Cooking with Economy Cuts, part 2

In a previous post about Healthy Eating on a Budget and cooking with economy cuts, I suggested buying and cooking more roasts. If you haven’t cooked many roasts you might conjure up visions of waiting hours for your dinner to cook. Not so! Many a roast will be done in 1 to 1 1/2 hours. 

Cook ahead
I like to do all or most of my cooking in the morning. That simplifies my day and allows me to pull out food when I need it, whether I am dining at home or packing a meal to go. Whatever my schedule for the day, I know I have food ready when I need it. I also like to cook with multiple means in mind, so cooking a larger cut of meat, such as a 2 to 3 pound roast means I will have great leftovers (planned-overs) for future meals.

Cook with multiple meals in mind
I usually plan to serve the meat 2 or 3 days in a row. Whatever I don’t think will get eaten in that time, I freeze in single or double portions, in heatproof Pyrex or Corning Ware containers with lids, or wide-mouth pint-size canning jars. I label them with wide masking tape and Sharpie markers, and then I stash them in the refrigerator. Once the containers feel cold to the touch, I transfer some of them to the freezer

Homemade convenience food
I transfer containers of leftover meat from the freezer to the refrigerator a day or so before I need them.  I can serve them close to room temp without reheating, in hot weather, if I don’t want to wait to heat the meat, or if I want to slice and serve it over a salad. Or, I can remove the lid and place the heatproof container in my Cuisinart convection toaster oven and heat for 10 to 12 minutes at 250˚F or 300˚F.

The How to Cook Everything Book
For the recipe below I consulted Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything. I started with his recipe for Roast Pork with Garlic and Rosemary. I doubled the amount of seasonings (rosemary, red pepper, sweetener, and garlic) as indicated below. I replaced sugar with dried coconut palm sugar, cayenne with ground chipotlé pepper powder, and I used dried powdered rosemary rather than fresh (I dry rosemary myself, then powder it). I prefer grinding dried rosemary needles rather than leaving them whole, where they get stuck between teeth and sometimes look more like lawn rakings than herbs. The powdered herb spreads more easily over foods, whether I’m making a roast or roasting vegetables. Other than those few changes, I followed the instructions as written.

For tips for drying and powdering fresh rosemary, click here.

Meals made easy
The roast pork cooked in 1 and 1/4 hours. Just before I popped it into the oven, I also seasoned a pan of cut of chicken fryer parts. Both of them cooked at the same time. This provided the meat for the other meal of the day for three days with several portions for the freezer. 

While the meats cooked, I prepared vegetables with three days in mind. I made sautéed kale with onions and herbs and blanched broccoli with carrots. To round out each meal I planned to rinse and slice fresh fruit, topping or serving it with crispy toasted nuts or creamy raw coconut butter.

I find eating a moderate to low-carb produce- and protein-rich diet is so much easier to plan and cook for than my previous plans that required foods with long soaking and or cooking times, such as whole grains or starchy vegetables.  Doing IF (Intermittent Fasting) and eating only two times a a day further simplifies shopping, cooking, and eating so I don’t have to spend as much time in the kitchen or at the table, which gives me more time and energy for other things.

To read about IF (intermittent fasting), check out Eat, Stop, Eat, and Lean Gains  and this site.

Back to the roast
After letting the pork roast rest for 10 minutes, I sliced it thinly and divided it between 8 containers, spooning some of the reduced pan juices over each portion. After refrigerating, I froze 5 of the containers, that left me set for protein for 1 of my 2 daily meals for the next 3 days.

Roast Pork with Garlic and Rosemary

Time: 1-1/2 to 2 hours, largely unattended        Yield: 6 or more servings

Bittman suggests you serve this with very light side dishes; to me that means non-starchy vegetables prepared or serve with a bit of butter, olive oil, or homemade salad dressing, and fresh fruit for dessert. He says,” this is the kind of dish that drives you wild and makes you eat more than you want to.” I didn’t have that problem. I felt easily satisfied with a modest portion.

He suggests that “If you want a more garlicky flavor, cut a clove of garlic into thin slivers and, using a thin-bladed knife, insert them into the roast all over. You can do this a day or two in advance; if you do, rub the roast all over with salt, too, and keep refrigerated, covered loosely with a towel or piece of waxed paper. “

Note: The recipe below contain twice as much of the seasonings as Bittman's original recipe from his book, How to Cook Everything.

Ingredients:
finely ground sea salt and black pepper (I used 1 teaspoon of each)
2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves or 1 teaspoon dried (I powdered it and doubled it)
1/4 teaspon cayenne, optional (I used 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotlé)
1 tablespoon sugar (I used coconut palm sugar and doubled it)
1 teaspoon minced garlic (I doubled it)
1 (3- to 4-pound pork loin roast, bone in or 1 (2- to 3-pound boneless roast, or a similar size pork loin roast
1 1/2 cups dry white wine or stock, approximately (I used wine)
1 tabelspoon butter, optional (I used extra virgin olive oil and doubled it)

   

1. Preheat the oven to 450˚F.  Mix a liberal amount of salt and pepper together with the rosemary, cayenne, sugar, and garlic, and rub it all over the roast (I figured about 1 teaspoon of each).  Place the meat in a roasting pay (use a rack if the roast is boneless, but don’t bother if the bone is still in) and put in the over. Roast, undisturbed, for 15 minutes.

2. Open the oven and pour about ½ cup of wind or stock over the roast; lower the heat to 325˚F. Continue to roast, adding about ¼ cups of liquid every 15 minutes or so.  If the liquid accumulates on the bottom of the pay, use it to baste; if not, add more.

3. Start checking the roast after 1 and 1/4 hours of total cooking time (it’s likely to take about 1 and 1/2 hours).  When it is done—an instant-read thermometer will register 145˚ to 150˚F—remove it to a warm  latter.

4.  Put the roasting pan on the stove over 1 or 2 burners set to medium-high. If there is a great deal of liquid in it, reduce it to about 3/4 cup, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release any brown bits that have accumulated.  If the pan is dry, add 1 cup of liquid and follow the same process. Note: If the pan is not suitable for the range top, scrape the juices into a saucepan. When the sauce has reduced some, stir in the butter if you like, slice the roast, and serve it with the sauce. (I cooked the sauce down to about 3/4 cup.)

Comments

[Vin - NaturalBias]

This is great advice! Roasts are an excellent way to eat pasture raised meat without spending a fortune. I always cook 3 or 4 days of meals at once, and they're often based on roasts. I'll cook the meat lightly, cut it up into bite size pieces, and add it to a pyrex container with vegetables, nuts, and coconut oil or ghee for a complete meal. I often do this with more expensive cuts of meat as well, and in most cases, it's hard to tell the difference! In fact, I sometimes prefer the roast meat!

Stew meat is also a great way to save money (you don't have to use it in a stew). The meat is usually leaner, which I actually don't like, but it's less expensive and quite convenient!

[Chef Rachel]

Hi Vin,

Thanks for your comment. Yes, roasts are such a great food to cook for many reasons. I started cooking them when my husband and I lived in the Midwest and we were buying grassfed beef by the quarter or half steer and half a lamb at a time. I really like the variety of flavors that different cuts provide. Although I can buy grassfed meat by the piece here in Arizona, I prefer the economy of roasts and ground meat.

I do like stew meat too. I find it requires longer cooking, but really takes no more time in prep. I find so few people know how to cook stews nowadays. When the weather gets cooler her I'll do some posts about them too.