Happy Family Special Pork Roast
2002-09-23 @ 5:53 p.m.
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I love making an all-day roast, either beef or pork, because you get a really cheap cut of meat (in this case a pork shoulder), and you wind up with a tasty, tender, juicy hunk of meat that falls apart when you put your fork to it.
This particular pork shoulder had a thick rind of fat and skin on one side that I cut off before cooking it. I usually try to trim off whatever fat I can on the outside of a roast before cooking. I coated it with olive oil and seasoned it with a sprinkling of salt, cumin, chili powder and black pepper. Then it goes under the broiler to brown it on at least three sides (top and sides). When it's browned pour your liquid into the roasting pan to about halfway up the roast. I used about three cups of warm water with two packets of ham buillion, more cumin and chili powder, a little bit of crushed red pepper flakes and about 1/4 of red wine vinegar. Reduce the oven temp to 350 degrees and leave the roast in for 2 or 3 hours. Leave the lid off of the pan for the first hour or the last hour to get a nicely browned and crisp top. If the liquid level gets close to the bottom of the pan, add more. When the roast is done, you can use the liquid to make a gravy. Since we were making risotto, I didn't really need a gravy, so I'm saving the liquid to put in pinto beans later this week.
I've done an earlier entry on risotto (I think, I hope), so look back in my archives. (I don't have Bad's instructions with me on how to set up a link for you, sorry.) I added most of a half pound package of baby portobello mushrooms, sliced, just before adding the wine to saute them with the rice. The fresh spinach goes in near the end because it takes very little time to cook. But you have to have a big enough skillet to allow for the spinach to take up a lot of room at first, until it cooks down some. This time I experimented with leaving out the butter at the end and using just the grated parmesan. Since two of my girls are on diets, I tried to be helpful. I don't think anyone noticed.
We had dry rose with dinner. (Have you noticed we drink a lot of dry rose in summertime?) Pinot Noir would have gone well with the risotto, but might not have done so well with the spices in pork. A Beaujolais or lighter bodied red Zinfindel could have worked.
I'm feeling very nummery about my whole family today. I wish I could be at home with them this evening, but I'll see them tomorrow and the next day (and the next and for a million years after that). Happy sigh.
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