Pork, Roasted

     Saturday, I made three-hour roast pork* and it came out especially good.

     The meat was a three-pound Boston butt (yes, funny name.  Also under four dollars a pound, so laugh all you like.)  I seasoned it with a couple of tablespoons of low-sodium soy sauce, black pepper and a little coarse salt.  It was at that point that I discovered the plastic bag the butcher had put it in (before wrapping it with wax-coated paper) was leaking.  I'd intended to let it sit a little.  Plan B!

     My Perfect Pot† came with a nice roasting rack, and was ready to hand,.  Rack into pot, pot on burner, Boston butt into pot, burner on medium, lid on pot.  I cleaned up the mess (not much -- love that butcher paper!) and pondered vegetables.  Before I set the lid, I put some rosemary on the pork roast for luck and added a dab of hot water from the teakettle to the bottom of the pot.

     A half-hour (and some dishwashing) later, I peeled a large, purple-topped turnip, cut it onto large chunks, sprinkled it with smoked paprika, and added it around roast in the pan.  I took my time peeling and sectioning a nice sweet apple, layered it on top of the turnip and tapped a little garam masala on it.  The particular mix I buy smells almost like an apple pie and hides a touch gentle heat from the cloves.  You can use any kind of apple for this, as long as it has a lot of flavor -- tart or sweet works fine.  Avoid the overbred, bland ones and look for oddball varieties.  There's been an explosion of options in supermarket apples in recent years and I have never been disappointed.

     You do have to mind the heat and moisture.  After loading the turnips, I turned the fire down to low when the pot started to simmer, and every time I had it open, I checked that the bottom hadn't gone dry.  With a good-fitting lid and fresh vegetables, you won't have to add much water, if any, but keep an eye on it. 

     I let the pot simmer while washing and sectioning -- but not peeling -- a large Russet potato.  I laid it on the other veggies and gave it and the roast a little garlic power.  (Fresh garlic would not be out of line, but use what you have.)  A red onion curt in large pieces followed, and about a dozen "baby carrots," the smallish, tumbled ones sold in a bag. I put the lid back on and let it come up to a simmer.

     Next up, a fennel bulb.  I'd bought an especially wild example, with a wild explosion of fronds.  I washed a generous handful of the fronts and laid them on top of the pork roast.  Next, the bulb, cut in sections and the tough core removed, layered around the roast on the other vegetables.

     Lid back on, the pot simmered until there was only an hour left.  At that point, I poured in a couple of cups of good chicken stock -- I used some fancy Mushroom Chicken Bone Broth, but any good chicken stock will do (and it's worthwhile to shop for price -- MSRP on bone broths is shocking).  I sliced and added a half-dozen large mushrooms, but it would have been just as good without 'em.  The steam rising from the pot was mouth-watering.

     After three hours, I checked the roast with a thermometer: 200°F in the center, which is plenty done.  I took the meat out, removed the net, and let it rest while I set up the table for dinner, then cut it and served slices of pork with vegetables and plenty of broth.  The apple, turnip and fennel bulb are especially good.  The turnip and potato absorb flavors from everything else; the apple transforms them as it cooks down soft and the flavor borders on indescribable, an unexpected delight.

     The leftovers filled two freezer bags, and will come back as stew tonight and soup later on.  On reheating, the apple tends to dissolve, thickening and enriching the broth.
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*  My basic rule for roasts is an hour per pound.  With a probe-type thermometer to check for done-ness, it's as much of a guide as the task requires.
 
† I like the Our Place non-stick cookware, but all you need is a good, heavy-walled stewpot with a rack and a decent lid.  Heavy enameled iron cookware will do a great job, as will well-seasoned cast iron.  The goal is a cookpot with plenty of mass and thick walls, to distribute the heat well all around the food.  The grill version of this can get away with a thin-walled granitewear pan, enamel over steel, because the covered grill provides steady, all-around heat.  An oven would work just as well as a covered grill, and a heatproof heavy pan is okay in either.  This is as much a matter of budget and taste as it is of finding the right tool.