By lunchtime the plan had shrunk to something less ambitious
- Scott Daniels: We Ate Well and Cheaply
- October 18, 2018
- 1098
It has been a very busy few weeks with lots of work to get done. Happily, and I mean that sincerely, it is work I love: speaking to new people, making some new friends, learning something new from each of them and telling you their stories.
I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful it is to get to be able to work as a writer, something I’ve been doing for most of my life. I actually won my first writing contest at about age 11 with a short story for a scholastic magazine. I give a little prayer of thanks every day for the life I get to have.
All that busyness, though, means little cooking and usually opting for easy and quick these days. The weekend held some pretty lofty plans for putting together a dish that is ideally suited to the chilly fall weather we’re settling into: a braised pork loin with parsnips.
It’s the main thing I’ve been looking forward to for the past month of hot weather, and we were planning to making it for the weekly Sunday dinner with family.
But Sunday played out much as the rest of the week had. The work I get to do knows no office hours or regular schedules, so life is much like the well-known line in the popular series, "Downton Abbey," delivered by Granny Violet: “What is a weekend?”
Each morning as my wife and I started the daily texting ritual debating what to make for dinner later that evening, it began with something interesting and fun-sounding. By lunchtime the plan shrank to something less ambitious. By the end of the day, we were looking for anything we could eat that meant few dishes to clean up. So of course it was carry-out week.
Back to Sunday: I made a loaf of bread, she made a Dutch apple pie and the pork loin became soup. I guess it’s good to be flexible. It was cold enough to get the furnace going for the first time this year, so soup was perfect anyway.
This is the pork dish that got bumped to another day.
POT ROASTED PORK LOIN WITH PARSNIPS AND CARROTS
1 two-pound boneless pork loin
5 garlic cloves, peeled and cut into small sticks
2 tablespoons lard (or vegetable oil)
2 cups beef broth
1 good bunch fresh thyme
4 carrots, sliced
5 parsnips, sliced
Salt and pepper
Begin several hours ahead of cooking time by poking small holes all over the pork loin and inserting a stick of garlic into each one. Tie the roast up into a tight cylinder, cover and refrigerate for about 6 hours.
Heat the oven to 350 F, and on top of the stove, heat an oven-proof, lidded casserole and add the lard or oil. Salt and pepper the pork loin and brown on all sides, about 20 minutes. Add 1 cup of the broth and the thyme, cover with the lid, and place the casserole in the oven for about 30-45 minutes.
Remove from the oven and check the liquid level, adding a bit more if needed. Lift the roast out, add the vegetables to the pan, salt and pepper them, and place the roast on top. Put the lid back on and roast another hour, keeping a close eye on the liquid level, adding more broth as needed. Turn the roast and baste it a few times during cooking.
Remove from the oven and take out the pork and vegetables, allowing the roast to rest. Strain the juices, boiling them down if needed. Slice the pork and serve with the juices and vegetables.
(Recipe from The Country Cooking of France)