Food has a way of evoking memories. It could me a variety of things; smell, taste, or thoughts, that awaken those memories and it not only brings them to mind but it takes you back in time brings that memory back to life. I have many memories from my childhood and there are a few pretty much all of them involve food, in some form or fashion. Roast is one of the many foods that brings back many wonderful memories, for me.
Growing up, my mom always made it a point to have hot meals on the table throughout the week; it didn’t matter what it was as long as it was balance and the entire family took time to sit and eat together. Sundays, however, those were the days that we had a huge family lunch after church. My mom would cook a meal that was big enough to feed an army and after church my MaMaw, uncle and Grandma would all come to our house and we would all have lunch together. My mom cooked many things, but one of the things that sticks out in my mind is her roast. There is nothing better than her roast; so fork tender, juicy, and packed full of flavor. If mom was planning on making a roast I knew it by Saturday night. On Saturday evening she would start chopping up onions and seasoning the roast; then she would put everything in the crockpot and cook the roast on low throughout the night. Sunday morning I woke up to the smell of roast and onions and I knew in a matter of hours it would be time to indulge in that fabulous roast. Even today, when mom cooks a roast, she uses the same method and it is still as wonderful as I remember.
I have taken a lot of my mom’s cooking methods and implemented them in my cooking. This is one of the method’s, not really a method just a slow cooker, I haven’t messed with. I play with different flavor and seasoning combinations when I make roast, but I use a crockpot and cook it slowly on a low temperature. This is the surefire method to getting a fork-tender roast everytime!
Pan Seared Red Wine Pork Roast
Ingredients:
1 (3lb) Pork roast
1/4-1/2 Cup whole peppercorns
2 1/2 Tbsp Kosher salt
2 Medium onions cut into wedges (I cut each onion into about 8 wedges/slices)
2 Cups dry red wine
2 Cups beef broth, plus more as needed
Directions:
Preheat a dutch oven (or any large, deep pan) over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, place the peppercorns and salt on a large plate or cookie sheet and mix together. Coat the entire roast in the peppercorn and salt mixture. Place in the preheated dutch oven and pan sear on each side until a crust has formed, about 3 minutes per side.
Place 1/4 of the onions wedges in the bottom of a (4qt) crockpot and place the roast on top of the onion wedges. Place the remaining onion wedges around the edges of the roast, pour in the red wine followed by the beef broth. If the roast is not fully submerged in the liquid add a little more beef broth to top.
Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
