Marinated Pork Roast

I've always worked.  I've heard of such a thing as men who cook, but I don't know any.  In my world, men fix cars, hunt, build things, and make things.  I mean that in the nicest way, dear. 

So the things I make are either things that go together fast or make ahead or weekend dinner that makes good leftovers.  I'm a natural born planner so I'm usually thinking a few days in advance. 

Marinating is a good way to get extra flavor, but it means you have to plan ahead.  There are a ton of summer things that I marinate, then grill outside when I get home, but we aren't there yet.  This is a recipe I've had very long time and made just forever. 

Marinated Pork Roast

1 boneless center-cut pork roast, 3 to 3 1/2 pounds.

6 garlic cloves garlic, minced

2 cups white wine

1/2 c. dark brown sugar

1/2 c. soy sauce
2 T dry mustard
1 t. sweet chili sauce, optional

With a sharp knife or skew, poke holes all over the roast.  Place in a glass container.  Combine the remaining ingredients and pour over roast.  Allow to marinate in the frig 1 to 2 day, turning occasionally. 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Drain pork and reserve marinade.  Place in a roasting pan.  I like to line it with foil and place a small rack on top of the foil.  That way the roast doesn't sit in its juices as much. 

Roast at 425 degrees for 20 minutes turning

several times to brown all sides.  Reduce temp to 375 and cook for 30 - 40 minutes or until internal temp is 160 degrees. 

You get a crisp outside and a moist roast.  

While roasting, simmer the marinade until it reduces to about a cup.  While cooking strain off any fat that accumulates on the surface.  You can strain it to get a clearer sauce if you want.

 

It should rest for a bit, then transfer it to a platter and slice.  It's good with the roast potatoes (see http://dinnerattheosbornes.blogspot.com/2010/01/roasted-potatoes.html).  or rice.  It needs something to soak up the sauce.

I occurs to me that the only recipes I share are meat, but we really eat a lot of variety and I want to start showing that.  I'm working on a brocolli and califlower au graten recipe but it isn't quite right yet. I'll show it later. 

Remember to have experiences and be present.

Mise en Place?

Recently I was listening to one of those cooking shows.  You know the ones.  A secret guilty pleasure.  Husband calls it a "Chick Thing."  Whatever.


They were talk about organizing your mise en place.  Okay, so I don't know what that is and I started listening closely.  It means getting out your ingredients and all the stuff you need before cooking.  Really?


Makes me think back to my mother's early cooking lessons.  As I've mentioned, my mother and grandmother were remarkable people, but not educated and not worldly.  And yet, I remember baking with her.  She would get out the flour, sugar, baking soda, butter, etc. and the measuring cups and spoons.  As she added each ingredient, she would put it away.  She would say that it is easier to remember if you've already added something or forgotten something if you are in the habit of putting it away once you use it. 


Another important lesson was to clean as you go.  She kept a sink of hot dish water.  As she finished with something, it went into the sink.  She was a careful wiper.  The counters were always clean because she came behind herself with a wash cloth and wiped up.  Later in life, her counters got cluttered and she was less able to maintain her earlier practices, but I find that I follow her habits.


Who knew Mom was teaching me Mise en Place?  Cooking isn't rocket science.  No wonder some otherwise competitent and highly functional people are intimidated or lack confidence in the kitchen.  Let's call it what it is.  Stay organized and clean as you go.

Elk Hash

Long time ago, when I first married my husband, a friend, Sharon, who taught with me asked me to describe my husband. I said, "Well... he's kind of a cross between a mountain man... and a dictator of a small third world country." When my mother asked me to do the same, I said, "Well... he is like Dad in many ways, a crispy tough-guy coating with a marshmallow center." I'm pretty sure Mom would have liked the second description more.  Here he is examining the work of our subcontractor who installs thermostats.  He's not exactly thrilled about something, which we are about to hear all about.  Step-son is behind him.

I have a bunch of elk meat in my freezer. My step son is responsible for putting it there. See the November 23rd post for more about that. It is often handy to have a couple of mountain men in my life. Hunters, pit bulls, wolves, protectors. And it is occasionally, although not always, handy to have a couple of dictators… small third world country or otherwise.

Either way, I have enjoyed playing with my elk meat. It is tender and lean, much more than comparable meat that I buy in the store. I probably know exactly what my elk ate and where he lived; I often wonder about the meat I buy. I actually saw him, touched him. Said a little elk-spirit prayer over him.

So anyway, last week, I had some of my elk out and started to make dinner. I didn't have a particular recipe in mind. What happened turned out pretty well and my husband asked for it again on Date Night. This time I wrote it down.

Elk Hash. 

Roasted potatoes. See January 20 post

1 1/2 lb Elk meat, washed and dried, then thinly sliced.

1 t. canola oil

1 T butter

1/2 t. salt

2 T. flour

1C. milk

1/4 c. white wine

1 lb crimini mushrooms, cleaned and quartered.

Saute the thinly sliced elk meat in oil until mostly done.  Remove the meat pieces but leave the drippings in the pan.  Add the butter, mushrroms and wine.  Cook until just soft.  Add the flour and whisk to make a paste.  Gradually add the milk, whisking until the sauce is smooth. 

To assemble, place the hot roast potates on a platter.  Top with the elk meat.  Pour the sauce over top.  Return the a warm oven until we are ready to eat.

Oh,  And here is the next generation of mountain man, dictator, hunter, pit bull, wolf.  Step-son's son.  And yes, I can feel the same powerful person within him.  This is going to be interesting.

Remember to be.

Mountain High Yogurt

I'm normally a fairly optimistic and happy person.  High Energy.  I work hard.  I am used to feeling good.  I turned 50 in August.  Somewhere in the last couple of years an extra few pounds snuck up on me and plastered themselves on my body.  The bastards. 

Now, I have a pretty good self esteem.  It's not that.  And my husband thinks I look great just like this.  But somehow, I'm not really enjoying it.  Don't know what else to say about that.  Dieting is very hard for me.  I think about food all the time every day.  What I'm having for lunch, what I'm cooking for dinner.  What I'll cook for the weekend.  All day long. When I don't eat, fair optimistic turns into miserable.  In the past, I've handled this situation by increasing my exercise a bit.  I've always had good metabolism.  As I mentioned, I just turned 50 and what used to be easy, no longer is.

  

I like yogurt.  Not the stuff that comes with fruit in it in a single serving, real yogurt.  Organic yogurt.  Tart and creamy and fully of all that bacteria that makes your insides work.  So being the person I am, I did a lot of research on how to make yogurt myself.  It can be done.  Not really that hard.  A bit of a committment, but isn't everything worth while in life? 

For breakfast, today.  Mountain High Yogurt, organic and wholesome.  It's good and less committment.  From my freezer, blueberries that I picked last summer at Josh and Amanda's place.  I'm remembering what summer feels like and remembering that another one is coming, well sometime.  It has to, doesn't it? And blueberries are coming back.  Walking barefoot in the grass is coming back.  Josh's barbecue is coming back.  Kids and dogs chasing each other in the yard is coming back.  Really it is, in a few months.  Remember to be optimistic.

Husband's Pie

My husband is a carnivore, a mountain man, a lone wolf.  He does not have a sweet tooth and rarely eats dessert.  Oh, he'll eat ice cream, but that's about it.  This presents a problem.  One of favorite all time things, well besides King Crab, artichokes in butter, steamed clams, Josh's barbecued ribs, shrimp prepared any way, is pie.  To be more precise, pie crust.  I absolutely love the stuff.  It makes me dream of lovely afternoons helping my grandmother make mincemeat and peeling apples for my mom.  It makes me warm and comfortable.  I can smell it now as I write this.  I love pie crust and I make a pretty good one.  I blogged about it for days already, see November 6 "All for the love of pie crust, installment 1" and November 8 "All for the love of pie crust, installment 2" for the recipe and the Zen of Pie.

I suppose it's for the best, that Husband does eat much pie.  We'd both be as big as a house.  But there is one pie that he asks for.  A very simple thing.  Not really even a recipe.  This is Husband's pie (Or Lemon Meringue).

It starts with a baked pie crust.  See my previous pie posts for the recipe.  Just the bottom crust for this one.  Crimp it and poke holes with a knife in the bottom. 

I love kitchen gadgets, but there are many which are unnecessary in my opinion.  Do what you like.  There are weights you can buy to put in the buttom of the pie crust while baking. The fear is the very high heat that this cooks at will cause the bottom to puff up.  I've been doing this all my life and never really had a problem. 

Bake the pie crust at 450 degrees for 10 minutes or until golden.  Allow to cool. 

And here is my favorite helper.  She is the perfect child and the subject of my December 5 post.  I hope she will think of me as she cooks after I am gone.  She has the same desire to taste and touch.  She is curious and courageous.  Today, she has a new card game.  Unlike me, she doesn't really care what the instructions say and she is teaching me the game by her rules.

Next, the filling.  One 4.3 oz box of Jello cook & serve lemon pudding.  Yes, I know.  I never cook with powder and I never cook with something if I don't understand the ingredient list, but this is an exception.  My helper wants a taste, a little goes on her plate.  "Yum," she says.  The rest, well after the spoonfuls I eat, go into the prepared pie crust.  It's a wonder I'm not huge. 

Now meringue.  A touchy subject for some.  For me also, until I decided it didn't have to be perfect.  For years, I've said about pie crust, "A messy pie crust is better than no pie crust."  As it is with meringue. 

Beat 3 egg whites in a large bowl on high speed until foamy.  Gradually add 1/3 c. sugar until stiff peaks form.  I'm not a cream of tartar person.  Someone out there may think I'm wrong about that, but oh well.  Spread meringue over filling with a spatula, sealling the edges.  I always try to make the curly-q in the merinugue on top.  It never turns out the way I want.  Oh well.  Old habits die hard.

Cool the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the meringue is browned.  Cool to just warm or to room temp.

Anything that looks imperfect about this was intended.

  

And remember.  If life throws you lemon, well, make lemon pie.

Roasted potatoes

In my house, most of the things we like best are fairly simple.  But, we live in a culture where bigger is better and more is the new good.  That has gotten us into trouble as a country and a culture and a people.  A couple years ago, I committed to cooking more local food and being a good kitchen roll model to those around me.   I hope to teach the young ones around me what I believe about food and experience and life.  I've done this completely imperfectly, but I keep trying.  Eat local, eat in season.

I've been making roasted potatoes and Husband likes them.  They make a good side dish when you have the time.  They take an hour.  .

 Roasted potatoes

This is 10 2 - 3" yellow skinned potatoes, peeled and cubed, 1/2 c. olive oil, 1 t. salt, 1/8 t. pepper, and 2 to 3 garlic cloves minced. Toss it in a bowl well enough to coat the potatoes in the olive oil and distribute the rest of the ingredients throughout. Turn it onto a foil covered cookie sheet or roasting pan. It goes into a very hot, 425 degree oven.

It needs to get checked every 10 minutes or so. Turn the potatoes by geting under them with a spatula or other flat tool. Here, I'm using my bamboo stir fry tool. Just make sure that the potatoes aren't sticking, which they are likely to do because of the hight heat.

 Each time, you turn them they get a little browner.  The goal is crispy brown on the outside and cooked, yummy-soft on the inside.  Of course, I get to nibble each time I check on them.  Cooks privilege.  As I've mentioned, it's been taking about an hour.

Move them to a platter to serve as a side dish.  (If you haven't poked holes in the foil, the pan is still clean.  :) 

I made them the night Mom was here and we had Beef Bourguignon.  See December 27.  We ate the stew over the potatoes.  Check back for the Elk Hash blog.  The potato part of that dish is these potatoes. 

Remember to have fun and relax.

Summer in a Jar

I want to can.  When I was younger and constantly broke, I made pints and 1/2 pints of blackberry jam every year.  Blackberries grow wild here and with a small amount of effort and organization it is fairly easy to pick large quanties when they are ripe.  Throughout the year, when I needed a small hostess gift or thank-you gift I gave away my jam.  I haven't done it in a few years, but I often make strawberry/rhubarb jelly or raspberry.  I like pickles and determine each year that I will make tons, but often life gets in the way.

Canning makes me remember the way summer feels.  It gives me hope.  It makes me smile.  Why don't I do it more?  Thank you mom, once again, for teaching me how.

When I was young, my mother and grandmother canned all summer.  They ended up with dozens and dozens of jars of beans, cherries, peaches, pears, pickles, relish.  They didn't have much money during those years.  Mom, my Grandmother, my sister and I went to U-pick fields.  We picked the product in the morning then went home to can it in the afternoon.  Many an afternoon, I spent belly up to the sink with a pairing knife peeling sinks and sinks of fruit.  To this day, I can peel an apple with a pairing knife faster than anyone I've ever known.  Really.  Try me.

Last summer, I made pickled three-bean salad in pints.  My husband won't even consider eating it, so it's all mine.  Here's what I have left. Not much.

When I make a sandwich, Husband gets potato chips and I get a scoop of this.  Crunchy and tart.  Colorful.  I bought the beans at a farmstand down the road from my house.  Green beans and wax beans.  There was an earthness in the air.  The smell of a working farm.  Fans were placed in the windows to keep air moving through her little building.  I dipped my hands into big bins of beans and dropped handfuls into paper bags.  I picked out leafs and stems and said, "The wusses.  These are machine picked bush beans.  In my day, pole beans were picked by hand."  Sorry, that's just what I said.

I went home and filled one side of my sink with water and poured the beans into it.  Beans float.  Or they don't.  But mostly they do.  Then I transferred handfuls into the other sink.  Let out the water and fill the sink with clean and back into the pool again, boys, for bath number two.  Then, set a colander into the second sink and deposit the now clean beans to drain. 

And I snipped.  Between thumb and first finger, twist off the stem and tip end.  Break them in two or three to get a uniform length.  A satisfying sound when beans snap.  This is what food is people.  Real food, Real life.

Pickled Three-Bean Salad from Kerr Kitchen Cookbook   

3 cups (2 to 3 inch) fresh green bean or yellow beans or a combination
2 (16 oz) cans red kidney beans, rinsed and drained.
2 (16 oz) cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup sliced onion
1 cup sliced celey
1 cup sliced green bell pepper
2 1/2 c. water
2 cups white vinegar
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. bottled lemon juice
1 t. Kerr Pickling Salt.

Wash and snip the beans.  Blanch in boiling water for 3 minutes, the cool in ice water.  Drain well.  In a very large bowl, combine beans and remaining vegetables.  Set aside.  In 4 quart saucepan, combine water, vinegar, sugar, lemon juice and pickling salt. Bring to a boil over medium - high heat.  Pour hot vinegar mixture over vegetables.  Mix well.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  In saucepan, bring vegetables/vinegar mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.  Immediately fill hot pint jars with vegetables, leaving 1 inch headspace.  Pour hot vinegar mixture into jars leaving 1/2 inch head space.  Wipe the jar tops.  Place lids and bands.  Process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes.  Remove and cool. 

You know they sealed when you hear that lovely deep popping sound.  I remember lieing in bed at my grandmother's and hearing that sound every so often after a day of canning peaches.  Also, you know a jar has sealed if you press with your thumb on the lids and there is no give.  The lid of an unsealed jar will pop in when pressed on.

Remember to put a dated label on each jar. 

And remember to enjoy the process and feel good.