Monday, January 11, 2016



There are few things so lovely as the smell of a pork roast on a Sunday.  This is how I do mine.  

This is a method rather than a recipe so it goes fast and easy.  It takes longer to type out the method than to actually get this roast set up to work it's magic without you.    

It does take loads of time to cook but it's not time where you have to DO anything so it's the perfect Sunday roast.  It's the perfect any day of the week roast actually but for our purposes, it's for Sunday. 

TRACYS ROAST PORK SHOULDER


I found a pork shoulder, with skin, at HEB for $.99/lb, this is what $7.00 gets you.  FABULOUS

PREHEAT the oven to 425
Place the pork in a cold, dry, pan and season liberally with salt and pepper on the meat side, flip skin side up and slash the skin in 1 inch intervals?
Rub the pork skin with vinegar, generously but you don't want puddles in the pan.

When the oven is hot, bake for 30 minutes then turn the oven down to 275 and walk away.
I cook my pork shoulder roasts, with skin, for about an hour a pound at 275.

 

After the roast time, it looks sad BUT don't fret.  Crank the broiler and drain off all the liquid in the pan, that's going to be you gravy or sauce if you want it. 
Put the roast under the broiler until it's puffy and dark and crisp crisp.  
I pull off the crispy bits and snack on them while I prep the rest of dinner
This meat is happy happy to wait till you make the rest of the meal.  I just let it sit there then I start my veggies and gravy. 

OH, the gravy.  OK, separate the liquid you took from the pan and throw some of the fat in a sauce pan, fry it up with the same amount of flour until it's dark!  Add the rest of the pork juices and enough water/stock to make a gravy the consistency you like.  You do NOT have to add the liquid slowly, geez, people trying to make an easy thing difficult.  When the roux is dark, add loads of liquid at one time and stir or whisk, it'll be fine.  I've never had a lump.  Let it bubble while you cook the veg, adding stock, water, as needed, as well as salt and pepper.  I think gravy is best after it's cooked a while but do your own thing. :)

  
mmmmm  CRISPY blistered crunchy skin!

Make some mashed potatoes, peas, gravy if you want and rip off chunks of this roast.  It's tender and moist and flavorful and tastes like pork!
 
Try the high then low and slow method and let me know what you think.


Thursday, January 7, 2016

Cheap Roast plus Fancy cooking method equals killer delicious tender meat! Who knew?

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you took a cheapie old hunk of roast like an eye of the round (euww) and cooked it as though it was a $150.00 prime rib??
I did so I did and I was shocked.


Eye of the round, perfectly pink, perfectly tender...every.single.time.  I promise.

TRACY'S EYE OF THE ROUND PRETENDING TO BE PRIME RIB

INGREDIENTS:

1 3lb eye of the round roast, room temperature!!!
butter, salt, pepper.

METHOD:

Bring roast to room temperature (I leave it out overnight)
Preheat oven to 500 for at least 30 minutes.
Slather, thickly, the roast with butter then seriously season it with salt and pepper.

Roast the meat for EXACTLY 5 minutes per pound.  Use a calcuator and round up!

After the time, turn the oven OFF and do not open the door, DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR, under penalty of culinary failure for at least 2 1/2 hours.

Trust me.

After 2 1/2 hours, remove meat, slice THINLY and eat, eat, eat.

PLAY BY PLAY BEAUTY SHOTS

Here is my tester hunk of cheapie eye of the round, weighed in at 2.13 (x 5 = 10.65 which rounds up to 11 minutes of cooking)

Even I can handle 11 minutes of cook time :)

I slathered with butter and seasoned well.  The pan is dry and the oven screaming hot
After the 11 mins, set timer for 2 hours 30 minutes















After the time in the oven, door closed, this emerged!  I transferred to a board and stared at it, not entirely confident... then I sliced it.  paper thin.  I sliced it and found the most perfectly tender pink interior.  I piled it high on homemade bread with fresh aioli and snarfed it.  Joyfully.  I didn't get a picture, I was so shocked and delighted :)
 
 

Yeah, I'm not lying!  can you BELIEVE IT?  I'm going to test with other cheapie cuts but if it works with this, I have total faith. 

let me know how much you love this method!! 

ENJOY

/tracy