Casserole-Roasted Pork with 40 Cloves of Garlic

I realized I goofed this recipe up when I was getting ready to put it in the oven. I had made a gross error at the very beginning of the recipe, omitting the dry rub, or Flavor Step, instead substituting with the finishing seasonings. Doh! It turned out okay, it was edible, but it didn't have the flavor explosion I'm continuously seeking. I bet it would've had I not boogered it up.

The pork was also supposed to be netted, but I didn't ask the butcher to do this for me and I didn't bother utilizing my new twine skillz. Fortunately, that part wasn't completely critical. The print link below assumes you'll use the dry rub.

Casserole-Roasted Pork with 40 Cloves of Garlic
adapted from The Complete Meat Cookbook and available here
click to print

Flavor Step
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Roast
2 ½ lb boneless pork
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 c dry white wine
1/2 c chicken stock
40 whole garlic cloves
1 tsp chopped fresh or dry rosemary
1/2 tsp dried sage
1 tsp salt or needed amount
1 tsp black pepper or needed amount

Combine the Flavor Step ingredients, the herbs, paprika, salt, and pepper, in a small bowl.

Rub the seasonings all over the meat. Let it rest, loosely covered, for 1 hour at room temperature before cooking.

Before rubbing the meat with the wrong ingredients, the rosemary and sage that was supposed to finish the dish, I chose to trim off a lot of the fat cap. And after rubbing with the seasonings, I let my pork marinate for two hours instead of one.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a heavy skillet, heat the olive oil over high heat.


Brown the meat on all sides.

I realized I'd forgotten to salt and pepper the pork. So I did that before throwing it into the skillet.

You want to aim for less than 10 minutes a side unless you want blackening. Something like 4 minutes a side is enough.

Transfer it to a casserole just large enough to hold it.

Pour off the oil from the pan and add the wine and stock. Bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

My stock was still a little frozen.

Pour the liquid over the roast and scatter the garlic cloves and herbs in the casserole.

Right here, I was like, "Huh? What herbs?" And then, "Oh. Crap."

Cover with foil and then cover tightly with a lid.


Place the pot in the middle of the oven and cook for about 1 hour. Check the meat, which should be tender and register 160° to 165°F on an instant-read thermometer.

My pork was in the oven 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Remove the roast and keep it warm, loosely covered with foil. After resting for 10 minutes, the final temperature will be 170° to 175°F.

Or about 170.8°F after 2 minutes.

Pour the pan juices and garlic into a small saucepan.


Remove any grease from the surface and taste for salt and pepper. Keep warm over low heat.

I find degreasing with the fat separator incredibly effective. Beats that skimming with a spoon business by miles.

Carve the meat into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Spoon the sauce and garlic cloves over the meat and serve.



Again, not the flavor explosion I had expected and it was completely my fault for not looking at the recipe more closely before I started. While not a disgusting failure in every measure of the word, it is still a fail. That said, the pork was perfectly tender (my having blackening one side of the roast at the start didn't have a noticeably negative effect) and the garlic was great. I recommend having some crusty bread, say a boule, to sop up the juices and smear the garlic on.

Cost:

• boneless pork: $7.42
• olive oil: $0.24
• dry white wine: $1.50
• chicken stock: $0.08
• garlic cloves: $2

Total: $11.24 or about $1.87 for each of six servings.

Italian Roast Beef with Tomatoes and Kalamata Olives, Take 2

 

A brief "thinking outloud on the blog" session regarding beef grades recently had enlightened me. Maybe the tougher roast beef I've made were because of the grade of beef I was starting with. A hunk of Choice beef in hand, it was time to revisit one of those roast beef recipes I suspected would turn out better than my previous attempt.

If I really wanted to do this second take appropriately, I would've limited the variables to one, the beef: USDA Choice versus unlabeled, likely USDA Select beef. As it was, I inadvertantly made changes right from the very beginning by starting with a different pot, not realizing until after I got started that I didn't even have the Lodge Dutch oven when I made this beef the first time. Then it was wine instead of beef broth and "homemade" pureed tomatoes instead of a purchased tomato puree. If I really wanted to do this right, I would not have made it the same weekend I made a lasagna so I would be more focused.

The results though. Totally worth it.

Italian Roast Beef with Tomatoes and Kalamata Olives

adapted from Cooking Club of America
click to print

1 (2 1/2- to 3-lb.) boneless beef chuck roast
2 tsp coarse salt, divided
1/2 tsp black pepper, divided
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 c chopped onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
187 mL red wine
1 (28-oz.) can tomato puree
2 bay leaves
1/4 c packed chopped fresh basil
1 tsp dried oregano
Dash crushed red pepper
1/2 c halved pitted Kalamata olives

Sprinkle beef with 1 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the black pepper.


Heat large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat until hot. Add oil; heat until hot.

Cook beef 10 to 12 minutes or until browned on all sides. Remove beef; cover loosely with foil.

  
Ouch! I let the first side brown a few minutes too long.

Cook onion in same pot over medium-low heat 8 to 10 minutes or until soft and golden brown, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; cook and stir 30 to 60 seconds or until fragrant.
  

Add wine; increase heat to medium-high. Boil 1 minute.

 

Add tomato puree, bay leaves, basil, oregano, crushed red pepper and remaining 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.

 

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low to low; simmer 15 minutes.

 

Return beef and any accumulated juices to pot; cook, covered, 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until beef is fork-tender, adjusting heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer.

  
In the pot, baked 1 hour, and baked 2 hours.

Look at that orange fat. Ick.


Remove beef; cover loosely with foil. (Beef can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Reheat before serving.) Allow the meat and sauce to cool to room temperature before covering and refrigerating.

Skim the cold orange fat from the sauce.

  

Warm on the stove-top. Once the sauce loosens up, remove the beef and set aside, warming it in the oven if you're ready to eat.

 

Add olives to sauce; increase heat to medium.
 

Boil, uncovered, 10 minutes or until slightly reduced and thickened. (Sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Reheat before serving.) Slice beef; top with sauce. Or shred the beef, and sandwich it between bread slices.


After eating lasagna and a bunch of zucchini bars, the idea of eating a big meal of roast beef wasn't something I was dying to do. Hence, the lack of a decent finishing image. But let me tell you, when I did make my roast beef sandwich (with nothing but beef and sauce), I was really happy with the turnout.

The beef was much more tender than it was the first time I tried this recipe. The difference was dramatic, so I'll be sure to look for the more marbled from those at the market. But the sauce had to be 10 times better than before and I have to chalk it up to fond and alcohol. My older Dutch oven is non-stick and rarely did I ever get the nice brown bits stuck to the bottom which had to be deglazed from the pot. Wine simply adds such a fantastic flavor, it almost seems wrong to use broth.

Cost:

• boneless beef chuck roast: $7.40
• extra-virgin olive oil: $0.08
• onion: $0.44
• garlic: $0.20
• red wine: $1.50
• tomato puree: $1.49
• fresh basil: $1.76
• Kalamata olives: $1, SWAG

Total: $13.87 or $2.31 for each of six servings.

Peppercorn-Dusted Pot Roast

Anticipating the latest Cooking Club magazine, I went to their website to see if the latest issue was out yet. Sure enough, I hadn't received mine, but new recipes were posted. For a pepper fanatic, this one was a no-brainer.

Peppercorn-Dusted Pot Roast
adapted from Cooking Club of America

click to print

1 1/2 tsp multicolored peppercorns
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1 (2 1/2- to 3-lb.) boneless beef chuck roast
1 tbsp peanut oil
2/3 c red wine such as a 187 mL bottle of Merlot
1 1/3 c water, divided
4 large red potatoes (about 1 lb.), cut into sixths
1 (8-oz.) pkg. button mushrooms, halved
4 oz. shallots (3 to 4 large), quartered
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp all-purpose flour

Heat oven to 350°F. Crush peppercorns; combine them with thyme and salt in small bowl.

If you don't have a mortar and pestle, you can crush your peppercorns by throwing them in a bag and beating them with something such as a small pot or meat tenderizer.

Pat beef dry; sprinkle with peppercorn mixture.

Meanwhile, heat Dutch oven over medium-high heat until hot. Add oil; heat until hot.

Cook beef 10 minutes or until well-browned, turning once. Set beef aside.


Add wine to Dutch oven, stirring to scrape up any browned bits from bottom of skillet.

Add 2/3 cup of the water to Dutch oven and stir to combine. Return beef and any accumulated juices to Dutch oven.

Cover and bake 2 hours.

Notice no wine is left in the bottom of the Dutch oven. What wine wasn't blown onto the sides of the pot was sucked into the beef.

Just an FYI, the beef was fork-tender and very tasty.

Arrange potatoes, mushrooms and shallots around beef. Bake, covered, an additional 30 to 45 minutes or until beef and vegetables are tender.

Remove beef and vegetables; cover loosely with foil. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Whisk flour and remaining 2/3 cup water in small bowl until smooth.

Whisk tomato paste into cooking liquid in Dutch oven; bring to a boil over medium heat.

Slowly whisk flour mixture into sauce. Boil 2 to 3 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring constantly.

Serve with beef and vegetables.

I wound up with a full cup of gravy.


I haven't made pot roast very often and honestly, it's because my results were never that great. They were usually edible, but never something to rave about. This one came a lot closer to what I think ideal pot roast should be. Looking back on previous trials, I believe the two-hour baking time in wine was key to a tasty, tender pot roasted beef. Now I understand why some folks think pot roast is the cat's meow.

That said, the title of the recipe isn't kidding: the beef is dusted with pepper. I had expected more of a peppery kapow! and was disappointed that most of the zing was in the sauce. I did really appreciate that the sauce was on the side and I could dab a little here and there for flavor without my beef swimming around in sauce.

The sauce, though, was slammin'. It was rich without being ridiculous, and again, I liked that I could apply it sparingly or liberally. The double-concentrate tomato paste made itself known without being overbearing.

The vegetables were tender but not mushy. I don't think there were enough to adequately provide service for the six the recipe indicated.

Overall, I call this one a definite win. It is simple to execute; the majority of mise en place occurred while the beef was in the oven or resting, so no time "lost". I'd certainly recommend this recipe, but for those hungry for pepper, I'd use more. And I'd go a little heavier on the vegetables too.

The best thing about this is that the leftovers are gonna be awesome!

Cost:

• multicolored peppercorns: $0.50
• boneless beef chuck roast: $8.76
• 187 mL bottle of Merlot: $1.50
• red potatoes: $1.51
• button mushrooms: $1.99
• shallots: $1.17
• tomato paste: $0.39

Total: $15.82 or $2.64 for each of six servings. The most expensive pot roast per serving I've prepared yet and it's worth the expense.