Recipe: Cuban Oregano Mojo Marinade

Looks just like the picture on the website!

Probably a year ago, my friend Hila gave me a cutting of her Cuban oregano plant. For a while it didn't seem to grow much; I wasn't sure if it would survive re-planting. But after some time, it grew. And it grew BIG. It got to the point that I had two huge stalks of it, and one was drooping down under its own weight. So I cut it off and saved the leaves. After googling some recipes, I found this one from the Jerra's Garden blog for a marinade. Even though I don't normally make my own sauces or marinades (it's so easy just to buy a jar!), I had so much of this oregano that I had to do something with it. And this marinade turned out to be really good!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup fresh Cuban oregano leaves
• 1/4 cup peeled fresh garlic cloves
• 1 sweet yellow onion, peeled and quartered
• 2 cups sour orange juice
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
• 1 cup olive oil or avocado oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp powdered chicken boullion

Directions

1. Gather and prepare all the ingredients. Peel and quarter the onions, juice the fruit (if you are using fresh oranges), and dice the cilantro and oregano (does not need to be too fine because it will be blended).

2. Put all of the ingredients into a blender. The marinade should have a pourable, liquid consistency.

3. Pour over your favorite meat and let it marinate for several hours and even overnight. You can keep the remaining sauce in a mason jar in the fridge for three days or freeze it for future use.

As for the ingredients, I didn't have sour oranges, so I did 2/3 cup of each citrus juice (orange, lemon, and lime). I also didn't have cilantro on hand, so I skipped that part (which is okay, since some people don't like cilantro anyway). I'm not sure if I had quite a quarter cup of fresh garlic; I just used one full clove. And for the chicken boullion, I bought little packets. Supposedly each packet is the same as one cube, and each cube is equal to a teaspoon. But this is NOT true! I poured out the packet into a measuring spoon to check, and it is easily at least two teaspoons. So I just used two packets, since I figured it was better to use too little than to overdo it. 

I used the marinade on chicken thighs. They turned out great!

But despite making all those changes, this sauce came out really well! I thought it tasted great on its own, and it made me think of the ways I could use it: dipping sauce for a hot pretzel, pasta sauce... It seems very versatile and could be used in many ways. And this recipe made A LOT of the marinade, so I was able to take some of it to Hila and show her what her plant gave to me!