50 Shades of Pork Roast

My roast said to tie it up. It liked it that way. Tie it tight. Several times. Don’t let it move from position. Oh yeah….

To truss or not to truss. When you have a long cooking roast, many times the recipe will tell you to truss it (or tie it tight every several inches). In some recipes, where you have the roast stuffed, the tying keeps the stuffing from being directly exposed to the oven air which would dry it out. But what about for plain roasts? Do you really need to tie them?

When you tie a roast, you bring it into the general shape of a cylinder. What this does is to turn it into a very uniform shape. This makes cooking more predictable. All meat on the outside (with maybe the exception of the part touching the pan) will be cooked to the same temperature. 1″2 in all around will also be the same all over, and so on all the way to the center. If you can predict that a 2lb roast of a particular cut will turn into a cylinder with a specific diameter, you can better pin the right temperature and time to get that center perfect. Because the center is now as far away from the surface, the outer layer can often get a nice crust on it by the time the center is done.

If you don’t truss the meat, the roast will often flatten out (it may have even started that way). The deepest part is closer to the surface and will cook more quickly. The meat will be more uniform in its temperature, but there won’t be a nice crust.

It really depends on what you are looking for.

For me, I put away the 50 shades and kitchen twine and let the roast remain untied.

This is a very basic recipe with only a few ingredients.

See how the roast is more flat than round?

Not looking nearly as lonely in the pan now.

Making a roux for the “gravy”.

The gravy is coming together.

Even with waiting a while before cutting, I still lost some juices to the board. This roast had a nice even cook.

A great combination – pork with sweet potatoes and apples. Sweet, tart, and meaty!

Pork Roast with Apples and Sweet Potatoes

Cook Time: 45 minutes | Makes: 6

Ingredients:

• 4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• 1 pork roast (2 1/2 pounds), tied at 1-inch intervals
• Salt and pepper
• 3 Gala apples, quartered
• 2 sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Coat a heavy-bottomed metal roasting pan with 2 teaspoons oil. Place pork in center and season with salt and pepper. Roast until top is golden, about 15 minutes.

2. Toss apples and sweet potatoes with remaining 2 teaspoons oil and add to pan, arranging around pork. Return to oven and roast until apples and sweet potatoes are tender and an instant-read thermometer inserted in center of pork reads 140 degrees, about 20 minutes.

3. Remove pork, apples, and sweet potatoes from pan. Allow meat to rest 10 minutes before slicing. To make the sauce, whisk flour into pan drippings over medium heat, then slowly whisk in chicken broth and cook until thickened.

Source: http://www.marthastewart.com/924992/pork-roast-apples-and-sweet-potatoes