Roasted pork for Saturday dinner

I made a big pork roast and had the neighbors over for dinner on Saturday. I originally planned on doing the roast on my charcoal grill, but about the time I was going to light the grill, a combination of snow, sleet, and ice came blasting out of the sky, and I decided that the oven was the way to go.

The roast I had was a big bone-in sirloin roast that was actually in two pieces, packaged together. They fit perfectly in my blue enamel steel roasting pan. Once again, I should have invited all the families on the next block, because I had enough food for all of them. Here’s how I prepared the roast.

8-1/2 lb. bone in pork roast

Olive oil

Onion powder

Garlic powder

Cumin

Cajun seasoning

Thyme

Adobo seasoning

Wondra gravy flour

Water

Preparation

Set the roast in a roasting pan and rub it with olive oil all over. This roast came with one side mostly bone, so I set in in bone side down. Sprinkle onion powder  evenly on the top and sides of the pork. Repeat with a dusting of garlic powder, then cumin, and finally the cajun seasoning. Now sprinkle on lots of thyme. Finally, give it a sprinkle of adobo seasoning. Look at that. We haven’t even turned the oven on, and I already used most of the ingredients. Let the roast sit at room temperature for about an hour.

Pre heat the oven to 380º. Place the roast on the bottom rack of the oven. For a roast this size, it will take about three hours. With pork, I shoot for an internal temperature of 155º on my instant read thermometer. After the roast was in the oven for an hour, I placed a bunch of potatoes on the top rack, to bake.

When the roast reaches the right temp, remove it from the oven and set the roast on a platter in a warm place. Cover the roast with foil, and let it rest for about ten minutes. While that is resting, set the roasting pan on the stove over medium heat. Add enough flour to absorb most of the fat in the pan. Stir and cook the flour for a minute or two, and then start adding water, a little at a time, to make a gravy. After you hit the right gravy thickness, let it simmer for a minute or two and then adjust for salt and pepper. I also added a spec of cajun seasoning to the gravy.

Serving

We had a huge feast of roast pork, gravy, baked potatoes, green beans and almonds sautéed in butter, a big salad, a vegetable tray, and homemade bread. We also had ravioli and tomato sauce for the vegetarian neighbors. The beverage was German beer, and the conversation was lively.