23 hours ago, lindag said:Please do, I just brought home a pork shoulder that I'm going to make later in the week. I found a CI recipe for Slow cooker pork roast with mushroom gravy...and it looks great!
22 hours ago, ElsieD said:
Love pork shoulder. I make one with an apple gravy.
Glad to oblige, although I should perhaps explain that according to my darling there is only One. True. Way. to cook pork shoulder. No experimentation is allowed. I have been known to carve the bone-in section into chunks to be marinated, then skewered, then grilled as souvlaki. I have to do it when he isn't looking. He loves the results, but hates the thought of letting a good pork shoulder be not-roasted! 😄
Cut potatoes into more or less a medium dice. The size may be arbitrary, but we find that relatively small chunks cook perfectly in the meat juice. He slices the potatoes into rounds 3/4" or so thick, then runs them through the 1/2" grate of an alligator chopper. How many potatoes you need depends on the size of the pot you'll be using and the size of the roast. There must be enough diced potatoes to cover the bottom of the pot, and of course you'll want enough for leftovers. There should also be enough to prevent the roast from touching the sides of the pot, but the side potatoes should not go much higher than an inch above the bottom layer. Otherwise they're likely to be underdone when the roast is ready.
Cover the bottom of a heavy lidded pot - we use enameled cast-iron - with the potatoes. Rub the roast liberally with Lipton's Onion Soup Mix and generous amounts of freshly ground cumin. (Grind the cumin yourself, or open a fresh package. Ground cumin, convenient though it may be, has a shelf life of about 2 hours. Well, maybe 2 days.) Put the meat atop the potatoes, fat side up. Add any extra potatoes around the edge of the pot so there's no contact between the meat and the pot. If there's any onion soup mix left, pour it over the meat and potatoes. If you have a meat probe, put it into the middle of the roast.
Put the lid on, and put the pot into an oven around 325 - 350F. (We're still a bit fuzzy on the numbers. We've learned that if we set the oven as low as it will go - 275F can be achieved here - the potatoes won't get done before doomsday.) Set the meat alarm, if you're using such a thing, for 160F.
Go about your business.
An hour or two later, the meat temperature will have risen to 160F. Turn off the heat, pull the pot out of the oven, and let the meat rest, covered. It will come up to about 170F.
The pot will have its own juice, the potatoes will be done beautifully, and the pork will be perfectly roasted. Happy eating!
But don't even think about treating the roast differently.
Mind you, I'm only complaining a little. The result is delicious and marvellously tender, and the leftovers are delicious and tender, and we both love this treatment. I recommend the times, temperatures and general treatment.
I just feel slightly straitjacketed.
