Weekend update

[fenchurch]

Well, we've spent most of the weekend cleaning... my mother-in-law is going to be arriving tomorrow to stay for a week, along with a friend of hers -- they're in town for a weaving conference. So, we've needed to make sure both the Island Room (aka the guest room) and the Space Room (aka the junk room) were cleared out and set up for guests... the latter, of course, being the worst, since we have a tendency to just dump things in there to get them out of the way.

On the cooking front, we've been having a lot of fun today. My dad raises hogs as a hobby (I know, go figure... he says it helps him relax), which means that ever few years we get the gift of homegrown pork (if you've never had it, you're really missing out).

So, on Friday we dug out one of the pork loin roasts and started it thawing... then this morning we stuck it in the brine rackham had made the day before (he basically used this recipe, including the seasoning rub, with a few alterations). Rackham took the lead on food prep, with me doing some of the chopping and stirring... the roast didn't take nearly as long as we thought it would to reach the right temperature, so we took it out of the pan to finish with carryover cooking and then loaded the roasting pan with cut red potatoes, carrots, onions and whole garlic cloves all mixed with olive oil, kosher salt and crushed dried rosemary, right on top of the drippings and bits leftover from the roast. After it had cooked for a bit, we added a little white wine¹ and some organic chicken broth. After the veggies were done, we added in the new drippings from the roast and whisked up a bit of gravy.

Oh. My. Word. That was so incredibly good! The sort of meal you find you have to put away as soon as you're done or you'll keep picking at it even after you're full. In fact, about two hours later we were both trying to decide if we should just have a little more. So, so yummy.

¹ I don't think I've mentioned it before, but you have no idea how daunting it can be to go wine-shopping when you don't drink alcohol, never have and have no clue what you're looking for. I just went to a local grocery store with a very large selection, stared around at the masses of bottles in confusion and ended up getting one of the four packs of little bottles. Yeah, I know... but it's still better than cooking wine and I wasn't feeling brave enough to explore any of the thousands of other choices. Plus, we don't actually cook with wine all that often, and I'm not sure how well the stuff keeps.

So, the house is nearly ready for visitors and we've got some absolutely scrumptious leftovers in the fridge. Now if I can just keep this cold from actually developing into something worse (I discovered, this evening, that I'm running a bit of a fever. Blech), it looks to be a good week!

Comments

[kazzy-cee.livejournal.com]

Your recipe sounds delicious!

I'm intrigued by the idea of a weaving conference...?

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

Yep! There are actually a few of them every year, scattered around the country and the world. My MIL has her degrees in mathematics, but took up weaving as a hobby back in the '80s... eventually she wrote and co-wrote a couple of books on the subject and, until recently, taught weaving at a local university. Her first job right out of college in the '60s was programming mainframes and she says weaving is very similar (and having tried a bit of weaving, myself, I have to agree).

[nmissi.livejournal.com]

Cooking with wine is even daunting when you DO drink it; I never do know if what I drink is good enough. Too fruity? Too salty? Confusion reigns. By the way, Wild Vines? Totally not a cooking wine. I figured that out the hard way. (Peachy aftertaste SOUNDS like it would work with chicken or pork, but it soo does not.) I have resorted to that stuff they call cooking wine. I know it's a cheat. It's like using Kitchen Bouquet for gravy, I know it. But that little label alleviates my worrying.

Your roast sounds delicious, hon. Much better than the smoked sausage mess I served tonight. Ugh. There really can be too much of a good thing, and onions? Are that good thing.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I am a total pleb when it comes to wine - but one thing I do know is that once opened it goes off, so little bottles for cooking seem like a really good idea.

And your nice wintry roast with winter vegetables sounds lovely.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've mentioned it before, but you have no idea how daunting it can be to go wine-shopping when you don't drink alcohol, never have and have no clue what you're looking for
Nods. I usually go to my flossy food emporium and dig out the "wine guy" to help me pick up something because I'm clueless. Usually for cooking purposes I just buy dry vermouth or dry sherry but if the recipe calls for something else then I track down Mr. Wine.
And your pork roast sounds wonderful.

[rosiewook.livejournal.com]

I don't drink wine very often, but I LOVE to cook with it!

And I think the best (and often the cheapest) wine is Sutter Homes "white wine." You can get them in those tiny "bar" bottles; which is usually the perfect amount for any recipe. And it adds a good zing to it.

Just look for the word "dry" on the lable. If they haven't added anything to it, you usually can't go wrong.

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

I think Sutter Homes is the brand I got... it's just so convenient!

[knitress.livejournal.com]

I agree with Paula. The little bottles are great for cooking; it's the right amount (and an opened bottle doesn't keep all that long) and the price is right.

[pmgoose.livejournal.com]

Yum!!

Good luck fighting off that cold! Try Sudafed.

[jerusha]

Personally, I think if you're cooking for wine, even the cheapest of bottles will do. Actually, I've found some really great cheap wine, so I think the little packs may be the best way to go. I should do that for red wine, which I don't drink.

That does sound like a fabulous meal. I hope you can fight off the cold.