Easter Dinner - Pork Roast Landaise

SUNDAY, APRIL 12, 2009

3.5 stars (out of 5 - recommended with hesitation and suggestions below)

It's Easter, and although I haven't really celebrated the holiday in almost a decade, I decided to use this opportunity to cook something new: Pork. I also wanted to test out a larger meat in the slow-cooker.

This recipe called for:

2 tbsp olive oil
2.5 lbs boneless, centre-cut pork loin roast (although I went for a 1.5 lb roast)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 medium onion, diced
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp dried thyme
2 parsnips, cut (I used baby carrots instead)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar - (use less!)*
1/2 cup port or sherry wine
2 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp cornstarch
3 pears, corded and sliced 3/4 inch thick*
1 1/2 cups pitted prunes*

Whew!

*{note revisions: reduce sugar, it was too sweet; add pears 1/2 way through cooking instead of at end}

1. I heated a large pot and added the olive oil to it. I had it on quite a high heat, as I was using it to brown my meat. I also used a large pot to reduce the amount of oil splatters... although I recommend wearing a long-sleeve shirt in order to turn over the meat - it can hurt! After I browned the meat, I transferred it to a 4.5 qt slow-cooker.

2. Next, I added the chopped onions and garlic to the same pan, and cooked them for 2-3 minutes. I added the carrots to the slow-cooker (around the pork) and then scooped the onions and garlic over top.

3. In the same pot, I then combined the sugar and vinegar. It said to stir until thickened, but it didn't seem to want to do this. As all the liquid seemed to want to evaporate instead, I just added the port and cooked for an additional 1 minute. While this was cooking, I stirred 1/4 cup of the chicken broth in with the cornstarch in a small bowl. I then added the remaining 1 3/4 cups of the chicken broth to the pot, and whisked in the broth-cornstarch mixture. Once it began to thicken, I poured it into the slow-cooker.

4. I then cooked the pork roast for eight hours on Low, adding the prunes and pears during the last 30 minutes of cooking...

5. and....

Overall, this meal was somewhere between "okay" and "good" (although SB told me that it was very good, I always have to take it down one notch because he's, well... nice!). In the end, it was a bit too sweet, and the pears could have been added earlier to get fully cooked (I would try from about 1/2 way through cooking). I kinda doubt that I will try this one again - I snuck a feel of the meat, and it felt pretty dry to me (regardless of what SB says), and it was a lot of effort in the end. I'm starting to get fed up with the slow-cooker already... (but not ready to give up yet).