Boneless Pork Roast

When I fetched a pork roast from the wooden chest in the red shed on those cold winter mornings, I knew that Mom would be making pork pot roast for supper that night.  I don’t remember her ever roasting pork (with the exception of hams) or beef in the oven.  She browned the roasts, then simmered them slowly with vegetables until they were fork tender.  I loved her pot roasts then and still do my best to imitate her recipes.

Mom was an avid experimenter, but mainly with salads and casseroles.  Show her a new way to use Jell-O or Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup and she would try it.  Her main dishes tended to be more conventional.  Then too, we had a big garden every summer, so potatoes, carrots and onions were always available and virtually free.  These were one-pot meals with plenty of food for everyone.  Conventional but delicious, especially with homemade bread and dessert.  

My dietary horizon expanded when I went to the University of Wisconsin at Madison. As I look back at those years in residence halls, I realize today that I had lucked into a golden age of cafeteria food.  Van Hise Hall had a chef who had cooked, we were told, at a four star hotel. After some misunderstandings between students and chef were rectified, we began dining in ways that today’s college students would envy.

I learned that hams, turkeys and chickens were not the only meats that could be roasted in the oven. We had prime rib, Baron of Beef, roast pork and what was described as leg of lamb.  My guess is that the “lamb” was really “ram” that had been stored in old army blankets before being shipped to Madison.  I think that this was the only roast almost universally rejected by dorm residents.  We had it once.

The chef did not share his recipes but I think that this one comes close to capturing the magic of a perfect pork roast.  The herbs and spices create an aromatic taste treat and the flour worked into the outside of the meat produces a wonderful crisp crust.

INGREDIENTS:

One boneless pork butt roast, 3 to 4 lbs.

3 medium or 2 large cloves fresh garlic

3 T flour

1/3 to 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 to 1/3 tsp. dried crushed rosemary

1/4 to 1/3 tsp. basil

1/4 to 1/3 tsp. paprika

Dash of cayenne

1/8 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

1 tsp. olive oil

PROCEDURE:

Preheat the oven to 450º.  Peel and slice the garlic cloves into thin spears.  With a thin knife tip, poke holes in the roast and insert a spear of garlic in each hole.  You should have twelve to fifteen spears in the roast spaced evenly over the surface.  Rub the teaspoon of olive oil over the meat.  
Crush the rosemary in a mortar and pestle or with a cup and spoon.  Mix the flour, herbs and spices together on a sheet of waxed paper.  Roll the roast in this mixture and press the mixture into the surface until nearly all of the flour is stuck to the meat.  

With an ice pick or nail, make a hole in the roast and insert a meat thermometer into the center.  Place fat side up on a roasting rack in a pan in the hot oven.  Turn heat down to 350º, and roast until the thermometer registers 160º (about thirty minutes per pound).  Remove the roast from the oven and let it sit for four or five minutes before removing any netting that might be around the roast. 

NOTES:

Serve with cranberry or apple sauce, parsley potatoes or boiled potatoes, gravy and a green or yellow vegetable accompanied by fresh bread.  The USDA revised pork cooking guidelines say you can serve pork roasts with an internal temperature of 145º.  I prefer the older standard, but you will get a juicier roast at the lower temperature.

Jerri’s Mom’s Borscht

Jerri has been making borscht since we were married.  It is always delicious though frequently slightly different, as she has never written down what she does.  Basically, she just tries to make it the way she remembers her mom made it.

She checked her Mennonite cookbooks for borscht recipes, but they really did not help much.  This is one of those recipes where you can vary the amounts of ingredients with some impunity. If you want more beets or potatoes, add ‘em; if you want more meat, use two ham hocks. but remember that ham hocks are salty.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup dried pinto or navy beans
1 smoked ham hock
2 or 3 medium potatoes
4 or 5 medium beets (2 to 3 inches in diameter)
1 cup tomatoes
2 – 3  T diced onion
1 or 2 carrots
1 celery rib with leaves
1 cup chopped beet greens and stalks
Salt to taste
Vinegar
Sour cream

PROCEDURE:

Soak the beans overnight.  Drain and put them in a soup pot with a smoked ham hock and the diced onion.  Cover with 6 to 8 cups water and simmer until beans and hock are tender, about 2 hours.

While the beans and hock are cooking,  cut the stems about an inch above the root and wash the beets being careful not to damage the skins.  Steam the beets for 30 to 45 minutes and remove the skin by rubbing it off under cool water.  Remove the stems and roots and dice the beets into 1/2 inch cubes.

Wash and chop the beet stems and leaves.  Cut the stems into 1/2 inch pieces.  Chop some of the leaves into small pieces and reserve them for adding later to the soup.  Dice the tomato and peel and dice the potato. If you wish to add a celery stalk and carrots, wash and chop them also.

Take the ham hock from the pot, remove the meat, cut it into bite sized pieces and return the meat to the pot.   Add 1 or 2 tablespoons vinegar and all the chopped vegetables except the beets and beet leaves.  Add water to cover the vegetables and simmer until they are tender, about 20 minutes.  Add the beets and simmer another 10 minutes.  In the last 5 minutes, add the chopped beet leaves.

Taste for salt and adjust the seasoning.

Serve with vinegar and sour cream to add to the bowls of soup at the table.

NOTES:  Many borscht recipes omit the carrots and celery, so feel free to omit either or both.  If you have some green beans in the garden, you can chop some and add a cupful.