Brined Pork Roast with Herbed Spaetzle

I am full speed ahead in Oktoberfest food mode! So, this meal was a must do.


There are gaping holes in the back of the two real pumpkins from the damn fuzzy, little, pumpkin munching squirrels. I got out my vintage blow molds because at least they won't eat them. Or maybe they will! I think we are in for a hard winter with the way these guys are eating.


A day before cooking, you need to brine the pork roast. Believe me, this will be the tastiest, moistest roast you will ever eat. Place 3/4 cup of sugar in a bowl along with 3 tablespoons of granulated garlic and 3/4 cup of kosher salt and a bunch of fresh sage and rosemary. Add 1 tablespoon of peppercorns.


Pour 1 cup of boiling water over this and stir until the salt and sugar dissolve. Add 1 gallon of cold water to the mix and let it cool off completely.


I made another load of sauerkraut the day before to serve with this dish.


When the brine is cool, slice the fatty top of the roast in a diamond pattern, place it in a zip lock bag and pour the brine over it. Place it in a bowl in the fridge and turn it over every few hours.


This needs about 24 hours to brine.


Before cooking, remove from the bag and discard the brine. Dry the roast thoroughly with paper towels. Crack some sea salt and black pepper over the entire roast.


Rub it with 1 tablespoon of dried sage.


Pout some olive oil in the bottom of a heavy pan.


Sear all sides of the roast over high heat until you have a crunchy brown roast. Place it in a pan and cook it at 250 degrees until a meat thermometer registers 150 degrees. This takes 2-3 hours depending on the size of your roast.


While the roast is cooking, make the spaetzle. Mix 4 1/2 cups of flour with 2 teaspoons of salt, 1/4 teaspoon white pepper and 1/4 teaspoon of grated nutmeg. Combine 1 1/2 cups of milk with 6 eggs. Stir this into the flour mixture. The dough will be about the consistency of pancake batter. Mix in 1/2 of the chopped fresh herbs. I use a spaetzle maker and drop them into boiling salted water and cook until they float, about 1 minute. You can push them through a slotted spoon or a colander .




Remove them with a slotted spoon and add a few tablespoons of butter. Boil them in batches until all of the batter has been used.


Stir in the remaining fresh herbs.


I made some of my vegetable gravy to go along with this meal.


When the roast reaches 150 degrees, remove it from the oven and place it on a platter. Cover it with foil and let it rest for about 15 minutes.


Slice it very thin and drizzle it with gravy.


I plated it with spaetzle on the side and sauerkraut underneath. Then drizzled gravy over the meat. This was scrumptious!

Comments

Kelly said…
Oh YUM! I love brined pork roast. It looks wonderful. Your front porch is grand. I don't know what the rest of it looks like, but in my imagination it must look like the house in Practical Magic. :)
petoskystone said…
yum! thinking 'yuletide dinner' over here!
Barbara F. said…
I love this type of meal, I had sauerbraten yesterday with red cabbage and a potato dumpling at my favorite German restaurant and biergarten. I brine my turkey for the holiday. Can you tell us your recipe for vegetable gray? xo
TARYTERRE said…
I've never had a pork roast. I kid you not. Maybe it's time to try one.
Marigold said…
Is anyone at your house thin? I can well imagine it would be difficult because you are such a good cook! Oy. Your front door and porch are wonderful. Let us cast the squirrels to the frontof the line when the Bob-O-Lynx comes by. Besides, I'm really rather fond of Watson.
Guillaume said…
I am not a big fan of pork, but that I would really love to have right now.
LOVE LOVE LOVE your porch.... it just looks so Halloween !!!!!...the pork and spatzele looks great...but i am cruising along and then....BOOM !!!! i get to the gravy....that REALLY got me...it all looks so good...and so FALL !!!!!
Your porch is beautiful! But that plate of pork and spatzel is like heaven. Of course I could have a bowl of your vegetable gravy and a piece of bread and be happy as can be.
Anonymous said…
Fantatsic.Absolutely German meal:))And Germans know their spaetzle and sauerkraut and their pork too;))
Spaetzle is always a special treat for me because my Mom's family came from Switzerland. I can't remember what "spaetzle" means now -- either "little buttons" or "little sparrows" -- something like that, I think. Either way -- yum!
Anonymous said…
That looks so very tasty !!! Thank you very much for the recipe.
Have a magical day.
John'aLee said…
Oh that looks utterly divine!
Unknown said…
Ooh that meat makes my mouth water! How delicious!
SharleneT said…
I'm waiting for the take-out to arrive -- and, it's getting cold, here! Love this recipe and it's perfect for a solar oven!