I found a really cute little pork roast and decided to make it on the stove rather than in the oven as the directions said. I never follow directions and I like braised meats. They always seem to turn out more tender and flavorful.
Besides that, it's really hot here in San Antonio today (92 degrees)
so I didn't want my oven to heat up the house. Plus, I like lifting the lid and smelling the wonderful aroma as I turn my roast over and stir the veggies. In addition to the standard celery, carrots, onions, and potatoes, I added corn, spinach, red bell pepper, diced tomatoes and whole mushrooms.
I must confess something here and it's rather embarrassing. The photo is generic. I don't own a camera and even if I did, I'm clueless about how to upload pictures from a camera to my computer. All the foodie blogs I read have such beautiful pictures and I'm offering you a lame picture. I can totally cook, but food photography is new to me. If any of you can share your secrets, I'd really appreciate your help.
Confession is supposed to be good for the soul, so I'm going to let you in on another one: I don't measure ingredients--ever. A handful of this, a dash of that, a sprinkling or two of spices, and dinner is cooking. So even though I don't measure, I've put in approximations for the recipe. Another confession: I don't follow recipes. I just make it up as I go along which is really fun. And my last confession: I put oregano in almost everything.
1 (2 pound) pork roast
Very generous sprinkling of dried oregano, divided
Freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 cup white wine, divided (or more to taste). Hey, it's your dinner.
1 (16 oz.) container button mushrooms
Olive oil flavored nonstick cooking spray
5 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
1/2 (16 oz.) package peeled baby carrots, cut in half on the diagonal
1 large yellow onion, cut into eights
1 large red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into chunks
Sprinkle or two of salt
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 (0.87 oz.) packages pork gravy plus 2 cups cold water
1 (14.5 oz.) can Italian petite diced tomatoes
4 medium red potatoes, scrubbed with skin on and quartered
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
3 large handfuls fresh baby spinach, washed and shaken dry
Light sprinkling of celery salt
Heat a 12-inch, deep Chef's saute pan over medium-high heat. (I love this pan; I bought it on sale at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for $19.95 and got a $10.00 rebate.)
Rinse the meat under cold running water. While it's still dripping, pop it in the pan and sear it on the bottom. Sprinkle some dried oregano and freshly ground pepper over the top. When it's got a nice sear on the bottom, turn it over and sear the other side. Pierce the already-seared side with a fork (to let some of the juices out) and sprinkle with some more dried oregano and freshly ground black pepper. Add more water, a little at a time, if necessary. I like to brown my meat in its own juices and it saves a lot of calories because I don't use olive oil.
While the meat is browning, chop up your veggies--the celery, carrots, onions, and red bell pepper. Set aside.
Remove the meat to a plate and set aside.
Add a little bit of wine and stir to deglaze the pan. (Deglazing simply means scraping up the flavorful brown bits from the bottom of the pan.)
Add the mushrooms, making sure they are spread out in one layer. Sprinkle with dried oregano and freshly ground black pepper. Let them turn a nice brown on the bottom, then turn them over and brown them on the other side, again sprinkling them with oregano and pepper. When they're nicely browned, put them alongside the meat on the plate.
Take the pan off the heat and spray with the nonstick cooking spray. You can use butter flavor instead of the olive oil flavor if you prefer.
Put your veggies--celery, carrots, onions, and red bell pepper--into the pan. Sprinkle them lightly with salt. (This helps the onions to release their liquid.) Stir when it looks like the veggies want to be stirred. When they've softened but before they get limp--at least the celery and onions--add the minced garlic. If you add the garlic too soon it will burn and taste bitter, and who wants a dinner flavored with burned garlic?
Turn the heat to high. Pour in some more wine and bring to a boil. This takes the alcohol out of the wine which is a good thing especially if you plan on having your kids eat dinner with you.
Pour in the gravy mixed with cold water and stir like crazy for a minute or two, or until the gravy thickens.
Add the petite diced tomatoes and stir into the gravy and veggies.
Return the meat and the mushrooms to the pan, scooping some
of the gravy over them. Reduce the heat to medium-low (or low, depending on what your stove wants to do), cover and simmer
for two hours or so, turning the meat occasionally and moving
the veggies around.
About half an hour before you think it's done, add the potatoes
and corn.
When you're really starving and think you can't wait five more minutes for dinner, add the spinach and lightly sprinkle it with celery salt. Put the lid on and let the spinach wilt. (You may be wilting from hunger by this time, especially if you started your dinner late, so you know how the spinach feels.)
And there you have it! A complete meal. Pork pot roast with lots
of veggies.
This recipe for Old Fashioned Meatloaf aka Basic Meatloaf is from Paul Deen, Food Network.
