! The skin is thick and rough,  the flesh is bitter.  What good could they be? Marmalade!  Infused liquors!  Cocktails!  Mojo Pork!

I decided on a simple and quick recipe for a marinade used in Puerto Rico.  I juiced the oranges but didn’t have the 2 cups of juice that I needed for the marinade,  so I added the juice of a huge navel orange.  Poured the juice into a huge zip-lock bag and added a teaspoon of oregano and half a teaspoon of cumin.  Then I put 2 tablespoons of minced garlic into the bag and squished everything together.   Added 1/2 tsp salt and a tsp of ground back pepper.   Then I put a small pork shoulder roast into the bag and sealed the zip-lock.  For the next 24 hours, that roast bathed in the marinade, as I turned the bag several times to make sure all the meat came in contact with the marinade.

The next day  I set the oven to 450 degrees,  pulled the roast out of the marinade,  put it on a roasting rack and …into the oven it went!  After 10 minutes I lowered the heat to 250 degrees and that was it.   Hours later (about 4)  the meat thermometer finally registered 160 degrees.   By then everyone who came into the house knew that something wonderful was going to be ready for dinner.

I let the roast “rest” for about 10 minutes after it came out of the oven and then sliced into the delicious meat.   Honestly, this is delicious!  I asked The Farmer how he liked the meat…answer:  “I can’t stop eating it!”

 We had a delicious dinner…roasted fingerling potatoes,  steamed green beans…and that scrumptious pork.