Blanquette de porc

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 ago

Meanwhile, 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.