Slow-roasted pork shoulder

Yesterday's all-day cooking adventure was the slow roasted pork shoulder, with a deboned and trussed 8+ lb pork shoulder!  I followed the recipe fairly faithfully, with the exception of slightly reducing the amount of fennel since I'm not a huge fan. (More fennel was requested for the next iteration, however.)  In my oven it took almost exactly 8 hours to get to an internal temperature of 195 degrees, the temperature for pull-apart pork according to the internet.  I think next time I might take it up to 200 or so--parts of it were meltingly tender and shreddable, while a few other areas were a little more solid.  The fat of course was delicious, melting into the meat and making it moist and very flavorful!  There wasn't much orange or onion flavor, however, unless you were eating a piece that had sat on top of the fruit during the cooking.  I didn't mind much, but maybe next time I'll experiment with getting a little more in there?

Leftovers--of which there were many--were delicious for lunch today.

Turned roasted chicken

This is my go-to roast chicken recipe.  The cooking method is from my Joy of Cooking, but the vegetables and herbs vary with what I have on hand.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken
• Aromatic vegetables
• Herbs
• Butter
• Salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees!
2. I prep the stuffing first, so I chop all my vegetables coarsely and toss them in a bowl with some of the herbs, salt, and pepper.  This time I used an onion, a carrot, and a stalk of celery, and three cloves of garlic that I smashed with the side of my knife.  For herbs I used dried basil, oregano, and thyme.
3. To prep the chicken, rinse it and pat it dry with paper towels (and take out the bag of organs, little plastic pop-up thermometer, etc).
4. Next, stuff the cavity of the chicken with the vegetable mix.  This time I tied the legs together with cotton twine to help hold it in better!
5. Liberally salt the chicken all over the outside.  Sprinkle it with pepper and your herbs too.  Finally, brush the chicken with 2-3 tablespoons of melted butter.
6. Set the chicken on its side (that is, with a leg up) in a v-shaped rack in a roasting pan or something that will catch drips.  This goes in the oven for 25 minutes for the first 4 pounds, plus 3 minutes per additional pound.  Then take the chicken out and turn it so the other leg is up, and put it back in for the same amount of time. Finally, turn it breast side up and finish cooking it--another 15-30 minutes, or until the thigh is 170-175 degrees.

Today I put a whole butternut squash in the oven with the chicken, just punctured in a few places to keep it from exploding.  It was good just mashed with a fork with a little olive oil, alongside the chicken!  Later we ended up roasting the extra vegetables that didn't fit along, with the vegetables from inside the chicken (doubtless contracting dire salmonella) and tossing them with some loose Italian sausage.  Also delicious!

Prosciutto wrapped pot roast

Prosciutto wrapped pot roast

Bored with pot roast - I was looking for a new twist.

Everyone said that the house smelled fantastic -- and a lot like corned beef.

Ingredients:

2.5 pound whole beef eye round roast

2 medium onions

1 celery stalk

garlic - chopped (as much as you like)

1/2 bell pepper - I used orange - very high in vitamin C

Olive oil

Veggies - as you like. I used a pound of carrots, a turnip and threw in a package of frozen carrots and broccoli for extra veggies.

8 cups of chicken stock - or beef, whatever you have

Red wine

Steak rub - Salt, pepper, garlic, paprika

8 oz prosciutto

Basil, thyme, bay leaf

Chop onions and saute in Dutch Oven with a couple tablespoons of olive oil.

Chop the bell pepper and add to pan.

Add salt and pepper

Rub the Beef with the steak rub all over -- a good coating.

Lay the prosciutto over the top and wrap it over the ends..... You could tie it - but it all falls apart if it is done right anyway.....

Now layer garlic onto the prosciutto

Lay the beef into the Dutch Oven

Add the broth

Add the bay leaf

Cook for 3-4 hours on low

Add 1/2 cup red wine, chopped turnip, carrots and broccoli and simmer for another hour.

Yum!

Slow roasted pork shoulder

A little while ago Lurene and I split a local pastured pig with a trainer at our gym.  It turns out a pig has a lot more meat than I expected, so two full freezers later we'll still eating pork at almost every meal!  Today's pork adventure is a roasted bone-in pork butt.  I based it on the recipe at Cook's Illustrated , but slightly modified.

1. Last night, I scored the fat cap of the roast into little one-inch squares, and rubbed it all over with kosher salt and sprinkled it with Chinese five-spice powder.  (I use this all the time on pork.  It tastes like it should be in cookies, but there's no actual sugar in it!)  Then I double-wrapped it in plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge overnight.
2. This morning, I unwrapped the roast and brushed off any remaining salt.  I sprinkled it with pepper and put in on a V-rack in a roasting pan.  I added about four cups of water to the bottom of the roasting pan, and put it in the oven at 325 degrees with a thermometer set to go off at 185 degrees.
3. This takes about 5-6 hours to cook. (Mine was about 5.) Twice during the cooking process I pulled it out to baste it.  (Of course I don't have a convenient basting device, so I have to use a spoon.  I make Lurene do this if I feel like I might burn myself today.)
4. Wen the timer went off, I pulled it out of the oven, covered it loosely wit tinfoil, and let it rest.  I was supposed to let it rest an hour, but we only made it 30 minutes.

We had this with some steamed carrots.  I also made a quick pan sauce by deglazing the roasting pan with some chicken broth and apple cider, and added a little black pepper and garlic powder.

I think this was one of the best things I've ever made.  Probably a lot of credit goes to the pig, though.