Meltingly Tender Pork Roast

Although we are not huge meat eaters at our house, when it's time to pull out the roaster we tend to go whole hog. And, in this case, I mean that literally.

This recipe is my absolute favorite way to cook up a pork shoulder. The slow cooking renders the pork meltingly tender, and the apples and onions (which are dessimated by the length of the cooking process) make a seriously fantastic sauce. On top of everything, this roast is a cinch to put together -- although it does require a bit of foresight, as the overnight marination really helps the flavors to permeate the roast.

As I've mentioned, first you must marinate the roast. When you've slathered it all over with a mixture of anise, rosemary, thyme, garlic, peppercorns, salt, and olive oil, you should wrap it up as tightly as you can in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for a day or two. Trust me, it will be beautiful.
When you've got the roast all nicely marinated, you should chop up a few apples. I like to do five apples. But, if you've only got four, that will do nicely. Also chop up a couple of onions.
Season the apples and onions with salt and pepper and place them into the bottom of a nice roasting pan with a cover.
Add the pork roast right on top. I chose (this time) to chop my roast into two pieces. It seemed to work fine, so you can follow my lead if you like. You're also welcome to leave your roast in one piece.
You'll roast the pork at 450º for about 30 minutes. Then you'll turn the temperature way down, add a bit of wine to the pan, and continue cooking it for about 3 more hours. What you'll find in the oven upon your return is a lovely thing. Sweet, succulent pork on a bed of the softest apples you've ever laid your eyes upon.
Don't hesitate to plate the whole mess up nicely on a platter and serve it to guests. They'll love you for it.
We had this beauty for Thanksgiving this year with a side of shaved brussels sprouts and some smashed potatoes with white truffle oil.

Stupendous stuff.
And the best part is, you can make it yourself.

Meltingly Tender Pork with Apples

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Roasted Chestnut and Porcini Soup

I didn't expect to find locally grown chestnuts in our local market the weekend before Thanksgiving. But, when I found them, I couldn't resist buying up a nice handful. I wasn't sure exactly what I'd do with them at first. But, when I ran across this recipe, which I'd clipped out of an old Bon Appetit magazine, I knew it would be the perfect starter for our Thanksgiving dinner.

We'd never roasted chestnuts before, but we figured that now was as good of a time as any to figure it out. We didn't have an "open fire" lying around, so we opted for a more modest method -- roasting the nuts in a cast iron pan. It worked out quite well, if you ask me. And I'd recommend it, if you've ever got yourself a few cups of chestnuts and a 1/2 hour's time. If you're interested, you can read about our technique here.
When the chestnuts were done roasting, they needed to be peeled. A bit labor-intensive, maybe... but totally worth it in my guesstimation. I am all about enduring a bit of pain for the sake of good, honest food, though. So, take my opinion with a grain of salt if you're the type who looks for instant gratification.
While we were peeling those pesky chestnuts, we set a few porcini mushrooms afloat in some nice hot water.
The rehydrated porcini and roasted chestnuts were thrown (albeit gently) into a mid-sized saucepan with some delicious stock. We let them frolic there for between 20-30 minutes so that their flavors could meld and the chestnuts could pick up a bit of additional tenderness. And then we pureed the crap out of them...
... which resulted in one of the silkiest, smoothest soups you can imagine.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we chopped up some rutabaga and carrots and sauteed them until they were nicely caramelized. We'll spare you the details, but when all was finished, we piled them nicely into our prepared soup bowl.
When covered with the delicious soup, the veggies bobbed up top for a bit of air.
This soup definitely relies on the porcini mushrooms for its earthy character; but the chestnuts lend sweetness and texture that really takes the soup up a level. The caramelized root vegetables add interest, and they offer something toothsome to the otherwise creamy soup.

On Thanksgiving day, it was just the two of us. But, this soup is good enough that it needs to be shared. So, I'm suspecting it will have to make an encore performance at Christmas Day dinner.

Am already looking forward to it. *slurp*


©BURP! Where Food Happens