As you may have noticed, I am very lucky to be treated to delicious meals cooked by my boyfriend. I usually help out, but he leads the charge. Last week, we both felt it was time for me to return the favor. Luckily, he was busy with a personal training session one night, giving me time to work in the kitchen without too much stress (it's hard having a better cook watch you cook!). I wanted to make something from my new Joy of Cooking cookbook, and I wanted to make meat as he loves meat and I need to practice cooking with it. I decided a slow cooker meal would be a good way to go because it would allow me to start early and have time, and I wanted to test drive the little slow cooker my parents let me have.
I made half this recipe (3 lbs of meat), and it was still huge. Luckily it was delicious, so we haven't minded having pork tacos for lunch for a couple days. The meat was really tender and delicious, and we have just thrown it in the skillet with some of the sauce and then rolled it up in warm corn tortillas. Yum. I had a few panic moments in getting things to come together (a problem I enjoy not encountering when baking) to have one warm dinner all at the same time (this was also when I made crème brûlée, I was working hard to impress). In terms of timing I would say it took about 45 minutes to get it started, I let it cook 5 hours (it says 5-6), and then about 20 minutes to make the sauce and noodles and let the meat rest. So an hour or so of work plus 5-6 hours in the middle of sitting. Very doable, and not too crazy of ingredients.
*this is the full recipe - I made half and, as mentioned, it was plenty for 2 people for dinner and a few lunches
1 bone in pork shoulder roast (7.5 lbs) [note: also called pork butt, who knew?]
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 garlic cloves, choped
1.5 cups chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine
1.5 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2-3 tbsp Dijon mustard to taste
salt and black pepper (to taste)
*serve with buttered noodles
Timing:
appx 45 min initially + 5-6 hours slow cooker + 20ish minutes at the end
(make noodles during end time)
Trim the excess fat from the pork shoulder roast and season the meat with the salt and black pepper.
[Note: when working with raw meat, I try to only use one hand to touch the meat and another hand to touch my knife, salt, pepper, etc, so as not to transfer anything. And I washed my hands several times in between steps.]
Head the oil over medium heat in a heavy pot large enough to hold the meat. Add the meat and brown well on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer the meat to a 7 quart slow cooker. Pour off all but 1 tbsp of fat from the pot [I didn't need to do this]. Return the pot to medium heat and add the onion, carrot, and garlic.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften, about 5 minutes. Add chicken broth, wine, and rosemary. Bring to a boil, stirring to release the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Pour over the meat in the slow cooker. Cover and turn cooker to low setting. Cook without opening the lid until meat is very tender, 5-6 hours.
Transfer the meat to a deep platter and tent with aluminum foil to keep warm [I put it in a dish and covered it with a pot lid that allowed some air to go in and out]. Pour cooking liquid into a large heatproof bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes and then skim the fat from the surface (either with a spoon or by placing a paper towel on top and soaking it up - I didn't have a lot of fat).
Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour and let bubble without browning for 2 minutes. Whisk in the cooking liquid and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook until lightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Whisk in Dijon mustard and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
Slice the meat, which should fall off the bone [I didn't have any bone in my 3 lb roast], and discard the skin [I didn't really have any skin either]. Pour half the sauce over the meat and transfer the remaining sauce to a bowl or sauceboat, and serve with buttered noodles.
I made half this recipe (3 lbs of meat), and it was still huge. Luckily it was delicious, so we haven't minded having pork tacos for lunch for a couple days. The meat was really tender and delicious, and we have just thrown it in the skillet with some of the sauce and then rolled it up in warm corn tortillas. Yum. I had a few panic moments in getting things to come together (a problem I enjoy not encountering when baking) to have one warm dinner all at the same time (this was also when I made crème brûlée, I was working hard to impress). In terms of timing I would say it took about 45 minutes to get it started, I let it cook 5 hours (it says 5-6), and then about 20 minutes to make the sauce and noodles and let the meat rest. So an hour or so of work plus 5-6 hours in the middle of sitting. Very doable, and not too crazy of ingredients.
I'm not the best butcher, but I think I got the job done.
I ended up with 3 pieces of meat, and on the right is my pile of connective tissue and fat.
*this is the full recipe - I made half and, as mentioned, it was plenty for 2 people for dinner and a few lunches
1 bone in pork shoulder roast (7.5 lbs) [note: also called pork butt, who knew?]
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 garlic cloves, choped
1.5 cups chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine
1.5 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2-3 tbsp Dijon mustard to taste
salt and black pepper (to taste)
*serve with buttered noodles
Timing:
appx 45 min initially + 5-6 hours slow cooker + 20ish minutes at the end
(make noodles during end time)
Trim the excess fat from the pork shoulder roast and season the meat with the salt and black pepper.
[Note: when working with raw meat, I try to only use one hand to touch the meat and another hand to touch my knife, salt, pepper, etc, so as not to transfer anything. And I washed my hands several times in between steps.]
Head the oil over medium heat in a heavy pot large enough to hold the meat. Add the meat and brown well on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer the meat to a 7 quart slow cooker. Pour off all but 1 tbsp of fat from the pot [I didn't need to do this]. Return the pot to medium heat and add the onion, carrot, and garlic.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften, about 5 minutes. Add chicken broth, wine, and rosemary. Bring to a boil, stirring to release the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Pour over the meat in the slow cooker. Cover and turn cooker to low setting. Cook without opening the lid until meat is very tender, 5-6 hours.
Transfer the meat to a deep platter and tent with aluminum foil to keep warm [I put it in a dish and covered it with a pot lid that allowed some air to go in and out]. Pour cooking liquid into a large heatproof bowl. Let stand for 5 minutes and then skim the fat from the surface (either with a spoon or by placing a paper towel on top and soaking it up - I didn't have a lot of fat).
Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour and let bubble without browning for 2 minutes. Whisk in the cooking liquid and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook until lightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Whisk in Dijon mustard and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
Slice the meat, which should fall off the bone [I didn't have any bone in my 3 lb roast], and discard the skin [I didn't really have any skin either]. Pour half the sauce over the meat and transfer the remaining sauce to a bowl or sauceboat, and serve with buttered noodles.
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