Conference turris::cooks

    
	ROAST PORK
    
    	A "cheaper" roast pork is done very nicely in the crockpot.
    	A wide variety of seasonings can be used ... use *lots* of
    	garlic ... but then I use *lots* of garlic in most every-
    	thing.  If you use a CP, make sure you have a rack under
    	the roast.  Cook for several hours ...
    
    	A bit more exotic ... same as above ... but make several
    	pockets in the roast (slit with very sharp knife) and fill
    	with stuffing ... any variety ... and proceed.
    
    	My favorite ... but a bit more expensive ... buy a rack
    	of pork from your local butcher and have him/her build
    	a Crown Roast of Pork for you.  Fill with stuffing and
    	bake.  You can find the little "paperfeet" for table
    	presentation at a good gourmet shop ... i.e., "JOY OF
    	COOKING" ... Surround with some steam veggies of good
    	color and broasted potatoes ....
    
    	Bon Appetit!
    
    	/phil/

Marinade pitted PRUNES (yeah, I know, but trust me..its good) in
port wine for approx. 6 - 8 hours or overnight.

Slit pockets into a good pork roast (I use the cut they make center
cut pork chops out of - whatever that's called) and stuff with
lots of prunes..rub the whole roast down with a paste made of
garlic puree, pepper, and enough lemon juice to make it rubbable.
You can also add salt to taste.

Roast as cookbook instructs, basting with the port wine you soaked
the prunes in approx every 30 minutes.

Serve with stuffing, gravy made from pan juices and a nice elaborate
salad.

		Voilla (as the French say)!!

P.S. garlic puree is best made by baking the whole garlic head, wrapped
in foil, in a slow oven until it is soft to the touch, cool, and
snip the end off each clove and squeeze the puree out.  store in
fridge in small jar covered with olive oil...keeps for weeks.

  ZWODEV::WERENCHUK
    
    The best results in cooking a roast pork, is using a brown in bag.
    That way you can cook potatoes, and carrots with it and have a meal
    all done at the same time and use only one pan.
    
    Peel and cut potatoes into quarters, peel and cut carrots length
    wise, place roast in middle of bag, placing carrots and potatoes
    around it.  Take Liptons onion soup mix (1 or 2 packages depending
    on the size of the roast, add 1 to 1 1/2 cups water.  Place in oven
    at 350 and bake approximately 40-45 minutes per pound.  When done
    place on platter with vegtables around, serve with salad and rolls,
    it is great when serving a crowd, not a lot of fuss, but always
    gets compliments.
    
     
   

    ...but if you simply want a Pork (loin) roast, just preheat the
    oven to 350.....heavily pepper the pork....put it on a rack in
    a cooking dish...insert a meat thermometer and cook until it
    registers 160 degrees....Serve with applesauce and ano other of
    your favorite veggies
    
    Rick

Have you tried the Prok with Wine and Grapes recipe in the Frugal Gourmet
Cooks with Wine cookbook? It is luscious! You marinate the roast in a mix of
brandy, onions, and garlic, then simmer on th etop of the stove for a few hours 
in dry white wine. just before you serve it you add seedles while grapes to the
pot for a few minutes. Serve it with Potates Anna, homemade apple sauce, and
asparagus or green beens. Yum yum. Do you want me to post the real recipe?

Patti
(who's mouth is watering just thinking about it)

    re .5  Prunes are a wonderful flavor complement for pork.
    
           You don't like prunes?  Experiment:  try dried apricots.
    
    					andrew

Pork with Grapes and Wine Sauce
(from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks with Wine)

I'll enter the recipe from the book, then add editorial comments.

3 lb. pork butt roast 

Marinade:
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp whole thyme
1/4 tsp whole rosemary
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tbl olive oil
1/4 c brandy

Sauce:
2 tbl butter
2 tbl olive oil
1 c dry white wine
2 lb seedless white grapes
1/2 c whipping cream

Slice onion in rings. Crush garlic. Mix all marinade ingredients. Marinate meat
for 2-3 hours, turning often. Remove meat from marinade. Reserve marinade. Pat
meat dry.

Heat a dutch oven or stove top casserole that is big enough for the roast. Melt 
the butter. Add oil. Brown roast on all sides. Strain reserved marinade into
pot. Discard solids from marinade. Add wine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat.
Simmer (covered) 1-1/2 to 2 hours, or until the roast is tender. Add wine as
necessary. 

Remove 3/4 of the grapes from the stems. Reserve "stemmed" grapes for garnish.
Add grapes to pot. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove roast. Stir cream into 
pan. Cook 2 minutes, stirring.

Slice meat. Arrange on plater. Pour grapes and sauce over meat. Use remaining 
grapes for garnish.

Serve with Red Burgandy.


Editorial Comments:

- The pork butt roast looked ugly, I use a pork loin roast. 

- I double the marinade ingredients.

- I end up using about 3/4 of a 1 liter bottle of wine. I use Fetzer Premium
  White.

- I can't afford Red Burgandy, I serve Pinot Noir.

- I use seedless red grapes.

- Serve with Potatoes Anna. One potato per person. Peel and slice into thin
  slices. Arrange in a pie pan. Drizzle with butter. Bake at 425 for abou 1
  hour. Uncover, bake for 1/2 hour. (I sometimes nuke these for a while so they
  don't take so long to cook.)
 

    Does anyone out there know the recipe for Porketta?  I believe it's
    an Italian roast pork that is rolled up in a jelly-roll fashion
    and has fennel, pepper, and garlic.  That's about all I can remember
    about it, and I do know it's hot and spicy.  Usually I buy it with
    the spices already in it, but I would like to try to make it myself.
    
    It's a delicious roast, and any  help would be appreciated.
    
    Thanks
    
    Patty

    Anybody for pork and sauerkraut?  My husband's family is from
    Pennsylvania and his mom always makes pork and sauerkraut on New
    Year's Day for good luck; I guess it's an Amish or Pennsylvania
    Dutch tradition.  Anyway, I made it for the first time this year.
    It's quite simple--cook a pork roast following basic directions
    for seasoning, placing on a rack in a 325 degree oven for several
    hours and add sauerkraut (doctored to your liking) around the roast
    during the last hour of roasting.  Serve with mashed potatoes.
    I'm not a big sauerkraut fan (I enjoy it in small quantities) but
    this stuff was like candy.  Good thing.  A 9-lb roast for two people
    lasts awhile.
    
    Tammy
    

    
    
    I cooked a boneless pork roast on the gas BBQ grill
    this weekend.  Both sides of the grill were on LOW and I put a
    meat thermometer in it (because I can never figure out when
    Pork is 'white' and not 'pink').
    I also had a cover on the roasting pan.
    It was juicy and delicious.   I believe it takes less
    time on the BBQ than in the kitchen oven.  I cook
    turkey, beef and pork roasts, meatloafs etc. on my grill.
    I use it like an oven.
    
    Good luck
    Joanne

    
    I cooked a pork roast on my gas grill the same way a few weeks ago
    and it was *real* tasty.  After 1 1/2-2 hrs cooking, it had only
    reached 160 deg. so I threw it in the microwave for a brief period
    and let it stand afterwards about ten minutes and came up to temp
    nicely (170 deg for well done pork).
    
    I've been using this stuff made by the House of Tsang called Korean
    Stir Fry Sauce.  It's sort of a thick soy-sesame seed mixture, and 
    I use it as a baste/marinade instead of a stir fry sauce.  It tastes
    great on pork and chicken dishes when basted on periodically while 
    they're cooking on the grill.
    
    - Larry
    

Ah Ha!  One of my favorite leftovers.....


cut all fat off pork.  Place in food processor or meat grinder or simply
chop up very fine.  Add diced sweet pickle, mayonaise and make a pork
salad for sandwiches.  You can add a hint of dijon mustard, some chopped
black olives, etc.  Whatever you like in a salad.  Serve on rye bread.
Great stuff.

Shread the pork meat with two forks (no fat or gristle).  Stir into
a good commercial enchilada sauce (canned - usually available in any
market in the U.S. these days)...using enough sauce to thoroughly
moisten meat, not make it soupy.  Heat through on the stove over
medium heat.  Use this as a filling for burritos with diced onion,
grated cheddar/jack cheese, chopped avocado, etc. OR Make enchildas
by rolling a flour tortilla around some pork filling and grated cheese.
Place in baking pan just large enough to hold the enchilada rolls.
pour additional enchilada sauce over the top.  Generously top with
grated cheese.  Bake until bubbly in a 350 degree oven.  Use mild
enchilada sauce if feeding kids...they LOVE this stuff.  Oh, and
yes I DO mean flour tortillas - corn tortillas are also good, but
you have to soften them first and when in a hurry, flour tortillas
work very nicely.

Shred pork, add to favorite barbecue sauce.  Heat and serve on
buns. OR Use this barbecued pork in a casserole with cooked macaroni.  Top
with jack cheese.  Bake until hot and bubbly.  Serve with tossed
salad and cornbread.

Is this enough to get you started?

Now, if you want to talk left-over roast beef.....

    Throw out leftovers?  I've NEVER thrown out anything unless it was
    bad the first time or has been in the fridge so long it has a
    personality.  I consider it an obligation especially with meat;
    if the animal had to die to feed me, the least I can do is use
    its meat and not waste it.
    
    Anyhow, just about any sort of meat or poultry leftover can be used in
    a minestroni soup or a stew.  If you have leftover gravy, stew is
    very easy.  Parboil one potato per person, chop into cubes.  Add
    cubed meat, gravy, enough water or broth or wine or a mixture to get
    the level of soupiness you want, and various parboiled or sauteed
    or microwaved  veggies.    Good veggies to use are onions, parsnips,
    carrots, beets with beef, turnips if you like them, kohlrabi if
    liked, etc.  Add any herbs you want depending on the meat.  Correct
    seasoning (that means add salt/broth mix/gravy master/soy sauce/
    pepper as desired).  Cook until the flavors blend and the veggies
    are tender.
    
    There are good minestroni soup recipes in most cookbooks, or you
    can probably find one here.  You can also augment most store-bought
    soup with leftover meat and veggies, which helps cut the salt level
    per serving down to an edible level, and makes the soup into a
    main dish - serve with nice crusty bread.  MMmmmmmm.  Wonderful
    especially when you've just come in from clearing snow off the
    driveway or walk.
    
    --Louise

Cut into large dice, add BBQ sauce, and put it in the crock pot till it falls
apart.  Then make sloppy joes.

Or, dice it and add to your favorite chili recipe.

Or, dice it and add it to spagetti sauce.

Or, slice it thin, and warm it in boiling water for a few seconds, then serve
with applesauce, and stovetop style stuffing (homemade, using the leftover 
boiling water, of course).

Or, julienne it and make egg rolls, or a stir fry, or fried rice.

Or, grind it and mix with ground beef for burgers, meatloaf, meat balls, etc.

Or, ...

					-JP

    Here's mine.
    
    Pork Pot Pie
    
    1 pie shell - Betty Crocker or any other works well.
    1 10 oz package frozen peas and carrots
    l cup water
    1/2 cup chopped celery
    1/2 cup chopped onion
    1/4 cup snipped parsley
    2 tblsp. cornstarch
    2 tsp. instand chicken bouillon granules
    1/4 tsp. salt
    1/4 tsp. grnd. sage
    1/4 tsp. dried thyme, crushed
    1/8 tsp. pepper
    1 cup milk
    2 cups cooked cubed pork
    
    In large saucepan cook peas and carrots, water, celery, onion and
    parsley for 5 to 8 minutes or till celery is tender.  In a bowl
    stir together cornstarch, bouillon granules, salt, sage, thyme, and
    pepper, then stir in milk.  Stir into vegetale mixture.  Cook and
    stir till thickened and bubbly.  Stir in pork and heat through.
    
    Turn hot mixture into a deep pie plate.  Place pastry shell over
    filling.  Crimp pastry against edge of dish.  Cut slits for escape
    of steam.  Bake in a 425 oven for 25 to 30 mns or till top is light
    brown.  Let stand for 10 minute before serving.
    
    Recipe also said it could be made with leftover chicken, beef, turkey
    and ham.
    
    I've made this a few times and its one of my favorite
    ways to use left over pork.
      
    Flo

    I cut the pork into cubes, chop up some apples (Mac's are my favorite)
    and par boil a few potatoes cut into chunks. Stir them all together
    with some sauerkraut and simmer for about 20 minutes.
    

    Whenever my Mamma cooked a pork roast, we knew what we would be
    having with the leftovers the next evening.
    
    She would cube the pork and saute it with leftover juices from the
    pan with chopped onions and/or green onions, dash worcestshire sauce
    and spices to taste.  Then she would mix in cooked rice.  Very simple
    and hearty with a salad or vege.
    
     

    I made a Pork Loin Roast yesterday that was fantastic. Here it is.
    
    
    3lb - 4lb boneless pork loin roast
    1 tsp Rosemary
    2 cloves of garlic crushed
    2 carrots split lengthwise
    Salt & Pepper
    Wine Gravy - see recipe
    
    Place the split carrots on the bottom of a roasting pan. Place the
    pork roast, fat side up on top of the carrots. The  carrots act
    as a rack. Rub the roast with the rosemary and garlic. Insert a
    thermometer into the thickest part of the roast. Place roast into
    a 350 degree oven. Roast uncovered until the thermometer reads
    170 degrees Fahrenheit. Approximately 2.5 hrs.
    
    For the gravy:
    1/4 pork drippings
    1/4 flour
    1 3/4 cup water
    1/4 white wine
    salt & pepper to taste
    
    Remove the roast and place onto a serving platter. Discard the carrots.
    Discard from the roasting pan, all but 1/4 cup of drippings. Place
    the roasting pan on the top burner of the stove and bring to a boil.
    Wisk in 1/2 the flour. Bring the drippings and flour to boil until
    it reduces into a smooth paste. Add the wine and water and let it
    bubble wisking it constantly. Cook and add the remaining flour until
    it thickens to your own desire.  Pour gravy into a gravy serving bowl. 
    
    Slice the roast and serve.    
 
    Serve with mashed potatoes and your favorite vegetable.
    Serves 4 - 6 people    
    
        Enjoy !
        
    Jim

a basic glaze for pork, ham, or "corned" roasts:

	Mix 1 cup of preserves (apricot-pineapple work well with pork)
	with 2 - 6 tablespoons dijon mustard (to taste) - grey poupon is
	my favorite brand.  Preserves can be any quality preserve...I have
	used "American" marmalade, cherry, peach, etc.  Whatever has a
	strong, sweet flavor.  Avoid a good marmalade, it will be too
	bitter for this.

	heat on stove over low heat, stirring to mix well.  Mix 2 - 3
	tablespoons cornstarch with 1/4 cup water, making a "cook's paste"
	for thickening.  Add the cornstarch and water mixture to the
	preserves and mustard.  Cook, stirring constantly until the
	contents return to the translucent state, with no white showing.
	Immediately spoon this glaze over the pork and continue roasting
	15 - 30 minutes.

	Remove roast from oven and allow to "rest" for approx. 15 minutes.
	Slice and serve.


Note:  this glaze works best on roasts without too much fat on them.  If
	you have a very fatty roast, then I would recommend trimming the
	fat down to approx. 1/4 inch thickness before roasting.

Another idea for pork roast:

	slit the  roast all over and slide in slices of garlic.  Rub a
	mixture of Two Tblsp. each of flour, salt, sugar, black and white 
	pepper all over the roast; set the roast on a rack in a roasting
	pan- trust me on the sugar.  Roast as meat thermometer indicates.
	30 minutes prior to finishing the roast, bring 1 packed cup pitted,
	diced prunes and 2 cups of port wine to a simmer and cook for
	10 minutes over low heat.  Remove from heat.  When you remove the
	pork roast from the oven, set on a platter and cover with a loose
	tent of foil to keep it warm.  Pour off all but 2 tblsp. fat from 
	the roasting pan.

	Stir in two tablespoons flour and mix well, browning the flour
	a little over a burner on the stove.  Pour port and prunes into 
	the pan and heat while scraping any browned bits off the bottom.  
	Simmer over low heat until the sauce is thickened a bit.

	Slice the roast and serve with the port/prune sauce.  Even folks
	who don't like prunes will like this sauce....haven't had a reject
	yet.  Suggested side dishes:

		buttered, parslied noodles or
		mashed potatoes and mashed, cooked carrots, mixed 1:1 or
		sweet/sour cabbage and dumplings

I forgot two things on the port/prune roast pork:

baste your pork roast after 1 hour of cooking.  I pour a little port wine
over it....you can also use cherry cider, apple cider, pineapple juice or
white wine.
			and

>	Stir in two tablespoons flour and mix well, browning the flour
>	a little over a burner on the stove.  Pour port and prunes into 
>	the pan and heat while scraping any browned bits off the bottom.  
>	Simmer over low heat until the sauce is thickened a bit.

If this sauce gets too thick, add additional port wine.  To make a no-alcohol
version of this sauce, use cherry cider instead of port wine....not as good,
but it will work.

    	I made the slow-simmered Chinese pork roast from the Frugal
    Gourmet's ancient cuisines cookbook yesterday, and it was very good.
    I'm not sure how low-fat this would be since you should use a pork
    roast with some fat (like pork butt is recommended by Jeff Smith) to
    achieve the desired tenderness...but if you remove the fat prior to
    eating, the resulting meat should be fairly low-fat.
    	From memory, you mix together the following in a bowl:
    
    3 green onions cut "Chinese style" (thin 1-inch strips)
    2 cloves garlic (sliced thin)
    1 tsp fresh ginger (cut julienne)
    2 tsp brown sugar
    1/2 tsp white pepper
    2 Tb light soy sauce
    2 Tb soybean condiment (mein see)
    1/2 cup dry sherry or Chinese rice wine
    2 whole star anise
    2 cups of water
    
    	Mix that together and find a casserole just large enough to
    accommodate this and a 2-3 lb. pork roast. Put the roast in the
    casserole and dump the above mix on top of it. Cover and cook at 275
    degrees for 5-8 hours (after 5 hours we turned the oven down to 200 and
    then to "warm" an hour after that).
    	Note: This did a NUMBER on the casserole. We ended up with
    brown/black charred remains on the cover and casserole itself. I'm not
    sure if the stuff will come off. Perhaps the heat was a little higher
    than it needed to be.

My favorite way of eating a fresh pork roast shoulder is to run it with a
clove or two of garlic, put in about 15 - 20 cloves and salt and pepper,
place in oven and roast!  Simple and great.

    I have just recently cooked a fresh ham, which is a Cook-before-eating
    ham that hasn't gone through a curing process, so it is just like a
    regular pork roast, but larger!  It was 14-3/4 lbs.  I took off the
    rind, leaving a thin layer of fat on the roast.  I was looking for a
    new seanoning method also, so I seasoned the roast with ground pepper,
    fine sea salt, and rubbed it with Sweet Woodruff, which really has a
    great aroma when cooking.  I then cut the rind into thin strips and
    placed them into a shallow pan, sprinkling them with the sea salt ass
    well.  All this went into a 325 degree oven for 4-1/2 hours.  I had to
    drain the pan of pork strips a couple of times, but when they were all
    crispy/brown, it was time to eat!
    Dress it up with Spagetti squash, baked potatos and have a ball!
    

the term "ham" indicates NOT a curing process, but a cut of the pig.  The
ham is roughly the equivalent on a pig of the hip/buttock "cheek" region.  It 
is all large, smooth muscle and is considered one of the prime cuts of the 
animal.  In this case, the term "fresh ham" is correct usage.  In the USA,
we generally refer to a "ham" as this same cut of meat AFTER it is cured, or
even to other cuts and/or formed meat segments that have undergone curing...
although it is common usage, it is not actually correct.

Removing the rind of a fresh ham before roasting is a cardinal sin.  You should
score the rind before roasting and then carve it off and serve it as cracklings.
It's one of the best parts of the roast!

--PSW

The USDA, who have legal authority in such matters in the U.S., allow the
labelling of the thigh and buttocks portion of the pig, from the hip bone
to the knee, to be called "fresh ham" when sold uncured, or as "ham" when
cured.

This is the way one can find it sold in stores in New England, whatever that
cookbook might say.  De facto, "fresh ham" exists, at least in this part
of the country.

--PSW

    When I have a roast pork I plan on having 1/2 left over.  I make a
    Sweet & Sour sauce with pineapple, green pepper & onions, cinnamon, 
    salt/pepper (whatever you like).  Basically, instead of having to cook
    the port it is all done and you just have to heat it up.  Slice it
    thinly in bite-sized pieces, stir around to coat & heat through.  Much
    faster.

    You all missed my favorite with roast pork.  Sliced w cranberry sauce,
    mayo and rye bread.
    
    Mmmmmm good

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	Rep .0

    I put in a good recipe for a pork roast in the the note on mirpoix. If
    you do a  dir 2900-las command you should be able to find it. Another
    thing I like for pork roasts is to take 2 slices of lean bacon, 2 green
    onion, crushed garlic, thyme,  sage, and a few turns of black pepper
    and grind to a fine paste in a food processor. Then make small slits
    about 1-2 inches deep in the roast and then fill with the paste. I have
    a larding pin that I use to do this but a thin knife does just as well.
    Then cover the roast with thinly sliced onions and bake at 350f for 30
    min a pound. About 30 minutes from the end of the roasting add about 1
    cup of dry white wine and 1 cup of chicken stock. Use the onions and
    liquid to make a sauce for the roast. I would serve either steamed rice
    or pasta and a steamed green veggie with this dish. For wine I would
    think a nice red zinfandel or a Cotes du Rhone if you like reds or a
    sauvignon blanc from Washington state if you prefer whites.

    Do try the recipe with the orange juice it is also very good. 


	-mike
 

    This is a terrific recipe - I hope to enjoy it as long as apple cider
    is available!
    
    ROAST PORK with Peppercorns, Mustard and Cider Gravy
    
    1/4 cup + 1 Tbls. unsalted butter, room temp.
    1 4 1/2 lb boneless pork roast, rolled and tied
    2 Tbls. flour
    2 Tbls. dijon mustard
    1 Tbls. cracked black peppercorns
    1 Tbls. whole mustard seeds
    2 teas. brown sugar
    2 teas. thyme
    
    Gravy:
    
    1 1/2 cup apple cider
    3 Tbls. applejack brandy
    2 Tbls. flour
    3/4 cup chicken stock
    1 Tbls. cider vinegar
    1 teas. dijon mustard
    
    (Basically what you'll be doing in this recipe is browning the roast in
    a skillet, smothering it in a paste of butter and spices, cooking on
    high, then on low and then preparing the gravy with a roux (sp?)  It's
    not a difficult recipe, but it looks like a lot of steps.)
    
    1.  Preheat over 475 degrees.
    2.  Melt 1 Tbls. butter in skillet over medium heat
    3.  Add roast and cook till brown, about 4 min each side
    4.  Remove and cool 10 minutes
    5.  Transfer to roasting pan
    6.  Combine remaining 1/4 c butter with flour, mustard, peppercorn,
        mustard seeds, sugar and thyme in a bowl.
    7.  Spread paste over top and sides of roast
    8.  Roast 30 minutes.
    9.  Reduce heat to 325 degrees, cook approximately 1 hour 20 minutes.
    10. Transfer roast to cutting board and tent with foil
    11. Transfer 2 Tbls. drippings to small saucepan, discard remaining 
        drippings.
    
    Gravy:
    
    1.  Heat roasting pan over med-low heat
    2.  Add cider and boil until liquid is reduced to 3/4 cup, scraping up
        any browned bits, about 8 minutes.
    3.  Stir in applejack, boil 1 minute
    4.  Heat drippings in saucepan over med low heat
    5.  Add flour and stir till golden brown, about 2 minutes
    6.  Whisk in cider mixture and chicken stock.
    7.  Simmer till thickened, stirring occassionally, about 2 minutes
    8.  Remove from heat
    9.  Mix in cider vinegar and mustard
    10. Carve and serve with some gravy on the platter and the rest in a
        boat.
    
    11. ENJOY!