An Afternoon Pot Roast with Pork Chops

zesty — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 13:00:38 +0000

I bet it doesn’t feel like the middle of the week does it? On the last vacation day of the holiday season, Monday, we were all hanging out at home and I decided to make a pot roast but all I had on hand were pork chops. No big deal right? Definitely not. I basically followed the same premise as if it was one big piece of pork and made sure I gave it the attention it deserved and packed it with flavor.

We had purchased some pork shoulder chops on sale last week so I knew this guys would take a lot of time in the oven. In tougher, often cheaper cuts of meat there is a lot of connective tissue that will only soften and break down as you cook the meat. This connective tissue is caused by working muscles on the animal. They key to all this…. Do Not Rush a Pot Roast…. Or even a pork chop roast.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. Olive oil
Sea salt
Black Pepper
4 Pork Shoulder chops
1 Onion
4 Carrots
2 Cups chicken stock
2 Tbsp. Tomato paste
Dried Rosemary

Method

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add half the olive oil and let it get smoking hot. Prepare the other ingredients.
Salt and pepper the chops thoroughly.
Cut an onion in half and peel it and chunk it up
When the pan is hot, drop in the onion and begin to brown it in the pan on all sides, then remove from pan.
Next up wash the carrots and cut them up rather large and drop those in the pan and sear for 1-2 minutes.
Remove the carrots from the pan and let the pan get really hot again. Add the second half of the olive oil and then drop the meat in the pan.
Sear all the chops on both sides until they start to caramelize. Remove and set aside with the vegetables.
Now with the burner on high, lets deglaze the pan and all the brown crusty bits with the chicken stock and tomato paste. When the pan is somewhat cleaned and the bits are removed from the bottom of the pan add back the pork, carrots and onions.
Sprinkle with the rosemary, cover the lid and move to the oven at 250 degrees F cook for 2-3 hours.
Remove from oven and place on the stop. Crank on high to thicken the sauce. Serve over some brown rice and love it.
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When cooking with herbs, you can use dry if you do not have fresh especially if you are cooking for a long time. I prefer to use fresh but just remember, fresh can go in at the very end of the cooking process for a splash of flavor where as dried need to be in for the long haul to get the essence extracted from them.

Ok, so I had a couple of left over pork chops from this dish as neither zesty tikes were into the pork that I slaved over…. So you will never guess what is brewing for Friday’s post. The labor of love continued and let me tell you, I even impressed myself. Stay tuned on Friday for a classic dish and have a super hump day.

Take care

zesty

Lets Talk Beef!

zesty — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 10:00:44 +0000

If you’re like me, you are probably intimidated by a big chunk of beef. Did you purchase the right cut? How should you cook it? What happens inside the piece of meat while it cooks? And how can you best bring out the flavor and juiciness?

Most people serve large cuts of beef only on special occasions. A standing rib roast, a beef tenderloin, or pot roast is expensive and merits a formal occasion like a holiday or birthday.

Your beef entree will be a huge success once you understand a bit about meat structure and how it cooks.

Two Methods of Cooking

There are two methods for cooking meat: dry heat and wet heat. Dry heat methods including grilling, broiling, sauteing, roasting, stir frying, and deep frying. Wet heat includes braising, pot roasting, stewing, steaming, poaching, and slow cooking. Most of us cook beef by the dry heat methods, along with pot roasting, stewing, and slow cooking. To save money on meat try the inexpensive cuts and use the wet heat method. This approach is a sure shot to tenderness and allows you to play with the flavors each time you cook. Don’t be shy to add flavor – vinegars and acidic fruit will help break down the meat the most effective and you can even leave it in the fridge marinating for 24-48 hours. Stay tuned for some low and slow recipes.

The Best Cuts

For grilling, broiling, and pan frying, the best cuts of meat are rib eye steaks, strip or shell steaks, and T bone, which contains both the strip and tenderloin steaks. Sirloin and round steaks are generally going to be tough and dry. Flank steaks are good when quickly cooked and sliced across the grain.

For roasting, top sirloin, tenderloin, standing rib roasts, and top rump roast are good candidates.

For stir frying, flank, top round, and sirloin steak are good. These cuts are best cooked quickly, and since elastin is broken because the meat is cubed, they are more tender.

For kebabs, tenderloin is the best bet. This mild cut absorbs flavors easily and it is very tender.

For pot roasting and braising, chuck and rump are the best cuts. These cuts have more collagen and need long, slow cooking in a wet environment to reach their optimum tenderness. Chuck has the most flavor and is the most tender.

For ground beef, chuck is the way to go. It has optimal amounts of fat and is tenderized mechanically by the grinding action. Most lean ground beef is chuck, but if you’re not sure, just ask!