My Inspiration as it appeared in Food and WineLast
Fall, Food and Wine did a major article about roasts. The one that immediately caught my eye was a
picture of a Dutch oven in which, semi-submerged, was a pork
shoulder roast swimming in cream surrounded by halved heads of garlic, a
parmesan cheese rind, a couple of sage leaves and pats of butter. I had never imagined poaching pork in the
first place. I took one look at it and
thought thank god I’m not kosher. This
breaks every dietary law imaginable.
With apologies to my Jewish readers, I just had to try it.
Surprise Factor This
is no 30-minute recipe although that is all the prep time it takes. That’s why I am posting it just as the East
Coast battens down for a winter snowstorm that will likely leave us housebound
for a day or two. If you are in the path
of this storm, I’d run right out and get the ingredients you need to make this
heavenly roast. As it simmers in cream
and buttermilk, the meat becomes almost shockingly tender. Of course, it’s far juicier than pork cooked
in the dry heat of your oven. But the
real treat here is the outrageously delicious sauce that combines subtle hints
of garlic and the tang of Parmigiano in the richest of cream sauces. And there’s another aspect to this dish that
adds immeasurably to the final plate. The pork is cooked atop wedges of
Fennel. For color I served some simply
sautéed spinach. In the interests of
full disclosure, the similarities between this recipe and two others for
chicken that I’ve written about earlier, made me decide to omit the recipe
instructions to add lemon juice to the sauce.
(If you’re curious, read A Tale of Two chickens here: http://www.chewingthefat.us.com/2015/04/a-tale-of-two-chickens-jamie-olivers.html. I also used a pork roast half the size of the
one called for in the original and halved the rest of the ingredients. 5 lbs is a lot of pork shoulder! All in all,
this really is a dish that will make you wish you could be snowbound more
often. Here is the recipe.
Recipe for Poached Pork Roast with Garlic Parmesan Cream adapted from
Food & Wine Magazine Active Time 30 minutes, Total Time 4hrs 45
minutes. Serves 8.
open just a crack, and cook over low heat for about 3 1/2 hours, until very
tender. Transfer the pork and garlic to a large plate; discard the cheese rind.
2. Boil
the poaching liquid over moderately high heat, whisking occasionally, until
thickened, about 20 minutes. Strain the sauce into a bowl and season with salt and pepper; keep warm.
3. Meanwhile,
preheat the oven to 450°. On a large baking sheet, toss the fennel and the remaining
sage sprig with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the
fennel in a single layer. Place the pork on top of the fennel and roast until
the pork is deeply golden and the fennel is tender, about 20 minutes. Transfer
the pork to a cutting board and let rest for 15 minutes.
4. Thinly
slice the pork. Arrange the fennel and garlic on a platter and top with the
pork. Garnish with parsley and serve the sauce on the side.
