I will admit, I've been on something of a Pork Shoulder kick of late. Much like Beef Short Ribs, I like the idea of cooking meat in a savory liquid, a technique referred to as braising. I like it in part because it's not terribly easy to screw up and is relatively simple to make. As I did with my Beef Short Rib posting wherein I provide a repository of links to all Short Rib recipes that I've done, viewed here, I am also providing for your convenience a set of links to all Pork Shoulder Roasts recipes that I've posted thus far, to wit:
- "Oven Barbecue" Pulled Pork
- Crock Pot Pork Roast
- Autumn Pork Roast
- Peach Glazed Pork Roast
- Jamaican Pork Roast with Pickapeppa Gravy
- Braised Pork Shoulder Roast (found in Pork Roast Two Ways)
- Savory Pulled Pork
- Low-And-Slow Pork Roast
- Crock Pot Pork Roast and Great Northern Beans
- Asian Pork Roast with Napa Slaw
This dish was an alternative to a Turkey & Dressing dinner on the day after Thanksgiving for my family. We customarily serve Prime Rib on Thanksgiving Day, the recipe for which can be found here. Then on the Friday after, we customarily serve the more traditional Turkey & Dressing dinner. Don't ask why we do it that way; we just do.
On this "Black Friday", however, our son was introducing us to his girlfriend (an especially nice lady, I might add), who would have had the traditional Turkey Day menu with her parents on the previous day. So as to not make the poor girl have to choose between which set of parents were the better cooks, nor bore her with two turkey dinners in a row, I was gently persuaded to choose another entree. Roast Pork seemed the logical choice. And since my Number One Fan wasn't about to give up her right to eat cornbread dressing over Thanksgiving, which she arguably likes even better than the turkey itself, I was left with this logical - and delicious - menu. My cornbread sage dressing recipe, by the way, is the same I have previously posted for the more traditional Thanksgiving menu found here.
Now, a lot of pork and stuffing recipes on the Internet will have you using a pork loin, and actually stuffing the breaded dressing into the roast. I thought that to be a terribly difficult and unnecessary thing to do, which wouldn't have worked with a shoulder roast anyway. My menu is infinitely easier and arguably better.
8 oz dried white bread dressing (like, Pepperidge Farm)
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
1 cup celery, finely diced
8 oz fresh button mushrooms, sliced (you can substitute canned)
2 fresh eggs, beaten
5 tbsp rubbed sage
3 tbsp olive oil
1-1/2 sticks butter
3-4 cups chicken stock (like, Swanson's or Kitchen Basics)
salt & pepper
non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam)
The Recipes
First, make the pork roast:
Unless you bought the pork roast fresh from your butcher, it is likely Cryovac wrapped. Take your roast out of the packaging and rinse under cold water. Pat dry. On the fat side of the roast, score the fat cap diagonally into diamond shapes. Then, slather on half of your olive oil, followed by a similar slathering of the minced garlic and half the rubbed sage, salt and pepper. Rub it well into the crevasses of the scored fat cap and the surrounding meat. Don't do the opposite side of the roast just yet.
In a heavy Dutch oven with an oven-proof lid, heat up a good amount of olive oil over medium-high heat, and saute your sliced onions until they begin to take on a little color, 8-10 minutes.
Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees.
When the onions have collapsed and start to caramelize, add the sliced apples. Saute for 2-3 minutes longer, then spoon out all the vegetables from the Dutch oven onto a plate or in a bowl using a slotted spoon, and set aside.
Add more olive oil to the Dutch oven if necessary, and place the pork roast, fat side down. This is the side you have previously prepared with the garlic and rubbed sage. While that side is face-down in the hot oil, similarly prepare the non-fat side with the olive oil, minced garlic and rubbed sage.
After the fat side has sauteed for 5-7 minutes to take on a brown crust, turn the roast over and repeat browning the bottom of the roast for another 5-7 minutes. You should wind up with the fat side of the roast facing upward, which is how the roast should remain for the rest of the cooking period.
Return the sauteed apples and onions to the Dutch oven, placing them all around the roast, but not on top of it. Then, add the white wine and chicken stock until it has covered about two-thirds of the roast, but not covering it completely. You will want the fat cap of the roast to cook in the Dutch oven unfettered and uncovered. Slather the top of the roast with the apple sauce.
Add the bay leaves to the cooking liquid and bring it to a simmer. Put on the lid and place in a pre-heated 325-degree oven for 40 minutes per pound. So, an eight pound roast will need to cook five and a half hours. This will give you tender, falling off the bone pork that can be easily sliced or shredded.
Next, make the cornbread sage dressing:
Heat the olive oil in a skillet, and saute the celery and onion until they have collapsed and are translucent. Do not caramelize. Add one stick of butter and allow it to melt, then add your mushrooms. If using fresh mushrooms, saute until the mushrooms have collapsed and are starting to turn brown. If you're using canned mushrooms, drain all the liquid off first, then add to the skillet and heat through.
In the meantime, put the cornbread and white bread crumbs in a large mixing bowl. Add the celery-onion-mushroom mixture and stir to combine. Add the sage, salt and pepper, beaten eggs, and stir to combine. Then, pouring the chicken stock a cup at a time, continue stirring the mixture until it all begins to clump together. You want your dressing very moist, but not runny. It will dry out some in the oven during cooking, so you want the dressing a little more moist than dry.
Use a casserole dish that has a lid and coat it with the non-stick
cooking spray. Press the mixture down into the casserole dish so that
it is level, fairly dense and has an even consistency. Dot the top of
the dressing with the remaining 1/2 stick of butter. Cover and place
into a 325 degree oven for one hour during the last hour of cooking your pork roast.
Finally, make the gravy and finish the dish:
When the pork roast and cornbread dressing have finished cooking, remove from the oven. Take the pork roast out of the Dutch oven and lay on a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil while you make the gravy
Put the Dutch oven on your stove over medium heat, and using an immersion blender, emulsify the cooked onions and apples. Be sure to remove the bay leaves first. Add a little more chicken stock to the gravy. As you emulsify, the gravy will thicken. If you don't have an immersion blender, use a regular blender, but be careful not to fill it more than 1/3 full at a time. Very hot liquid like this expands rapidly when agitated and you do not want to burn yourself.
Is the gravy thick enough?
At this point, you can do one of three things: (1) serve as-is; (2) add a tablespoon or so of flour dissolved in 2-3 tablespoons of water to further thicken and tighten the gravy (be sure to bring the gravy to a boil for at least a minute); (3) or do what I did: add an envelope of dried, store-bought pork gravy mix. McCormick is probably best known brand. Dissolve the mix in a cup of water, then add to the gravy and bring it to a boil for one minute. I will admit I caught some culinary grief for this, but I swear, it's my secret ingredient and I think of it simply as pork-flavored flour.
Remove the shoulder blade from the roast and cut into thick slices, served along side the dressing with the gravy ladled over.
No comments
Post a Comment