Monday, February 22, 2010

Is a butt a shoulder, or a shoulder a butt?

…and why is it from Boston, anyway?


Well, whatever the deal, it made for a lovely dinner on Sunday.

In our house, the last day of the weekend really lends itself to intricate cookin and/or slow cookin. And while this didn't involve the former, this week was all about the latter.

Every Sunday starts out pretty much the same: Some time between 9 and 11 (always 'ish') I set out on the journey that refills the pantry, fridge, freezer, cabinets and ultimately our tums. I keep a pad on the fridge to record the week's requests and requirements that becomes my GPS, or Grocery Procurement System, during my four-store-minimum jaunt.

As I forage for the family's food, I keep an eye out for specials and especially good looking items...anything that can inspire...even though, this week, Boston Butt/Pork Shoulder was already on the list.

We had the pork, slow-roasted in a deeply-flavored paste; sliced potatoes, that turned out rather like chips; and salad that really cried out for a creamy dressing.


Details?

Here goes:

-Preheat oven to 300-degrees F.

-In a blender, puree seven or so large garlic cloves, half teaspoon salt, quarter cup jarred Recaito (check the Spanish foods aisle), 2-plus T olive oil, 2t smoked paprika, 1T adobo seasoning and two and a half packets of sazon seasoning (head back to the Spanish foods), until you have a lovely paste.

-Dry the 4 to 6 lb roast, put into roasting pan and use a sharp knife to poke slits in top and bottom for the paste to sink into...a chopstick (thick end, duh) helps push the paste into the holes.

-Mush, massage and manipulate the paste all over the pork; cover with foil and pop into the oven for 3 and a half hours...remove the foil, push the oven temp to 400 and let crisp and brown for another half hour. Internal temp was more than 180 degrees at this point and it wasn't dry...but I think it would've been moister if I knew what the internal temp 'should've' been.

-Oh, for that last half hour, the potatoes rocked on in the 400-degree oven after, of course, they were sliced into quarter-inch or so disks, placed on a baking sheet with olive oil above and below and sprinkled with a bit of ground cumin, cinnamon, salt and pepper. I did flip 'em once.

-Salad: Romaine heart cut in to thin, coleslaw-like ribbons, 2 small diced celery ribs, 7 or so stray oil-cured olives chopped and a thinly-sliced shallot...

-Dressing: Into food processor (blender was dirty, darnit!) went scant half cup Greek yogurt, a medium garlic clove, juice from a third of a lemon, about a t and a half balsamic vinegar, leaves from one stem of rosemary and maybe a t of olive oil...can't remember at this point!...and whirred it around till smooth...poured over salad and it rocked!


Good luck with all this...I have mush for brains and have prolly left out a step or ingredient or six. Chicken 'Something' tonight was really good, and hopefully tomorrow's retelling will be more on point.


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