Pork Roast: Hoisin or Duck Sauce

An old roomie of mine was super organized when it came to recipes she found in magazines. She had this great filing system where she would pull the recipe from the publication, put it in a sheet protector and file it away in a binder. Genius in my opinion. Tabs helped to categorize everything and the sheet protector kept the recipe clean for messy cooks like me. It took me years to finally get around to doing this myself but I love it. Rather than have stacks and stacks of old magazines I have one binder filled with recipes I aspire to make.

Enter this Hoisin Pork Roast recipe I pulled from Every Day with Rachael Ray a few years ago. Rachel Ray to me is like white zinfandel. You know when you first start drinking wine that is what you start with and then you build to Chardonnays, Rieslings and then graduate to the big boys – the reds. Rachel Ray was my intro-chef. I can’t stand to watch her programs now but I do have a few good recipes courtesy of her books and magazines.

This is a recipe for a slow cooker. And it has cilantro!

Hoisin (or Duck Sauce) Pork Roast from Rachael Ray

I may have gotten carried away with the cilantro. I kid.

 

Ingredients:

1 boneless pork loin roast, tied (I used two tenderloins, not tied – rebel)

One 10-ounce jar duck sauce or hoisin sauce (I used duck sauce because I had it)

2 tbsp. grated fresh ginger

1 tbsp. chili paste

1 tbsp. rice wine or rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp. soy sauce

2 tsp. dark sesame oil

4 tsp. cornstarch

2 scallions, thinly sliced

½ cup chopped cilantro

Directions:

Spray the slow cooker with cooking spray and add the pork. In a small bowl, combine the duck sauce, ginger, chili paste, rice wine, soy sauce and sesame oil. Whisk in the cornstarch and pour sauce over pork. Cover the slow cooker and cook the roast until fork tender, 3 ½ hours on high heat or 8 hours on low heat. Transfer the pork to a platter, cover with foil and let stand 10 minutes. Pour the cooking liquid into a bowl and let stand for 10 minutes, and then skim any fat from the surface. Slice the pork and sprinkle with scallions and cilantro. Serve the sauce on the side.

Beer. Beer. Beer. Beer. Guinness Stew and Beer Bread

My man-love has a party house. You know the type, the house with a fully stocked bar, a kegorator and a foosball table in lieu of a dining table. It makes for some really fun get-togethers and a ton of leftover beer in the refrigerator. So when I saw a recipe for beer bread I figured it was probably something I needed to try. Couple that with Guinness Stew and there you have our perfect Sunday fall dinner.

I don’t like fall. I don’t like cold weather. However, I do really enjoy slow cooked meals. They are generally easy and feel "homey." My friend Christine shared this Beef and Guinness Stew with me a few years ago, but this was my first time making it. My take away from the recipe is to add seasoning. My recommendation would be to salt and pepper the meat prior to coating with the flour and then to liberally salt and pepper the crock pot goodies at the beginning.

The beer bread turned out really good and I was nervous about this one. I’ve heard rumors these type of breads could be dry. Not the case with this recipe. There was a nice sweet taste underneath the flavor of the Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale.

Beef and Guinness Stew

Ingredients:

¾ cup all-purpose flour

2 ½ pounds very lean stewing beef, cut into 1 ½ inch-cubes

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 to 3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces

2 to 3 carrots, peeled and cut into bite sized-pieces

2 large yellow onions, quartered

1 to 2 sprigs thyme

2 cups Guinness stout or other very dark, hearty beer

1 tsp. salt

Directions:

Salt and pepper beef. Place flour in the resealable bag. Add the beef to the bag, several pieces at a time, and shake to coat completely. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and add oil. In batches if necessary, add the beef and cook, turning 8 to 10 minutes, until browned on all sides. Using tongs, transfer to paper towels to drain. Place the beef, potatoes, carrots, onions and thyme in the slow cooker and pour the beer over the top.  Cover and cook on low for eight hours or until the meat is tender. Remove and discard thyme.

“Easy” Beer Bread

Ingredients:

3 cups self-rising flour

½ cup sugar

12 ounces beer

1/3 cup butter, melted

Directions:

Sift the flour and sugar into a bowl. Stir in beer and butter. The batter will be thick. Pour into lightly greased 5x9 loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

(Goof up note: I must have read the recipe five times trying to figure out where the butter goes and I JUST now see that the original recipe calls for the butter to be poured over the top of the baked loaf. Maybe that is why mine was so moist, but do what you want.)