Pork Roast Recipe

Buy yourself a nice big

• Boston shoulder roast
• Boston roast
• Boston butt
• Shoulder butt
• Shoulder blade roast

All the same cut just different names. Sometimes it may have the word "picnic" in the name too. Don't be afraid to go big.  It will cook down and it's so delicious you will want a lot of it!

Unwrap your roast and place on cutting board fat side up. Stab about 7 or 8 holes randomly into the meat on top and sides. Make cuts big enough for a clove of garlic to fit.   Shove your whole or half garlic cloves into the holes. It's ok if they stick out a little bit.  Your roast is large and the garlic mellows as it cooks.  And you will be cooking this roast for a good long time.  NOTE: Not everyone loves garlic, and you can use less,  just spread it out more...cut the cloves in half or quarters and insert them into the slits you cut.  You could also skip this part if you didn't have garlic.  There is no exact number for the amount of garlic or slits you cut.  Go with your gut and your taste buds!

For general seasoning I use McCormick Grill Mates for Steak and kosher salt.  First very generously salt your roast on all sides. Kosher salt is recommended.  It has flat crystals and covers the meat more evenly.  Plus it somehow tastes better.  After using kosher salt for a while you will notice that regular table salt tastes sort of stale.  Don't be shy about the salt. It's just the meat surface you are salting and most will be washed away by the juices as it cooks. Do the same with the Grill Mates seasoning (and yes that has salt in it too).   The Grill Mates is basically just salt, pepper and garlic.  This is a good overall seasoning to start with. (When this roast was done, I still had to add salt to the finished meat, so don't sweat the salt amount!) 

You could stop with the seasonings mentioned above, but you may want a stronger flavor profile.  I like a smokey BBQ flavor for this roast so I use Trader Joe's South African Smoke Seasoning Blend.  This blend smells very strong and distinct, but again, in the end the flavors will not be overpowering. 

Generously cover your roast with you chosen seasoning blend.  Other suggestions could be an Asian profile or Italian.  All depends on what you are in the mood for and what sides you are going to serve.  If your seasoning has garlic in it you may want to cut back on the fresh garlic a bit. ( See notes at the end about garlic)

My vessel of choice is this Dutch Oven I got from Target a while back.  Best to have a heavy pot that can be used on the stove top and in the oven. Start by heating pan and pouring in some olive oil - just enough to cover the bottom of the pot.  When the oil is good and hot use your hands to lift roast and place fat side up in the sizzling oil.  This was a very large roast, I had to smush it down some to get it in the pot.  It's ok though because having the sides touch the pot adds to the searing effect and also the roast will cook down quite a bit. Turn heat down slightly so that you are not burning it.  Let the meat sear in the pan for a good 5-10 minutes.  I do not bother turning the meat around on all sides to sear.  It is messy and time consuming and does not make much of a difference when you are about to cook your roast in the oven for up to 12 hours.  What I do instead is preheat oven to 450.  Once the the stove top searing is finished, place the whole pot into the hot oven WITHOUT the lid.  Let the roast cook like this for 20 minutes.  In a way you are sort of searing the rest of the meat and you are building up some heat within the pot to enhance the rest of the cooking time. 

 Once the 20 minutes is up, take the pot out of the oven.  Now choose a beer of any kind.  Pour the beer into the pot but NOT on top of the roast.  (You do not want to wash away all of the seasoning on the fat layer.  If I have a lemon I will use half to gently squeeze onto the roast.  Now turn the oven down to 275 and put the lid ON.  Put roast back in oven and leave it alone. You are going to let this cook for at least a couple hours before you look at it.  A few notes:  I used the whole bottle of beer because this was a large roast.  However, you never want the liquid to be more than half way up the roast.  You want the fat layer to be free of the liquid so that it can render down and essentially self-baste the meat so you don't have to.  So adjust the amount of liquid accordingly. If you don't have beer you can use low salt broth of any kind.  You could even use water if you had nothing else.  I find beer imparts a gentle but pleasing flavor.

After a couple hours take a peak at your pork.  It should look something like this.  The fat is starting to brown and render, the liquid is bubbling and it already smells delish.  At this point, if the liquid is bubbling and the meat is browning I will turn the heat down to 250.  It seems low but there is plenty of heat in this meat to keep it going. And like I said before you are going to cook this for a while.  Put the lid back on and put it back in the oven and ignore it.  A few notes:   If there is a tremendous amount of liquid that threatens to cover the fat layer I will ladle some out into a bowl and keep it (in case I need to add it back in later.)

In this pic the roast has been in the oven for a total of 10 hours.  When stabbed with a fork the meat falls off the bone and is very tender and tasty.  I could stop here.  But no....I am crazy!  I decide to sprinkle brown sugar on top and stick it back in the oven for another 45 minutes (lid on)!  What!?  Just a couple tablespoons of brown sugar if you have it and desire to treat yourself to the most savory sweet pork candy that you will not want to share with anyone!

Here is my finished roast.  The brown sugar has melted down and made a sweet glaze on top.  I tasted it already and dang it is so good and no you cannot have any!!   At this point you will need tongs to get the meat out of the pot.  It will fall completely apart and you will not be able to take it out in one hunk for sure.  If there is fat left at all, I will discard it unless its crispy and calling my name.  Even the bone will be soft enough to eat some of the marrow if you are into that kind of thing.   As far as the liquid, you can do several things.  One is to discard it if you are crazy and you don't like flavor.  Another is to pour it into a fat separator, discard the fat and keep the rest to be poured onto your meat as a juicy flavor enhancer or make gravy with it. ( I am not a gravy person so I can not offer a recipe)  Another is to say frick it and keep the juice and the fat with the meat and when you reheat you can pour off the fat as desired.  If you are going to have a lot of leftovers you will want to keep the juice and/or fat for sure since it can get a little dry in the fridge.  

Notes on cooking times:  I usually cook my pork roasts anywhere from 8 to 12 hours.  I don't use a thermometer but you can use one to make sure your roast is done, especially if you don't want to cook it as long.  I find the long, low cook time gives it the best flavor and texture.  But you could crank up the heat a bit higher if you wanted it done sooner.

Notes after tasting: This roast was delish!  I did notice a somewhat prominent garlic flavor.  When I looked at the South African  Smoke ingredients I saw that it also contained garlic.  Next time instead of the McCormicks grill seasoning I will just use the kosher salt and ground pepper.  This way I can keep the fresh garlic which is always the better way to go.

Suggestions for eating:  Stand at the stove with fork and block others while you eat all the crispy, sugar glazed bits and do not share!

 Use the pulled pork to make tacos or enchiladas

Eat hunks of meat with cornbread and some green beans that have been cooked in onions and bacon.  What!?  More pork....yes we are crazy!

More Bead and Button 2011

The above picture shows my pile of treasures from the Bead and Button show. The picutre was taken on the floor of my friend Nikki's booth. After a long day of classes and shopping she let me crash in her booth for a bit to rest up for more fun!

Pictured above from left is Nikki Thornburg of Thornburg Bead Studio, myself Kellie Wiegand of Bead Tree Studio, Debbie - a jewelry maker, and Heidi Woody who owns the Beaded Frog in Greenville North Carolina. I had a blast with these ladies! We went out to dinner and then to the Safe House which is a secret bar/restaurant with a spy theme. You have to know the secret password to get in otherwise they make you do some crazy stuff that everyone inside the bar can see on the TV, which of course I was the only one that didn't know the password! Embarrasing!

Seriously, I could start my own store with the amount of disc and flower beads I bought from Thornburg Bead Studio! Her stuff is awesome and very affordable for someone like me who buys them to make jewelry for resale. The disc necklaces are one of my best sellers and I can't wait for my customers to see all the new colors and styles! In the future I would like to do a post about Nikki Thornburg and her works.

Bead & Button 2011

I just got back from the Bead and Button Show in Milwaukee this past weekend. This is my fourth year going and it gets better every year. I took 3 classes this time and thoroughly enjoyed them all. I was especially pleased with my Hippy Dippy lamp work flower bead class taught by Amy Waldman Smith.

This was only the second time I had done lamp working of any sort. The first time was a disaster, and none of my beads made it off the mandrels in one piece......the second time, I actually made beads that looked like little flowers and I felt this inescapable rush of pride as a placed them gently into the kiln. There were only 2 of us in the class so I got a lot of one-on-one time with the teacher. She stood behind me and bossed me around just the way I needed it!

I was nervous to start, but slowly loosened up as I realized I wasn't going to burn the place down or harm others with wayward bead-balls of fire that I may accidentally fling or drop. I left there with a burning (pun intended) passion to make more beads. I don't really have the set up for it at home, but I might be able to sit outside on the patio and practice with one of those little yellow tanks of gas from the hardware store. The other problem is my lack of a kiln. A very expensive piece of equipment for someone who is just dabbling in lamp working.

Since I was leaving for the airport that same day, the teacher offered to send my beads to me in the mail when the were done kilning (or whatever you call it!) When they come in the mail I will post a pic online. I hope they are as good as I thought they were while I was making them!

*So I got my beads in the mail and took a not-so-great pic with my iphone. The 2 middle ones turned out pretty good. Of course I am showing the good side! The first one I obviously did not space the petals out properly and it kinda looks like a butterfly. Can't wait to make something with the good ones so I can wear them proudly. Looking forward to learning more about lampworking.

How to choose a color palette for your jewelry

Being a Graphic Artist has definitely helped me in the color choosing area when making jewelry. But don't worry you don't need a degree in the arts to pick a beautiful palette for your project. You may not even realize it, but you have professional help in your own home right this very minute! But wait you say...I am home alone...who is this person you speak of? You need only take a look around your home for a plethora of inspiration and ideas. You see, just about any decorative item or piece of clothing you have purchased and is in your home right now, has at some point been designed by a professional - someone already trained in the art of color most likely. And since you have these items in your home, we can safely assume that you are fond of them in style and color. (ok, that old plaid sofa in the basement from your husbands bachelor days does not count for this exercise).

Take a stroll around your living area and look at any art you have hanging on the walls. Whether it be a Van Gogh print or an original oil painting you bought at the art fair last fall, these are ready-made color palettes for your next jewelry project. Walk into your bedroom and into the closet. See that beautiful silk print blouse you wear for special occasions? That will make a stunning palette for a necklace. That fun glittery top your wear for bar night? - it's inspiration for a bracelet and earrings. Look on your shelves....painted pottery, candles, picture frames...these are all potential light bulbs going off in your head! If still you are not inspired, look at book covers or photo albums. Try looking at vacation pictures of you favorite beach...the blue skies, the aqua waters, and the champagne colored sparkling sands. The possibilities are endless.

In clothing and in home decor, we tend to gravitate toward certain colors that please our sense of style. Most of my clothing is black, reds, blues, greens and purples. If you look at my drawers of beads you will find the same color schemes also. Even though I sell my jewelry I tend to make things that are pleasing in color to my own eye. I don't really care for the color pink, so it's not satisfying for me to make pink jewelry...nor do I use it in my home decor. So using myself as an example...I look at my favorite holiday blouse and see purple and turquoise and fuchsia. And since I already like these colors, I am likely to already have beads in those same colors so I don't even need to go shopping (though let it be known, I am not against shopping for more beads in any way!).

So next time you are stuck and indecisive about your next project, just take a walk around the house and look at all your favorite things. (I order you to ignore the dust bunnies and unmade beds!) Without even realizing it, you have amassed a staggering number of color palettes just waiting to be mused by you!