Years ago, I lived in the Florida Keys and it was there that I was introduced to Cuban food. Their sandwiches are awesome and if you’ve never had a Cuban coffee…what are you waiting for??

One of my favorite Cuban restaurants was El Meson de Pepe’s located in Key West. Their Churrasco was superb, skirt steak marinated in onions, garlic and lime. I also loved the Masitas de Cerdo Frita, fried pork cubes with cumin.

I created this dish which combines elements of both 15 years ago and it is a favorite in my house. Of course, it must be accompanied by beans and rice which I have included as well. Disfrutar!

What you’ll need

Approximately 40 min total time

2 frying pans

1-1 ½ lb pork country style ribs from the shoulder sliced thin

3 T cumin

1 lg onion 2/3 sliced thin, 1/3 diced

5 cloves of garlic minced

3 limes juiced

3 tsp oregano

1 ½ tsp salt

½ tsp crushed red pepper

1 jalapeno pepper diced

1 can of black beans

1 C rice

2 T oil

Slice up the pork and put it in a zipper bag along with the sliced onion, juice of two limes, 3 cloves of minced garlic, 2 tsp oregano and 1 tsp salt. Marinate at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours. It's important to use shoulder country style ribs and not loin country style ribs, they are very different cuts. See all that fat and marbling below? That's flavore town my friend.

Next, get your rice going. Bring 1 C rice and 2 C water to a boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes then turn off the heat.

Drain and rinse the can of black beans. Sautee the diced onion, jalapeño and 2 cloves of minced garlic in 1T oil until softened (2-4 minutes). Add the beans, juice of 1 lime, 1 tsp oregano, crushed red pepper and a pinch of salt. Set heat to medium low. Stir occasionally.

Add 1T oil to a large fry pan or wok and set heat to high. Pour in the entire contents of the zipper bag. Then stirfry until all the liquid evaporates and the pork in nice and browned.