It was another meal with my brother-in-law, and I thought I'd step things up a bit since I've found some truly delicious-looking Fall recipes over the last couple of weeks.
I had to use a pork roast instead of the shoulder the recipe calls for since I didn't need the 12-pound cut I could find at the grocery store. This significantly cut down on the cook time (it only really took about 30 minutes in the oven), so be advised if you need to change your cut.
After I took the pork out of the oven to rest, I put the veggies back in with some of the drippings to get them roasted up a bit more.
While I was fine without the pie bird thingy (I have
no idea where to find one), the 2-piece tart pan that the apple pie recipe calls for is truly genius, and I highly recommend getting one if you don't have one already. Beautiful and easily-cut pie slices just make the presentation that much better. And, in my opinion, vanilla ice cream is essential (I made
my vanilla).
I could not find the grains of paradise or the tapioca flour that the pie recipe calls for, so I used the substitution of caraway seeds that I had seen Alton suggest on his show. And I saw that a good substitution for tapioca flour was regular flour mixed with cornstarch. I was actually pleased with the fact that I was tying in the caraway seeds in the pork and then again in the pie. It was a delicious undercurrent to the whole meal.
Beer-Roasted Pork Shoulder
A variation on this recipe from Everyday with Rachael Ray
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
Salt and pepper
One 4-to 5-pound pork shoulder, thick skin removed
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
1 carrot, scrubbed and chopped
1 rib celery with leaves, chopped
3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
Two 14.5-ounce cans beef broth
1 bottle dark beer
3 to 4 tablespoons flourPreheat the oven to 450ºF. Mix the caraway seeds with 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper and season the pork shoulder with the spice mixture.
In a medium roasting pan or large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Place the pork in the pan and brown on all sides, turning occasionally, 15 to 20 minutes total. Add the onions, carrot and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to caramelize, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the beef broth to the pan and pour the beer over the meat. Transfer to the oven and roast, basting occasionally with the juices, until the center of the pork registers 155ºF on an instant-read thermometer, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Transfer the meat to a platter, tent loosely with foil and let stand.
Strain the pan juices into a large heatproof bowl. Return veggies to the pan and continue roasting until caramelized. Skim the fat off the top of the pan juices, then pour the juices into a saucepan. Stir the flour into 1/4 cup water to form a paste. Whisk the paste into the pan juices and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
Slice the pork shoulder and serve with the pan gravy.
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Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized OnionsPotatoes of your choice, peeled and chopped
Butter
Milk or cream
Salt and pepper
Onions and/or shallots, slicedMelt butter in a sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add onions/shallots and cook until tender and deeply caramelized.
Add potatoes to a pot and cover with water. Bring water to boil and cook until potatoes are fork-tender. Mash with butter, milk/cream, salt and pepper.
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Super Apple Pie
A variation on this recipe by Alton Brown
For the crust:
6 ounces unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 ounces vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
5 to 7 tablespoons applejack
12 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 2 3/4 cups, plus extra for dusting
1 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
For the filling:
3 to 3 1/2 pounds apples, mixture of Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Braeburn and Golden Delicious, about 6 large apples
1/2 cup sugar, divided
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons apple jelly
1 tablespoon apple cider
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground grains of paradise (or caraway seeds)For the crust:
Place the butter, shortening and applejack into the refrigerator for 1 hour.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, salt and sugar by pulsing 3 to 4 times. Add the butter and pulse 5 to 6 times until the texture looks mealy. Add the shortening and pulse another 3 to 4 times until incorporated.
Remove the lid of the food processor and sprinkle in 5 tablespoons of the applejack. Replace the lid and pulse 5 times. Add more applejack as needed, and pulse again until the mixture holds together when squeezed. Weigh the dough and divide in half. Shape each half into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
For the filling:
Peel and core the apples. Slice into 1/2-inch thick wedges. Toss all of the apples with 1/4 cup of the sugar, place in a colander set over a large bowl and allow to drain for 1 1/2 hours.
Transfer the drained liquid to a small saucepan, place over medium heat and reduce to 2 tablespoons. Set aside to cool. Toss the apples with the remaining sugar, flour, cornstarch, jelly, cider, lime juice, salt and grains of paradise (or caraway seeds).
For assembling and baking the pie:
Preheat oven to 425ºF.
Remove one disk of dough from the refrigerator. Place the dough onto a lightly floured piece of waxed paper. Lightly sprinkle the top of the dough with flour and roll out into a 12-inch circle. Place into a 9 1/2 to 10-inch tart pan that is 2-inches deep. Gently press the dough into the sides of the pan, crimping and trimming the edges as necessary.
Place the apples into the unbaked pie shell in concentric circles starting around the edges, working towards the center and forming a slight mound in the center of the pie. Pour over any liquid that remains in the bowl. Roll out the second pie dough as the first. Place this dough over the apples, cutting a hole in the top. Press together the edges of the dough around the rim of the pie. Brush the top crust with the reduced juice everywhere except around the edge of pie. Trim any excess dough. Place the pie on a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper and bake on the floor of the oven for 30 minutes. Transfer to the lower rack of the oven and continue to bake another 20 minutes or until the apples are cooked through but not mushy. Remove to a rack and cool a minimum of 4 hours or until almost room temperature.
