STS Bar & Grill: Pronghorn Mojo Risin’

For comfort and recuperation, nothing beats a roast.  Threw your back out doing yard work?  No worries. Shattered a window in your truck? Don’t sweat it. Pierced your kid’s ear with a low flying streamer? That’s okay.  A slow-cooked hunk of personally harvested meat is good for whatever ails you. But what to do when it’s 95 degrees outside? No one wants to crank the oven for 6 hours then wolf down a heavy supper when the mercury rises. That was until now.  Mojo – the popular Caribbean flavor scheme – brightens and lightens a roast to better suit a summer palette. They don’t see many cold night in Cuba after all. Meanwhile, swapping the oven for the crock-pot keeps temperatures inline. At last rump roast – that formerly three season sanctuary – returns to the summer table.

What you’ll need…

4-5 pound Antelope Rump Roast – other venison roasts  would work, but the Mojo is particularly well suited to pronghorn

1 Large Onion

3 Heads Fresh Garlic, That’s right heads, not cloves

2 tsp Kosher Salt

2 tsp Oregano

1 tsp Black Pepper Corns

1 Cup Orange Juice

½ Cup Lemon Juice

½ Cup Lime Juice

1 Cup Olive Oil most mojos omit oil but the 100% lean antelope meat really benefits from the extra fat.

Dill pickles, cut to rough dice

Queso Fresco, crumbled

Step 1: Slice onion into thin rings.

Step 2: Peel  garlic by separating cloves, then smashing with flat side of a chef’s knife to loosen skins.

Step 3: Combine onion, garlic, salt, oregano, pepper, juices and oil.

Step 4: Place the roast in a crock-pot and pour in the mojo mixture. Turn that bad oscar on low and let it do its thing. Budget six hours, but start checking-in – probing, turning, squeezing and pulling with tongs – after about four. It’s done when it starts to fall apart with gentle tonging. If you’re as susceptible to aromatic suggestion as I am, you’ll want to find something to do outside for most of the afternoon.

Step 5: When the roast is ready to party, pull it out, set it aside and cover it with foil. Run the braising liquid through a wire mesh strainer to remove the solids (now little more than fiber) and reduce gravy by half in a sauce pan.

Step 6: Serve with rice, Cuban black beans and wilted garden greens. Garnish with chopped pickles and queso fresco. Season liberally with reminders about how much time you’ll need in the upcoming hunting season.

Pronghorn Mojo Risin

4-5 Pound Antelope Roast

1 Large Onion

3 Heads  Garlic

2 tsp Kosher Salt

2 tsp Oregano

1 tsp Black Pepper Corns

1 Cup Orange Juice

½ Cup Lemon Juice

½ Cup Lime Juice

1 Cup Olive Oil

Dill pickles

Queso Fresco

1. Slice onion

2. Peel and crush garlic

3. Combine onion, garlic, salt, oregano pepper juices and oil.

4. Toss meat and marinade in a crock-pot. Set it and (try to) forget it.

5. Reduce Braising liquid to make gravy.

6. Garnish with Pickles and queso fresco.