"Mock Porchetta" from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook

Inspired by this recent Chowhound post, I made "Mock Porchetta" from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook for company on Sunday night.*

I followed the recipe very closely, with only a few minor adjustments:

1. The recipe specified a 2.5-3lb. boneless pork shoulder butt roast.** I had difficulty finding a shoulder roast of that size with sufficient marbling, let alone a boneless shoulder roast, so I settled on a 5lb. bone-in shoulder roast, which I left intact and untrimmed.

1.A Given the roast's (larger) size, I increased the seasoning amounts in a commensurate manner.***

1.B The recipe specified a cooking temperature of 350 degrees, with a cooking time of roughly 2.5 hours, and an internal temperature reading of 185 degrees. I began cooking my roast at 375 degrees and dropped it to 325 degrees after 30 minutes. The total cooking time amounted to exactly 3.5 hours, with an internal temperature of 175 degrees. After resting the roast for 15 minutes the internal temperature climbed to 180 degrees, which was plenty enough for me.

2. The recipe specified accompanying the roast with 1-2lbs of assorted vegetables, including carrots, onions, fennel bulbs, celery root, turnips, rutabagas, parsnips, unpeeled garlic, and/or chunks of potato. I decided on small whole potatoes and (quartered) fennel bulbs, only.

2.A Given my estimated increase in cooking time for the roast, I made an adjustment to the cooking time for the accompanying vegetables, adding them to the pan at the beginning of the second hour, not at the very beginning.

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The recipe specified seasoning and tying the roast 1-3 days in advance. First, I located (and expanded) the significant crevices in the roast, packing them with the mixed seasonings. Then, and as the recipe indicated, I spread some remaining fennel seed and cracked black pepper on the surface of the roast before finally tying it.

Here is a picture of the roast on Friday afternoon:



The recipe specified placing the roast in an "ovenproof skillet," or "roasting pan," so I decided to use my ginormous Hackman™ cast-iron fry pan, which I modified by removing the handle so that it would fit in my oven.

Here is a picture of the finished ( and partly carved) roast on Sunday night:



I apologize for the relatively poor quality of my photos, but I absolutely refuse to use a flash.

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I was very, very pleased with this recipe. The meat was incredibly moist and flavourful, and the entire surface of the roast was nicely crisp. As for the potatoes and fennel, well, how bad could they be? All of that rendered pork fat had to go somewhere.

As specified, I served the roast and the accompanying vegetables with a delicious pan gravy made from the drippings, some rich stock, and a splash of dry vermouth.

The recipe suggested pairing the roast with a Riesling Kabinett, but instead I paired it with a Tempranillo/Monastrell (Mourvèdre)/ Cabernet Sauvignon blend from Spain which was given to me by fellow LTHForum member, kl5.****

Addenda: A sincere thanks to G Wiv, who was kind enough to help me sort out some of the finer details of preparation.

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Tonight, I will make sandwiches with the remains of the roast using fresh ricotta cheese, arugula, and leftover pan gravy.*****

E.M.

* A transcription of the recipe is available online, here.

** The transcribed recipe provided at the link above contains a misprint: it specifies a "1.5-3lb." roast whereas the original recipe in the Z.C. Cookbook specifies a "2.5-3lb." roast.

*** The seasonings specified for the roast included capers, lemon zest, chopped garlic, chopped fresh sage leaves, fresh rosemary, fennel seeds, salt, and cracked black pepper.

**** Thank you, Kristen. It was a lovely wine, and my guests thought that it made a great match for the pork.

***** The notes which accompany this recipe include suggestions for any leftover pork. One of these suggestions is for sandwiches of this sort. LTHForum member, orgullodemexico, inquired about porchetta sandwiches in the Chicagoland area on these boards in 11.05.

We finished the "porchetta," arugula, and ricotta sandwiches with rewarmed/leftover pan gravy.

E.M.

Erik M. wrote:We finished the "porchetta," arugula, and ricotta sandwiches with rewarmed/leftover pan gravy.

Erik,

I was just about to post how delicious the porchetta looks, then I see your picture of the sandwich, now I'm undecided. Both look, and I'm sure tasted, terrific.

Enjoy,
Gary

Thanks again for all of your help, Wiv.

I still have a bit of pork leftover and so, tommorow, I will try the author's other suggestion, i.e. shredding the pork, moistening it with olive oil and leftover pan gravy, roasting it for a few minutes at a high heat, and finally tossing it with bitter greens and a balsamic-based dressing.

As I think you already know, I really like The Zuni Cafe, and I have really enjoyed cooking from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook. Not only have the recipes that I have tried from this book closely approximated the namesake restaurant experiece for me, but they have done so to a much greater degree than those from any other restaurant cookbook in my collection.

E.M.

Erik,

Thanks for the wonderful pics - I can almost smell it. I have made this recipe a dozen times for company, always to great effect. The same can be said for almost every recipe I've made out of the Zuni cookbook (don't get me started on the panade...).

Interesting that you couldn't find a boneless shoulder. I haven't made this recipe since moving to Chicago last summer precisely for the same reason. When I lived in New York, perfect 3-pound boneless butts were easily had from Chinatown butchers for about $5-6 a pop. I have anxiously followed your recommendations for Argyle and Chinatown sources, but have found their meat counters don't offer the same kind of cuts (although Golden Pacific on Broadway had something that looked pretty close on Saturday). In the past I've had "regular" butchers bone a shoulder for me, but the results were never quite the same - I'm still hoping to find that Asian grocery store fix.

I suspect the bone-in is actually tastier (cf Michael Chiarello's Forever Cooked Pork in the Tra Vigne Cookbook), but you miss the beautiful effect of slicing the shoulder and seeing that ring of stuffing dissolved into it...

Fillay

Interesting that you couldn't find a boneless shoulder. I haven't made this recipe since moving to Chicago last summer precisely for the same reason.

I might be mistaken but I am almost positive that Jewel carries the boneless butt or if not will do it to order. Last summer I had been looking for a shoulder to smoke and all I could find was the boneless Boston Butt there. I'm not sure if that's the same cut you're referring to but if so you might try there.

Mr. T. wrote:I might be mistaken but I am almost positive that Jewel carries the boneless butt or if not will do it to order. Last summer I had been looking for a shoulder to smoke and all I could find was the boneless Boston Butt there. I'm not sure if that's the same cut you're referring to but if so you might try there.

I ended up purchasing my bone-in shoulder roast at the Jewel on Milwaukee (at Ashland). This past Friday was crap, and after striking out at a few other establishments in the area, I settled on what was readily available at Jewel.

Just today, I saw a couple of nice boneless shoulder roasts at the Treasure Island store on Clybourn, and they were sized at 3 and 4lbs. I must say, though, that by the looks of them, they did not appear to have many crevices and seams in which seasonings could be tucked. And, being that it was a Treasure Island store, you know that they didn't come cheap.

E.M.

I'm past being incredulous that Jewel(at least my Jewel) doesn't carry some of the more obvious cuts(ala pork shoulder). They have plenty of formaldehyded things and a wide selection of smoked pork products...not to mention chicken fabricated to molecule width. They cater to soul food afficianados, those keeping kosher, the soccer mom in all of us, but neglect the most obvious everyday cuts. That bandwagon siren song must be awfully hard to resist; I imagine the product procurers at Jewel don't actually cook, they just read projected demographic indices.

And, yes, counter to the bizarro Davis Street Fishmarket wish upon a dream cookbook query and subsequent discussion, Judy Roger's book is excellent. It fits more with my ideas about cookbooks as literature(context, voice, depth, humor) than most cash-in tie-ins I've perused at Borders, etc. Her, rather her cook's recipe, pink onion pickle is candy amazing.

The larger Mexican-oriented markets can be good sources for pork shoulder (and fresh ham). Tony's and Cermak Produce almost always have a selection, which can vary as to bone-in versus boneless. Both almost always have fresh hams in portions less than a whole ham in their meat cases. Around holidays they will have some pretty big whole hams.

Tony's Finer Foods
4137 North Elston (and other locations)

Cermak Produce
4234 North Kedzie
2701 West North Avenue
(other locatons may not be as large)

And, finally:



As suggested in The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, I slivered the leftover porchetta, dressed it with olive oil and a bit of pan gravy, and roasted it in the oven at 400 degrees for a few minutes. Then, and also as it was suggested, I tossed it with arugula and a balsamic-marmalade dressing.

It turned out to be quite tasty.

My real triumph, though, was the pasta which I prepared to round out the meal:



I must admit that I nearly never prepare pasta in my own home.* In fact, I very rarely eat pasta at all.**

But...

I recently had the good fortune to attend a cooking demonstration and luncheon at Spiaggia, where I watched the preparation of four separate pasta dishes and, subsequently, consumed the results. Then and there I had an epiphany of sorts, for I truly loved every single bite of what I was served, and I was given new hope for the possibility of success in my own home. So, tonight, keeping in mind the few tips that I gleaned at the demonstration/luncheon, I prepared spaghetti very simply, with butter, lemon zest, heavy cream, fresh ricotta cheese, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, and black pepper.

I don't know how it looks to you, and I don't know if it was a success by any objective, chefly standard, but it was quite easily the best pasta dish that I have ever prepared.

E.M.

* In college, and during the first few years after college, I prepared pasta quite frequently. I would not pretend that any of it was great, but, for me, pasta was easy, cheap, and filling, and those were the only considerations in my kitchen at the time. In any event, and for the purpose of better illustrating/emphasizing my point, I will say that I do not recall preparing pasta at home even one time in the past two years.

** As it should be evident from my posts, I am absolutely crazy for Asian "pasta," or noodles, of every sort.