Thursday Night Roast Porkin'

TGIF W+A readers! The weekend is back and the weather is looking pretty nice. I've got my TGIF Spotify pumping to get me through the remaining of the work day. After dinner last night John and I decided to do a Homegoods and Target run since it was such a gorgeous night and we felt restless just hanging on the couch all night. We have our friends visiting this weekend so we had to grab a few odds and ends to have in the house. I also bought these happy little blooms to give the space a bit of perkin' up. Its almost 90 degrees on the Island today so I am making sure to stay super hydrated and cool. Drinking lots of agua and iced green tea.

While I ran out yesterday evening, I stumbled upon this cool marinading container and figured I'd get it for John since he loves to grill. It basically comes with a pump to get all of the excess air out and is supposed to help your meats marinade much quicker We shall see, review to come!

We decided to make a roast pork for dinner last night and I can't even lie it was so damn delicious that I ate leftovers for lunch. If you know me, I'm not a big leftover person, but I made it happen today and I am pretty happy we had some left over. I decided to season my pork Cuban style because this is how I grew up eating it. I tweaked my grandmother's recipe just a little, but pretty much followed her steps. I started with a little over 2 pounds of boneless pork roast, which was more than enough for John and I. We will definitely get another two meals out of it. Here is what you'll need for your roast pork.

Roast Pork With Potatoes & Onions Ingredients

-boneless pork roast
-2 large onions
-white cooking wine
-extra virgin olive oil 
-paprika
-garlic salt
-pepper
-about 5 cloves of garlic
-6 potatoes

I like to get all of my chopping done first. Chop your potatoes, onions and cloves of garlic. Set your garlic aside. Once all is chopped, in a bowl, whisk together the base for your meat: 1 cup of white wine, 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil, LOTS of paprika, 1 tbsp of garlic salt and 2 tsps of black pepper. You can add salt if you would like, but the garlic salt usually does the trick.

Then, take a deep roasting pan and coat with a little olive oil. Take your meat and slice 1 inch slits and insert your diced cloves of garlic. Make sure to stuff them in good so they don't pop out during cooking. Season your meat with some salt, pepper, garlic salt and paprika. Then take a basting brush and brush on your mixture to coat your entire roast. Add your chopped onions and potatoes around your pan and sprinkle with the same seasonings as you did your meat. I like to add about a 1/2 cup of water around the potatoes and onions as well so they don't stick. Cover with foil and bake on 350 degrees for an hour.

After an hour, remove the tin foil and cook for another 45 minutes to an hour. Add more water if needed to the bottom of your roasting pan. I like to add the remaining of my mixture to the pork and potatoes. Your pork should get a nice crust and char to the top and your potatoes and onions should be nice and soft. Yum! Once your meat is done, take out and let sit for a good 10-15 minutes so all of the juices settle. Scoop out your potatoes and onions into a separate bowl and slice your meat nice and thin. Then, mangia! This really isn't a difficult dish, but it does take knowing how to properly cook your meat and also flavor. This recipe is all about seasoning just perfectly, so don't be scared to have a heavy hand with your ingredients. I personally love garlic and  the smokiness of paprika, so I like to make sure my meat is completely covered in both. 

Well I hope you all have a fun and/or relaxing weekend planned. We are hoping to hit up the pool and get some sun in. Stay tuned for a special cocktail recipe from John! We kind of been obsessed with mixing our liquor with some hydrating beverages like coconut water and natural fruit juices. We'll have something up for you all this weekend! Enjoy :)