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Clementine Mojo – a tasty sauce for rich pork

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This clementine mojo accompanies the smoky potluck pintxos along with our romesco sauce. I did this video separately to have a faster turnaround time. Check out this tasty sauce that does great with pork!

Clementine mojo thumbnail image

Clementine Mojo

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1 ratings
Category: Sauce
Cuisine: Spanish
Clementine mojo thumbnail image

Ingredients

40 servings
14
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 8 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
  • 3 tablespoons clementine (or orange) juice
  • 1/2 cup lime juice
  • 1/3 cup water or juice/drippings from pork
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • black pepper to taste, about a teaspoon

Instructions

  1. Heat olive oil in small saucepan over medium heat until shimmering
  2. Add garlic slices and cook until fragrant and starting to turn a pale golden color. Do not burn!
  3. Add remaining ingredients and bring to boil, about 3 minutes
  4. Allow to cool, refrigerate, and serve

Nutrition information

Serving Size: 8g small spoonful
Calories per serving: 14
Fat per serving: 1.4g
Saturated fat per serving: 0.2g
Carbs per serving: 1g
Protein per serving: 0g
Fiber per serving: 0g
Sugar per serving: 0g
Sodium per serving: 58mg
Trans fat per serving: 0g
Cholesterol per serving: 0mg
https://explorers.kitchen/recipes/clementine-mojo/

Adapted from Epicurious.

nutrition information for clementine mojo sauce

Tasting and lessons learned

This was a super easy recipe to make and is a nice thing to have in your repertoire. I had always thought a mojo was more involved, but this is nothing to be intimidated by.

Romesco sauce for potluck pintxos

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This romesco sauce is an accompanying recipe to the potluck pintxos we posted for the holidays. You can watch the video of this recipe here, but be sure to check out the recipe for those smoky pork shoulder bites.

This recipe was adapted from Serious Eats.

Romesco sauce for potluck pintxos

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1 ratings
Category: Sauce
Cuisine: Spanish

Ingredients

40 minutes
40 servings
20
  • 2 slices of sandwich bread cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 1/2 of a 14.5oz can of diced tomatoes (preferably Muir Glen)
  • 1/2 head garlic
  • 1/2 cup smoked almonds
  • 7 small sweet peppers or 2 red bell peppers
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons white wine or sherry vinegar
  • Optional: 1/4 cup pork juice/drippings

Instructions

Prep
5 minutes
Cook
35 minutes
Ready in
40 minutes
  1. Preheat oven to 375F
  2. Place almonds, bread, and garlic on a parchment-lined sheet to toast
  3. Toast in oven until fragrant, about 10 minutes
  4. Remove bread and almonds, but return garlic to oven to continue roasting until tender, about 20 more minutes
  5. Meanwhile, char the peppers on a charcoal grill or directly on the burner of a gas stove
  6. Place charred peppers in and cover tightly with plastic wrap for 20 minutes to allow the skin to loosen in the steam
  7. Remove seeds, stem/core, and skin
  8. Peel garlic
  9. Add all ingredients to food processor or blender and process until smooth

Nutrition information

Serving Size: 17g spoonfuls
Calories per serving: 20
Fat per serving: 1.5g
Saturated fat per serving: 0.2g
Carbs per serving: 2g
Protein per serving: 0g
Fiber per serving: 0g
Sugar per serving: 1g
Sodium per serving: 64mg
Trans fat per serving: 0g
Cholesterol per serving: 0mg
https://explorers.kitchen/recipes/romesco-sauce/

Tasting and lessons learned

This was a lovely addition to my potluck pork pintxos! The nutty flavors from the almonds were very pleasant and the various smoked ingredients lightly complimented the smoked pork shoulder bites. The vinegar is essential in this recipe because it helps to cut through some of the fattiness of the pork shoulder.

In the future, I would cut this batch in half or smaller. It makes a lot of sauce and only keeps in the fridge for about 5 days. I haven’t tried freezing it, but that may be an option in the future.

Potluck Pintxos – Smoked Pork Shoulder Bites

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Today, I’ve got the perfect thing for your holiday potluck – my take on pintxos!

I cooked a whole pork shoulder sous vide until it is perfectly tender and then cubed it and rubbed on my favorite seasonings. To give it a smoky flavor, I gave it a quick 30-minute smoke while I prepped a romesco sauce to accompany the pintxos.

This dish was a total hit at my work’s 2018 holiday potluck this year and disappeared quickly! This is a great potluck idea for you to have a killer dish.

Potluck Pintxos - Smoked Pork Shoulder Bites

Potluck Pintxos – Smoked Pork Shoulder Bites

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1 ratings
Category: Appetizer
Cuisine: Spanish-American fusion
Potluck Pintxos - Smoked Pork Shoulder Bites

Ingredients

40 servings
189 calories
  • 8-10 lbs bone-in pork shoulder
  • 1/2 cup favorite BBQ rub (we used Jeff’s Naked Rib Rub)
  • 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
  • 1 tablespoon mustard powder
  • 1 teaspoon chipotle powder

Instructions

  1. Set sous vide immersion circulator to 140F (60C)
  2. Place vacuum packed pork shoulder in water bath
  3. Sous vide for 18 hours
  4. Remove pork from bath, open vacuum pouch
  5. Cut out bone, trim pork removing much of the fat and gristle
  6. Cut pork into roughly 1.5 in (4cm) cubes
  7. Coat pork thoroughly with rub
  8. Optional: refrigerate for 8-10 hours or overnight
  9. Set-up smoker to 225-350F (120-175C)
  10. Add hickory chunks (or your favorite hardwood)
  11. Smoke for 30 minutes
  12. Serve immediately or chill and reheat for a potluck

Notes

Optional overnight chilling allows salt to penetrate meat since we cooked it completely unseasoned. Also, cold objects absorb smoke more readily than hot objects, so it helps it to pick up that flavor. Smoking temp isn’t critical, the meat is fully cooked and we just want it to absorb smoke flavor.

Nutrition information

Serving Size: 4 oz/ 104g
Calories per serving: 189 calories
Fat per serving: 12g
Saturated fat per serving: 4g
Carbs per serving: 3g
Protein per serving: 16g
Fiber per serving: 0g
Sugar per serving: 2g
Sodium per serving: 1364mg
Trans fat per serving: 0g
Cholesterol per serving: 59mg
https://explorers.kitchen/recipes/potluck-pintxos-smoked-pork-shoulder-bites/

Equipment used (affiliate links):

Tasting and Lessons Learned

Normally, I prefer to give the meats plenty of time to absorb the salt in the recipe. Therefore, I usually strongly prefer to season it before bagging it for sous vide. However, for this recipe, I cooked it before seasoning. I wasn’t too worried because I would be cutting the pork up to manageable 1.5″ pieces and then seasoning the cubes with salt (in the rub). The salt-level turned out to be perfect.

I had two resting times built-in. First, after the sous vide cooking I cubed the meat and then seasoned it, letting it rest while I went to work for the day. It got another overnight rest after the 30 minute smoke. That gave plenty of time for the sodium to distribute throughout the meat pieces.

To reheat for my potluck, I used a Crock Pot on high to get it up to temperature over the course of the morning, then at serving time, I reduced it to “Keep Warm.” The Crock Pot company does not recommend using a slow cooker to reheat, but I’ve never had troubles. In my testing, food gets out of the “danger zone” in less than 2 hours, so I feel comfortable using it in the right application.

As for tasting, this recipe was a hit at my potluck. The pork was smoky and spicy, but not overpowering. I was serving this to a Midwestern crowd, so I didn’t want to make it too hot! It hit the mark perfectly and praise was heaped upon this dish throughout the potluck.

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