Portland Foodie

Thanksgiving: Foodie Holiday or Foodie Hell?

Listen, I love Thanksgiving...and for all of the right foodie reasons. A beautiful turkey, magnificent side dishes, delectable pies...but I just can't bring myself to make it this year.

I didn't say I wasn't going to eat it this year, just not make it. And, even though I have placed my order at a local restaurant for a family sized dinner to go, it is still hard for me to believe I am abdicating my traditional role in the kitchen. I mean, I love to cook...love the creative process of it, love the smells, the textures, the smiles when it turns out right.

As a discriminating (but not too snooty) foodie, I will only eat places that are worth the calories. Special occasions almost always call for a gustatory celebration, and I have a host of places to go that have outstanding food. Side note: We are so lucky that in Portland we have some of the best restaurants in the US...not that I am biased.

I always loved our Thanksgiving meals when I was growing up...the stuffing was my favorite. But there was always a let down after the meal...sort of a "who's going to clean this all up?" paired with a "well, now what?". Inevitably, the men would watch football the women and kids would clean up. The whole day consisted of napping, football, eating and cleaning up...

But having a family of my own this year made me think about those times differently. What I remembered this year, was my grandmother starting the cooking a couple of days in advance, spending a lot of time by herself in the kitchen, sweating and cussing the morning of, mad that the kitchen didn't have enough room, another oven, counter space, etc...I thought about the brief time I saw her at the table, the first time she had been seated all day...only to get up and attack the dishes afterward. And I thought, "No".

Plain and simple, I just thought "No." I am not spending days, hours, blood, sweat and tears to make this one meal. This one meal is supposed to remind me of what I am most thankful for...and I am most thankful for my family...so why would I spend all day away from them? Right.

Instead, I will drive over on Wednesday and pick up our dinner. I expect it will be pretty darn good. Then, after we eat on Thanksgiving, the four of us are going out to a movie...and who knows what other trouble we will get in to...

There will always be another day to explore my foodie creativity.

Braised Pork Roast

Yesterday, I made a pork roast that was out of this world (if I do say so myself)...It was also incredibly easy. And the bonus is that I have plenty left over to make quesadillas and tacos tonight. I probably have enough left over for another meal later in the week. I also made a wonderful smash of celeriac, apples and carrots.

Here's how it went down:

You will need:

a pork roast large enough to feed your family x 2 (in order to have leftovers)
a large cast iron Dutch stock, 4 cups
water, 2 cups
bay leaves
6-8 cloves of garlic
one large yellow or white onion
salt and pepper
oregano
sage

Preheat oven to 350. Heat up the cast iron Dutch oven on the stove top. Add olive oil to the bottom of the pan and wait for it to shimmer and start to smoke. I would set the stove on medium high...don't want to burn the oil, but it needs to be hot to create a good crust on the outside of the roast. Salt and pepper the roast and place that side down in the pan, then salt and pepper the rest of the roast. If you have a large roast, you will need quite a bit of seasoning, so don't be afraid to salt liberally.

**This is a Lodge Cast Iron Dutch Oven. No, I am not selling it, but wanted to give credit since I am using their photo.

Let it sear for a few minutes, then turn, creating a brown crust on all sides. I know you will be tempted to move it or check it, but once the meat hits the surface of the pan, don't mess with it for 5-7 minutes or you won't get a good crust.

Next, add vegetable stock and water until the liquid is about 2/3 of the way up the roast. Add the onion, garlic, handful of bay leaves and a couple of palm-fulls of oregano and sage, feel free to adjust amounts according to the size of your roast and taste. Bring liquid to a boil, add lid and place in oven.

In order for this to braise, it needs to be cooked low and slow. Keep it in the oven for 3.5 hours or so, depending upon the size of the roast. I flip mine over once in the middle of the cooking process. Take it out, let it cool just a bit and chow down!

Tips:

• a bone in roast adds to the flavor, plus you can reuse the bone in a future soup
• I think a larger roast really benefits from this cooking method
• don't skip the browning and don't skip the stock
• use a cast iron Dutch oven, I haven't found any other pot that rivals the success of this one

Making a Basic Stock

Making stock is much easier than you might realize. I will admit, it takes a bit of time, but the end result is tres magnifique!

There are a couple of things that you can do that will make this an easier process. Here are my stock making tips:

• When you make a roast, chicken or turkey, collect miscellaneous bones and scraps, put in a vacuum sealer bag and seal it up tightly. Store in the fridge for up to a year.
• Any leftover veggies or veggie scraps (like the ends of asparagus) can be saved this way, too. If you don't use them in the stock, you can always add them to the soup.
• Parmesan cheese rinds are great for flavor enhancing...throw them in the freezer.
• In the summer, dry herbs, tomatoes and mushrooms for use in winter soups.
• Ginger, horseradish and other flavorful roots are great in stock.
• If you want a deeper, richer flavor, throw the bones and root veggies in the oven and roast until caramelized, then add to stock pot.

Alright, that said, let's get down to business. This is my basic stock method:

• One or two chicken carcasses or whole chicken parts (bone-in, only)
• Carrots, celery, other handy root veggies
• Large onion or two
• Head of garlic
• Bay leaves, basil, rosemary, thyme, various herbs and spices to suit your taste
• Salt and pepper

Throw said contents into a large stock pot. Don't bother with too much vegetable prep, just clean and rough chop. Many people don't remove the outer shell of the onion or of the garlic...but that just bugs me. So, I remove the papery part, rough chop and throw in.

Here are the two things that I find greatly affect the outcome of my stock. One, if I don't reduce enough, it tastes like water. Always reduce your stock by half, even by two-thirds... Two, if I don't add enough salt... always add some salt in the beginning. When it is getting closer to the right level of reduction, I adjust for flavor.

And that's it! I know you can do this...and it is such a wonderful, creative process...give it a try and let me know how it goes.