HFF 4.22: Fear Factor

 

The Challenge: Fear Factor. Time to challenge yourself with intimidating ingredient or technique. 

The Recipe: Roast Pork Shoulder from Bridal Chef: Suggestions and Practical Recipes for the new Housekeeper

    ROAST PORK SHOULDER If too large, have butcher cut in half or trim off lower shank and cut off pieces of upper shoulder use same for boiling with kraut or vegetables. Use the fleshy part for roasting Wash and clean thoroughly sprinkle with salt put in pan with I cup of water and roast very slowly for 3 or 3 1/2 hours. As water boils away 1/2 cup more may be added, but after that enough fat will drip baste with this and brown the meat. To make gravy add 1 tablespoon flour to 1/2 cup of the fat, let it brown then add 1 cup of water. 

    Sweet potatoes or parsnips may be roasted with the meat by putting in the pan 1 hour before meat is done; apples also may be roasted in same pan. 

    Apple sauce or baked or roasted apples should be served with roast pork .

[Cooking meat-based dishes is still not in my comfort zone.]

The Date/Year and Region: 1911, St. Louis

How Did You Make It:  Per the instructions, I rinsed and salted the pork shoulder (8.5lb, bone-in) and placed it in the oven to roast at 325F, with 1 cup of water in the bottom of the pan. [In the general meat section, a "moderate oven" is recommended for large cuts of meat; this tallied with the packaging, which recommended cooking this cut at 325F for 3-3.5 hours, until 165F internal temperature was reached.] 

I added a half cup of water 30 minutes in, and again when I added 4 parsnips at the 2.5 hour mark. There was fat coming off the roast by then, but parts of the pan were bare and I didn't want to scorch anything. 

I ended up making a gravy using 1/2 cup of the drippings, 1 Tbp flour, and 1 cup of water.  

Time to Complete: Three and a half hours. 

Total Cost: $7 meat plus $6 worth of parsnips. Yay for sales. I really need to get a community garden plot next year so I can grow my own heirloom vegetables.

How Successful Was It?: Ok. I was concerned that it would be a bit bland, with no flavoring beside a little salt, but the meat and parsnips were both perfectly adequate. The meat was still rather fatty when cooked, which set off my 'texture is inconsistent' problem, so I probably will avoid this cut in the future. That being said, this is a simple and straightforward recipe, so I'll keep it in my back pocket in case I need to roast a pork shoulder in the future (though I understand better why modern recipes all involve slow cooking the thing into fine pieces). And, honestly, if I'm not using it for a historical event, I'd probably look into a recipe with more interesting flavors.

How Accurate Is It?: Good. I didn't change anything on purpose (forgot the applesauce I meant to serve with it), and this is one of those really simple recipes where there's not a lot of technique/ingredients to tweak.

Roast Pork Shoulder with Parsnips

Not the prettiest plating.