We'll be going into high gear in the kitchen over the next week or so. Saturday will be Walt's birthday, and for that we always cook a French steak au poivre. Then three days later, on Christmas Eve, we'll make a cheese fondue (une fondue savoyarde) for our mid-day meal. On Christmas Day, we'll roast a guinea fowl (une pintade) that has been fattened, maing it into a capon (un chapon) with all the trimmings. More about those as all that unfolds.
Three views of the pork shoulder roast that I bought at Intermarché a few days agoMeanwhile, for today and Friday, I'm going to make a blanquette de porc. Thats pork shoulder simmered until well-done with carrots, bay leaves, garlic, leeks, and white wine. I'm going to base it on my favorite recipe for blanquette de veau, cooking it a little longer because porc is naturally a little drier and tougher than veal. More about that tomorrow. Above are photos of the pork shoulder roast (un rôti d'épaule de porc) that I bought a few days ago. The pork had been de-boned, rolled, and tied (désossé, roulé, et ficelé by the butcher). I'll post a recipe and some photos of the cooking process tomorrow.
Meanwhile, I was looking through some old blog posts of mine and saw that I once pointed out that blanquette seems often to be something we make in December. This year is no exception. I also came upon the photo above of the church and château in Saint-Aignan, which I took exactly seven years ago today.
I'm looking forward to learning how to cook a pork roast your way.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that guinea fowl / capon are an Xmas option here. I had trouble finding a turkey, apparently they're less popular now for Christmas.
ReplyDeleteMoi, aussi... looking forward to your pork roast post.
ReplyDeleteI thought that cut looked pretty similar to what I usually roast (long, slow, low roasting in the oven)... our store calls it a Boston pork butt... apparently, that is pretty much what a pork shoulder roast is. I like to make that for Christmas day (growing up, we always had a big turkey, but I don't love the trouble of dealing with a big turkey carcass, though I love the meat on it).
I made a yummy cheese mixture for our Christmas party with my husband's kids this past weekend: goat cheese mixed with cream cheese, plus about 2 TB honey, then good amounts of dried cranberries, chopped green onion or chives, and chopped pecans mixed in. You could also use just goat cheese (the recipe was probably adapted for an American audience, thinking that they might not want full-on goat cheese... ha!).
Judy, your cheese spread sounds delicious! Thanks for posting.
DeleteBettyAnn
Yes! I, too will note this cheesy dish with cranberries and pecans! Must have been beautiful and yummy! Thanks, Judy!
ReplyDelete