I like cooking pork butt-roasts (shoulders), especially on the grill. And since I’m often cooking for one or two, I have the butcher cut me small roasts, usually under two pounds. They’re plenty tasty relatively plain, but every once in a while a guy feels a need to get fancy. That’s how I came up with this recipe.

Ingredients

• One unsalted pork butt roast (2 lbs or so, but bigger will work, too)
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• One bunch spring onions, or one small to medium yellow onion
• Three cloves garlic (you could go with as many as six)
• 1-2 tbsp. Soy sauce
• Small can mandarin oranges (in light syrup)
• Small can pineapple chunks

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 325°F, or get your grill fired up
• Start a 12″ cast-iron skillet warming on a medium-high burner with a thin layer of olive oil in the bottom of it
• Season the roast, rubbing salt and pepper on all sides
• Sear the sides of the roast in the skillet
• While the roast is searing, dice the onions and garlic
• When you’ve seared all sides of the roast, shut off the burner, lift the roast, and toss the onions and garlic into the pan, setting the roast back on top of them
• Pour enough soy sauce over the top of the roast to lightly coat it
• Pop the skillet and roast into the oven with a meat thermometer in the roast
• Drain the pineapple, and dump it, the oranges, and the syrup from the oranges into a blender. Buzz it up, and toss it into the fridge for now
• When the roast hits 140°F, pull it out, and dump the citrus blend over it — in my case, it came about halfway up the side of the roast, which seems about right
• Pop it back into the oven until the roast reaches an internal temp of 155°F
• Pull the roast out and drain the juices from the pan
• Cover the roast with a piece of tinfoil, and let it rest until it reaches 160°F
• Slice and serve

Preparation time

15 minutes

Cooking time

An hour or two (30-45 minutes per pound)

Feeds:

6-8

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One thing to watch about a pork-butt is that there are “seams” of fat running through it. It’s easy to hit one of these seams with the meat thermometer and get false readings on the temperature, so don’t be afraid to check in more than one spot (just make sure the thermometer is clean).

Add some ginger and chilies to the citrus puree if you want a more Asian flavor to the pork. Or a little cinnamon, nutmeg and clove (go light on them!) to give it a festive holiday feel. This is a pretty simple recipe to start with, so there’s lots of room for playing around. Me, I think I like the recipe as written. It’s got good flavor, but there’s still plenty of room for the flavor of the meat to shine.

#recipe #grill

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Not something you’d usually think of cooking on the grill, this works well and small roasts are quick enough to cook that there’s no reason not to take them outside.

Originally written in late 2009

Ingredients

• 3 pound (or so) pork roast
• 4 yukon gold potatoes
• 1 large white (or yellow) onion
• 1 head garlic
• salt & pepper to season

Instructions

• Toss the roast onto the hottest part of the grill, and rotate it to sear the outside. Needs just a couple minutes per side, seasoning lightly with salt and pepper each time you turn it.
• Ready a piece of aluminum foil, about two feet long.
• While the roast is searing, slice the potatoes into ½″ slices, and place them on one end of the foil.
• Slice the onion into thin slices, dropping them on top of the potatoes.
• Mash up the entire head of garlic, throwing the slightly broken cloves on top of the potatoes and onions.
• Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over the potatoes and onions.
• Place the roast on top of the potatoes and onions, and roll it up in the foil, trying to keep a layer of potatoes between the foil and the roast, all the way around.
• Seal the foil up as best you can. You don’t want any of the tasty juices to escape if you can help it.
• Place the foil package on the cooler end of the grill, and close the lid. You’re roasting, so you want to avoid opening the grill more than absolutely necessary.
• Rotate the foil package about every 15 minutes. After the first 15, you can place a meat thermometer into one end of the roast (right through the foil) to monitor the temperature.
• When the roast reaches 145-150°F, pull it from the grill, and rest it on a heat-proof cutting board, keeping the foil and thermometer in place. Get your plates ready at this point.
• When the roast reaches 155-160°F, open the foil, place the roast on a cutting board, and plate the potatoes. They should have absorbed most of the juices, but any leftover juice can be set aside for use with any leftovers. If the potatoes are a little stuck to the foil, just peel them loose as best you can. Some of them will get a little broken, and that’s okay.
• Slice the roast, placing slices on top of the potatoes.

Preparation time

10 minutes

Cooking time

about 20-25 minutes per pound

Feeds

8

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The leftovers from this will make pretty tasty sandwiches the next day, too. The small amount of juice that didn’t get absorbed by the potatoes will keep the roast from drying out in the fridge overnight.

#recipe #grill

Discuss... Reply to this in the fediverse: @davepolaschek@writing.exchange