Saturday, December 14, 2013

Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder

Now when I say slow roasted I mean slow roasted. The pork went in to the oven around 1:30 at 250˚. Dinner was on the table at 8:15pm. But the wait was so worth it. The flavor of the herbs was not overpowering. And the meat was so moist!

Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder, from La Cucina

Ingredients -
20 fresh sage leaves
3 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves only
3 fresh rosemary sprigs, leaves only
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2  tablespoons wild fennel pollen (see note)
1 1/2  teaspoons medium-coarse sea salt
1 1/2  teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper
1 (3 3/4- to 4-pound) boneless pork shoulder (with skin, not tied)*
2  tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup dry white or red wine

Method -
Heat oven to 250º.

Finely chop sage, thyme, rosemary and garlic together (you can do this by pulsing in a food processor or by hand). Place mixture in a small bowl, add fennel pollen, salt and pepper, and stir together well.

With a sharp knife, score pork skin in a crosshatch diamond pattern, making 1/8-inch deep cuts 1 inch apart. With a paring knife, make about 10 incisions (about 1/2 inch deep) all over the pork and stuff with about 1/3 of the herb mixture. Brush oil over skin and rub all over with remaining herb mixture.

Set pork skin side up in a roasting pan. Roast for 2 hours.

Pour wine over pork and baste with wine and accumulated juices. Continue roasting, basting once every half hour, until skin is well browned and the meat is spoon-tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours more. (Ours was in for 4 1/2 hours)

Remove from oven and let meat rest 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

* I used a Picnic Style Pork Shoulder with the bone in. That is probably why mine took extra time.

Side dishes were Arborio Rice and Roasted Acorn Squash.

Today was the year anniversary of my Dad's passing. I was fortunate to have him as a father and I miss him every day.  I just want to live my life following his example. Work hard, spend my free time learning something new and have at least one glass of wine with dinner.

 

I try not to stray from the subject of food on this blog. After all food is comfort and food is love. What better way to show someone that you love them then putting a warm healthy meal on the table. Today being the one year anniversary of my Dad's passing. I need to write more. 

His passing was actually harder on me than my Mom's. My mom had Alzheimer's for so long. But my Dad was so vibrant up until the last couple of days.


He was my superman. He never rested. He was always reading or learning how to do something new. He had a tree trunk in the yard that he use to chop away at with the ax just to keep active. Lunch on Saturdays were always filled with him catching me up with the latest financial articles or the hot news story in Inc and Fortune. I picked him up little post-it notes so he could mark the pages he wanted me to read.
I still have not been able to watch a western on television. I bought figs this summer but could not eat them. I have not made pasta fagioli all year. 


Today we had a mass said for him at his church. But there was a whole lot of snow that got in our way.

3 comments:

Catherine said...

Dear Lucia, I love pork. I am sure this pork was delicious and the house was full of the beautiful smell of it cooking.

My dad passed away when I was sixteen and my heart still misses him everyday.

Blessings dear. Catherine xo

Catherine said...

Dear Lucia, I made pork shoulder for Christmas.
I hope you had a Merry Christmas.
I wish you a blessed and happy New Year.
Catherine xo

Catherine said...

Dear Lucia, Wishing you a Happy and Blessed New Year.
hugs, Catherine xo