Porketta

"This is my take on a Minnesota Iron Range classic. It's super easy to make, and produces juicy porky awesomeness with a bit of spiky garlic and caramelly sweet fennel flavors, with just a dash of bitterness from a smidge of parsley. Best served on a bun as a sandwich. Even better if you make a bit of gravy from the drippings (not the traditional route, but I've never been one to skip a good gravy!) The wine is optional, but gives everything a nice acidity; if you use it, use a pinot grigio or similar with a nice bite!"
 
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Ready In:
7hrs 15mins
Ingredients:
11
Serves:
8

ingredients

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directions

  • Butterfly the pork roast (slice in half lengthwise to within about 1-1/2 inches of the uncut edge). Open the roast like a book, and slice a bit more in the center if needed so it lies flat all the way across. Lightly score the meat in a cross-hatch pattern to maximize surface area for seasoning.
  • Combine olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, fennel seed, and fresh parsley in a small bowl. Mix well. Spread half the seasoning goo on the outside of the roast, then flip and spread the remaining goo on the inside (the scored side). Spread the chopped fresh fennel in the right half of the inside (scored) side of the roast, spreading out to within a half inch of the edges.
  • Fold the left side over the right (close the book!) and carefully pick up the roast and set it in an oiled 3-quart slow cooker insert. If you like, you can tie the roast with cotton kitchen twine (I rely on the smallish slow cooker to keep the roast together, but if you want absolute certainty or are using a larger pan, by all means tie it up!).
  • Let the roast marinate overnight in the fridge (up to two days). When ready to cook, splash about an inch of good white wine in the bottom of the slow cooker. Cook for 6-7 hours on low. (Alternately, you could roast it at 325 for probably 2 to 2-1/2 hours -- I don't have an exact time since I use the slow cooker, but since you managed to find this recipe, I'm confident you can look up a cooking time chart and figure that out, too!).
  • Once cooked, carefully transfer the meat to a large plate and shred. Set aside while you make the gravy.
  • To make the gravy, pour the drippings out of the slow cooker insert and into a wide, shallow pan (a 10- or 12-inch skillet works marvelously for this). Heat skillet over medium high heat till liquid is simmering. In a small bowl, combine the flour with a few spoonfulls of the heated drippings, whisking to remove any lumps. The mixture should resemble runny paste. Once mixture is lump-free, whisk into the rest of the drippings and cook at a simmer, stirring constantly, for 4-5 minutes, till thickened. Add wine (water works, too) to achieve the desired consistency (I add about 1/4 cup, but the amount will vary depending on how much drippings your roast gave you). You will want to taste-test to make sure the gravy doesn't taste "floury" (if it does, cook it a bit longer).
  • Serve the hot meat in open-faced sandwiches on good bread. Serve the leftovers hot or cold on buns.

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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<p><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/adoptedspring08.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /> <br /> <br />Hubby and I are currently living in St. Paul, MN in a great little neighborhood with tons of independent businesses. We have restaurants, natural foods coops (yes, plural!!), libraries, neighborhood movie theaters, everything is easy walking or biking distance--we love it! We enjoy biking a lot, too, and the Twin Cities have a fantastic network of bike trails, tons of things to do and see?we?ve found the perfect location! We currently live in an apartment, so our gardening attempts are limited to 3 large pots of herbs (one is all basil, the others are a mix of rosemary, tarragon, thai basil, mint, curry plant, sage, thyme, and oregano). We're saving for a house, so eventually we'll have a yard to plant more veggies in, but for now the herb pots do pretty well! <br /> <br />I enjoy cooking in my spare time (well, and my not-so-spare time, too...my hubby, who also loves to cook, accuses me of planning way-too-elaborate weeknight meals, but he never complains once he starts eating...no matter how late it is!) We are pretty adamant about eating healthy and sustainable foods. I try to make a point to source the majority of my ingredients as locally as possible, and I'm very lucky to have the wonderful St. Paul farmer's market available year round (though in the winter my choices are limited to fresh eggs, organic/free-range meat of all sorts, cheese, honey, baked goods...limited, right?...poor me!...in the summer the market is bursting with all that plus all manner of vegetables, and I've never met a vegetable there I didn't like). I also eat a good deal of wild game meat (elk, deer, antelope) because my family (who still live in MT) ship a box of hunting season bounty to us every winter. What doesn't come from the farmers market or the wild game express comes from my local natural foods co-op (St. Paul's Mississippi Market), which has a plethora of local products to choose from as well! <br /> <br />I try to eat as healthfully as possible, so if I make your recipe, I may alter it to fit my preferred diet (i.e. I'll cut down on fat, add veggies, change cuts of meat, cut down on cheese and certain condiments like mayo, etc.). I will still rate the recipe unless I pretty much don't follow it at all, in which case I'll just leave a comment with what I did--I always like to see what others have done with recipes, but I don't think it's fair to grade the recipe if I didn't actually follow it! I won?t generally make a recipe if it calls for ingredients I don?t like (and can?t sub out for something I do like), so most of my ratings are pretty high for that reason. I?ve never really understood people who try a recipe and then give it a very low rating only because they don?t like the ingredients called for. Anyhow. <br /> <br />My rating system for recipes is pretty simple. I won?t give a star rating to a recipe if I don?t follow it fairly closely. If I do give your recipe a star rating, this is what it means: <br />5 stars = fantastic flavor or unique (and tasty) &amp; the recipe worked as written?would definitely make it again <br />4 stars = good flavor &amp;/or the recipe needed only some minor changes to work?would likely make again <br />3 stars = the recipe needed a fair bit of alteration to be edible?might try it again, but would make some major changes <br />2 stars = good idea in theory, bad recipe in practice?would only try it again (with massive changes) if I?m feeling ambitious/creative <br />1 star = inedible?would not be trying it again</p>
 
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