A reprint from one of our Featured Blogs, CAVALCADE OF FOOD.
Kevin celebrates
One Pork Roast - Three Delicious Dishes!
Sometimes you see things on sale and they are just too good to
pass up. On a Sunday afternoon at a local market, there were these
beautiful pork shoulder (sometimes called a "pork butt") roasts at
a great price. How could I resist? The only thing was, these roasts
are often best cooked at a low temperature for hours and hours -
but we wanted to have it that night for dinner! So I got to
thinking about what we could make by cooking this for a couple of
hours.
It's in part because of the Polish in me, but there is something
about the taste of pork that I just love. It can be succulent,
flavorful and moist. But we've all experienced dry, tasteless pork
from time to time. Pork loins, especially, are very lean. While
there are many benefits to the lean meat, they can easily overcook
and become so dried out that no amount of gravy can redeem. This is
why, if I have the time, I always go for the shoulder/butt roast.
Sure, it contains a lot more fat, but it holds up to longer cooking
times and generally delivers better on flavor
We decided on three different ways to enjoy out pork roast. First,
sliced roast pork with gravy made from the wonderful drippings left
behind in the roasting dish. Second, we would shred part of the
roast into small bite-sized pieces and then use those to make BBQ
pork sandwiches. Finally, there was a bunch of corn tortillas to
use up, so we would chop up some toppings and have the makings for
pork tacos.
I set the 4.5lb roast out for about an hour before starting the
cooking. During this time I put together a rub for the outside of
the roast using some of our favorite spices:
2 TBSP Kosher salt
1 TBSP black pepper
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 TBSP brown sugar
1 tsp smoked paprika (you could use hot or sweet paprika
instead)
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
Making rubs is a creative way to blend your favorite seasoning
together. Some spices/herbs go better with certain meats, but I
generally use those I like best. I rubbed all the surface areas of
the roast with the rub mixture and heated a few tablespoons of oil
in a skillet. Once the oil was hot, I browned each side of the
roast and then transferred it to a roasting rack in a baking
dish.
Now Ralph doesn't own a roasting rack - I have about 10 of them.
So, I fashioned one out of a big piece of aluminum foil and it made
due. I covered the roast with foil and put it in a preheated 325
degree oven for 2 - 2 ½ hours.
This is also a great exercise if you want to do nothing more than
make your house smell wonderful! Regardless, after removing
the roast from the oven uncover it (carefully - there will be a lot
of steam) and allow it to rest for at least 20 minutes.
I pour off the dripping from the bottom of the roasting pan into a
measuring cup. As it cools, the fat will rise to the top. I use the
pork fat with some flour to create a roux, and then add the rest of
the drippings in to make my gravy. If I find the gravy too thick,
I'll thin it out with a little chicken stock or white wine.
After the roast has rested you can get to slicing. Now you could
slice the whole thing if you just wanted to serve roast pork and
gravy as the main course. Leftover sliced pork is also excellent
sandwich making material, so none of it would go to waste. Since we
had plans for three different dishes, I sliced about half the
roast. The other half I took apart (with my hands) into small
pieces. If you just wanted to do BBQ pork sandwiches, you could
take the entire roast apart, put it in a slow cooker, add your
favorite sauce, and have delicious hot sandwiches for your Super
Bowl party. We probably could have eaten the whole thing via tacos,
because we love well-made tacos simultaneously present a complexity
of flavors yet with a simple and straightforward delivery. It's all
good!
We chopped up some tomato, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, lettuce and
lime for the taco topping. I heated up some of my favorite sauce in
a small skillet and added the pork pieces. Within moments we were
enjoying roasted pork in three different, yet delicious ways!