Pot Roasted Pork with Cabbage & Carrots

 

Hello Autumn! We are coming into one of my favorite cooking seasons now. Autumn, with all of its delicious flavors and colors.

Cooling temperatures also mean that we are not afraid to turn our oven on, and the autumn harvest means that we have an abundance of fresh local vegetables available for us to enjoy!  I do so love the Autumn!

 

 

I also love Pot Roasting.  Especially when it means combining tender pork with fresh carrots and cabbage wedges!  This Pot Roasted Pork with Cabbage and carrots is one of my favorite meals to cook when the temperatures start dropping and the nights begin to draw in. 

A long slow braise results in succulent moist pork,  tender roasted carrots, butter tender cabbage and a rich gravy that is to die for.

The other day I picked up a boneless pork loin rib roast. It looked so good. I knew I was in for a real treat!

 

The boneless rib is the rib portion of the loin, closest to the shoulder. A similar cut to the center pork loin but with more marbling and better flavor. It is comparable to the prime rib in beef, except a whole lot cheaper!

 The rib end has slightly more fat than the center so therefore juicier and is easier to carve with the bones removed. It adapts well to a brine, marinades, glazes, dry rubs. And it works beautifully in an oven braise such as this recipe I am sharing today!

 

Garlic is a flavor that marries very well with pork.  In order to inject real garlic flavor into my roast I like to insert slivers of garlic. (I do this to beef roasts as well.)

Its such an easy thing to do and really adds to the flavors of meat, vegetables and gravy. You will need a small sharp knife.  I make deep cuts all over the top of my roast and push slivers of garlic down into them.  Just make sure you don't cut all the way through.

The cuts end up closing themselves over the garlic while it bakes, encasing it and the garlic ends up infusing the meat with lovely flavors. In fact the garlic pretty much melts into the meat as it cooks.

You will need a small head of cabbage and about 4 carrots and a small onion.  

I rubbed the pork all over with salt and pepper and Bell's seasoning when I had finished inserting the garlic. Bell's seasoning is a type of poultry seasoning.
 

 

 Its pretty much only available in New England, but I make my own, which is very close to the real thing. You can find a link to my recipe for it in the recipe notes below.  

You will find that it is something which you will find yourself turning to time after time. Its great in stuffings and stews and for rubbing onto pork or chicken. I make a fresh batch every year and it always gets used up!

 

I like to peel and slice an onion, which I place in the middle of my large casserole/lasagna type of baking dish. I don't have a roaster as such, not yet.

I place the rubbed pork on top of the sliced onion, where it acts as a sort of trivet for the meat. Kind of like a roasting rack, but with a heck of a lot more flavor!

 

The onions not only flavor the meat and hold it up, but they also add great flavor to the gravy.  My son in law doesn't like onions and won't eat anything he thinks has onions in it.  I  cannot imagine.

The onions absorb lots of flavor from the meat, its a kind of symbiosis where they help each other out beautifully.  I always press the onions through a sieve when all is said and done and you cannot imagine how tasty that onion puree makes that gravy! 

 

The cabbage gets cut into quarters. I leave the core in.  This helps to keep the cabbage intact while it cooks and it does get really tender. 

I place one quarter into each corner of the pan.  I then place the peeled and quartered carrots around the cabbage and roast. 

 

Finally I pour two cups of chicken stock into the pan. The magic elixir that will not only help to tenderize everything, but also add even more flavor. 

I like to use the Knorr gel stock pots. I was so happy to find them here in Canada. I really think they are the best things to use in cooking, and I use them a LOT.

 

You will either need to use a roasting pan/dish which has a cover, or you will need to tightly cover the roast in aluminum foil. I chose the latter and I used three layers. I wanted to really keep all of the moisture in there.

You can now go off and do whatever else your day is calling you to do and let the oven do all the work. About an hour and a quarter later, your meat and vegetables should be cooked and tender. Of course this timing depends on the size of your roast.

 

Generally speaking pork will take about 25 minutes per pound to roast to perfection.  Once that is achieved, I uncovered everything and poured a tablespoon of maple syrup over top of the meat.

Just to add an additional layer of flavor and glaze it a tiny bit.  Another 15 minutes and the meal was done. 

I had meltingly tender cabbage, almost buttery in texture. Oh how I love that stuff.  My carrots were nicely cooked as well.  For a meal like this you don't want your carrots to be crispy tender.

Roasted tender is what you want.  And of course both ingredients also add flavor to the pan juices.  You will need to remove your meat and vegetables to a platter and loosely tend them while you make that tasty gravy! 

 

This vintage Corelle sauce boat and plate was a gift from my sister.

I love it! 

I took a leaf from my sister when it came to making the gravy. She always melts some butter in a sauce pan and whisks in flour.  There was not a lot of fat on the meat, so I felt okay using butter.

Once the butter starts to foam, I whisk in the butter and cook the two together for about a minute or so.  This helps to cook out the flour taste.

Then I strained all of the pan juices into the saucepan, pressing the onion to extract all of that flavor and scraping any puree which gathered on the bottom of the sieve into the gravy as well. 

Oh my.  What a lovely gravy this is. I could drink it like hot chocolate. It IS that darned delicious!!

 

With a few boiled potatoes on the side or some mash, you have a meal fit for a King or a Queen here. I guarantee nobody will be complaining and your house will smell wonderful!

You cannot ask for a better pork with cabbage recipe.  This ticks all of the boxes.  

Tender succulent meat.  Check! Beautifully cooked vegetables.  Check!!.  Flavor filled gravy.  Check!!!  This was the perfect way to usher in Autumn! Happy Fall, Y'all!

Pot Roast Pork with Cabbage & Carrots

Yield: 4

Author: Marie Rayner

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 1 H & 45 MTotal time: 2 Hour

Moist and tender roast pork with a flavor filled gravy and tender wedges of cabbage and carrots on the side.

Ingredients

• 1 Pork Loin Rib Roast (mine was about 2 1/2 - 3 pounds in weight)
• 3 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and cut into slivers
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 tsp Bell's Seasoning (can use Poultry seasoning)
• 1 small onion, peeled and sliced
• 4 carrots, peeled and cut into 3 inch lengths
• 1 small head of cabbage, cut into 4 wedges
• 2 cups (480ml) chicken broth
• 1 TBS Maple Syrup

To make the Gravy:

• 1 TBS butter
• 1 TBS flour
• pan juices from the roast

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4.  Have ready a large deep roasting casserole dish.
2. Using a sharp knife, make deep stabs in the surface of your roast. Take care not to cut all the way through to the bottom. You just want pocket.  Shove a sliver of garlic into each pocket.  Rub the roast all over with the salt, pepper, and Bell's seasoning.
3. Place the sliced onion in the middle of the roasting casserole.  Pop the pork roast on top of the onion.  Place the cabbage wedges and carrots around the roast.  Pour the chicken stock into the pan and then cover the pan completely and tightly with a heavy sheet of foil. If you pan has a lid, just pop on the lid.
4. Roast the pork in the preheated oven for 25 minutes per pound of meat. I roasted mine for approximately 1 1/4 hours. The juices should run clear, and the vegetables should be tender.
5. Uncover and spoon the maple syrup over the pork. Return to the oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and remove the pork and vegetables to a serving platter.  Loosely tent with foil while you make the gravy.
7. To make the gravy, melt the butter in a saucepan.  Add the flour and whisk to combine, cooking over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes.
8. Strain the juices from the roasting pan into the saucepan through a fine mesh sieve. (I like to push the onion through to a puree. It adds nice flavor to the gravy. Discard any solids.)  Cook, over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to the boil and thickens.
9. Serve the pork cut into slices along with the vegetables.  Pass the gravy at the table.
10. Potatoes go well with this. Mashed, roasted, boiled, baked.  All are good.

Notes:

You can find my recipe for Bell's Seasoning here.

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