We are just past Thanksgiving and as the Black Friday curtain raises the "holidays" are on their home stretch of gluttony, consumerism and parties among other things.
If you are already planning your Christmas feast or some other dinner party get together featuring a large piece of meat – I recently created this yum-tastic recipe for pork roast that will have your guests smiling from ear to ear.
If you are like me, you are actually not a big fan of pork, because it either attempted to kill you at one point in your life or you just think it tastes boring, or as a friend told me the other day "it tastes ya' know – porky." The joy of this recipe is that it solves all three problems (thank you meat thermometer for taking down problem number one a.k.a food poisoning and possible death). That being said don't joke around with pork, undercooking is deadly because pork carries bad things and that is why various religions warn against it.
I digress – let's get to this holiday pork roast recipe.
Start with a decent sized boneless pork shoulder roast (anywhere around 2 lbs or more). Place the roast in a Dutch oven or ceramic coated cast iron pot with a cover. Pour in 1 cup broth (chicken or vegetable) and 1/2 cup white wine over the roast. Poke a few holes in it with a fork and then pour over 2 tablespoons of soy sauce or tamari and salt and pepper the roast generously.
Chop one large apple into thin wedges, followed by a medium onion also into thin wedges – disperse the onion and apple around the base of the roast.
Next, chop at least 5 cloves of garlic and sprinkle over the roast, apples and onions. Dust the entire thing with 1 tsp of smoked paprika and 1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. Now the fun starts.
Place at least three tablespoons of butter on top of the roast in either two or three equal-sized chunks. More butter evenly dispersed over the top of the roast cannot hurt anything (other than your waistline) so if you have a larger roast feel free to use more butter.
Last but not least, put a tablespoon of tamarind concentrate on top of each pat of butter. Cover the roast and bake at 350 degrees for at least an hour and until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees.
Cut and place back into the juices. Serve with our favorite vegetables, a dry white wine and friends!
Apple Cinnamon Pork Roast
1 apple, chopped into thin wedges
1 onion, chopped into thin wedges
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 cup broth (chicken or vegetable)
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 tbsp butter
2-3 tbsp tamarind concentrate
2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
1 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Follow the steps discussed above.
Note on tamarind concentrate: Tamarind concentrate or Tamarind paste is a thick paste that should be available at your local asian grocer. For the purposes of this recipe you want to use the paste and not substitute with just juice or powder.
