My first post will be one of my own creations. Great for a Sunday night dinner and enough to share with friends!
When at a meat market with a friend I bought a nice-sized pork shoulder (about 9-10 pounds). Once I got it home I trimmed the skin and removed the bone, which significantly lowers the weight of the shoulder. I also butterflied or cut the meat on one side to have a flat surface to fill with stuffing.
Before I actually stuffed the shoulder, I marinated it in a brine-like solution overnight.
Ingredients used:
Brine:
5 Tblsp. of Kosher Salt
Fresh Black Pepper
3 Cloves of Garlic rough chopped
Juice of (1) whole lemon
1 Tblsp of Garlic powder
1 Tablespoon of Onion powder
Couple dashes of worstershire sauce
Dash of Cumin
Rub the butterflied Shoulder with the Kosher Salt and Black Pepper; place it in a container with an airtight lid. Combine in the same container the remainder of the ingredients; pour just enough water the cover the meat. Place in the refrigerator overnight.
Stuffing:
2 Boxes of Cornbread mix
2 large eggs
2/3 cup of milk
2 smoked ham hocks or smoked turkey wings
The bone from the Pork Shoulder
3 carrots cut
5 stalks of celery
1 bulb of garlic
1 large onion
1- 16oz. package of sage sausage
5-7 leaves of fresh sage, finely chopped
3 Tsp. of dried rubbed sage
2 Tblsp. of Kosher salt
2 Bay leaves
Cut the carrots and celery in 1 inch pieces. Cut the onion in quarters and the whole bulb of garlic in half (it's okay to leave the papers on; everything will be strained at the end).
In a nice sized stock pot combine the ham hocks, the bone from the Pork Shoulder, carrots, onion, garlic, celery, bay leaves and kosher salt. Pour in enough water just to cover the meat and vegetables. Boil with lid on for 1-1/2 hours. The residual meat should fall of the bone, allow the smoked meat to cool and pull meat from the bone, and discard the fat and bone. Strain the pork broth from the cooked vegetables, mash vegetables with a masher, and remove any large pieces (root from garlic bulb). Save stock for later.
Combine the cornbread mix, eggs, milk, chopped and dried sage. Mix well (there will be a few lumps; it's just the nature of cornbread). Place cornbread mixture in a baking dish and bake on 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Once brown on top pull out of the oven and allow to cool.
Break up the cornbread in large bowl add the cooked vegetables and the pulled smoked meat to the cornbread mixture. The vegetables should offer enough moisture but if it is not enough moisture, slowly add the stock a little at a time to get the consistency of "wet sand". Place in refrigerator until completely cool.
Roast:
2 Tblsp. of olive oil
2 Tsp. of kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
2 Tblsp. of dried rosemary
1 Tsp. of Poultry Seasoning
Lay the meat out flat and salt and pepper the inside of the roast, begin to fill the roast with stuffing being careful to leave a 1/2 inch of free space around the perimeter of the roast. After topping with the cornbread stuffing begin to carefully roll the meat loosely like a jellyroll. Secure and tie the roll with several pieces of twine.
Place in a roasting pan coat the roast with olive oil season with salt, pepper, dried rosemary and poultry seasoning. Place in the oven on 375 degrees for 90 minutes (cover with aluminum foil for half of the cooking process and remove the foil for the remainder of the cooking time.)
Side Dish:
Emeril Lagasse’s Braised Broccoli Rabe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_28608,00.html)
I substituted regular broccoli for the broccoli rabe because I had the broccoli on hand.
I also substituted pork stock for chicken stock because I had some leftover from my dish.
Notes: I feel the meal was very successful, hearty, delicious and juicy. My taster will comment further with her observations.
I really enjoyed cooking and eating the meal, but preparation took quite a bit of time so I would definitely save this recipe for a Sunday meal. Also, in the future I will use a different cut of meat, the shoulder is great for B-B-Q slow cooking, and I think a pork lion would have been a better fit for this recipe.
-Diva
