Sunday, January 10, 2010

Garlic Roasted New Poatoes

This was the side dish used with the Garlic Stuffed Pork Roast with Pepper Bacon Crust. I love it because I can basically fire and forget with this recipe, and the kiddos love it! Which isn't easy when it comes to potatoes and my kids -- if they're not fried and delivered to them in a red box they don't really want them...


The participants: 
Red (New) potatoes
Garlic 1-2 cloves (3 if you love garlic)
Green onion tops (I still had these from my Cheese stuffed shells)
Preheat oven to 350... if you are making these with the pork roast, you can cook them on the same temperature as the roast -- just make sure that you check them frequently, and don't put them until the roast has only 45 minutes left.
Wash and dry potatoes.



Cut your potatoes into apx 1 in chunks. 



Chop your garlic and onion... this time I cheated... 





My new best friend in the kitchen... I love you Black&Decker!

Two quick pulses - and chopped garlic! Oh my hands are thankful! I added my onion to this and did another couple of quick pulses to get the right consistency...
Add onion and garlic to potatoes.



Pour about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the garlic and onion, then stir around to coat potatoes well with all the yummy onion and garlic. The oil helps the spices to stick to the potatoes, as well as allowing for some browning in the oven. 



Add salt and pepper to taste and stir again to get it all mixed and coated. Cover with foil and pop in the oven -- if you're making with the roast, remember you don't want the potatoes to burn so you'll want to watch them closely. 
If you are baking at 325 leave in the oven covered for 1 hour. Uncover one corner and check your potatoes, they should fall apart when the fork looks at them crooked... When they're done, remove from oven.



Please be very careful removing the foil -- there is a LOT of steam in there and it will burn you! 


And this was dinner: 





There you have it... Garlic Stuffed Pork Roast with Pepper Bacon Crust & Garlic Roasted New Potatoes! Hope you enjoy!! 


From the kitchen of a mom, with lots of love!
Magimom

Garlic Stuffed Pork Roast with Pepper Bacon Crust

Tonights dinner is another "old" favorite... I love pork roast, probably because it spent so much of it's life next to the bacon... :)


Down to business... Here's the gang: (rather short/easy list tonight) preheat oven to 425 degrees...
3-5 lb pork roast (I always use the tender loin)
1/2 lb bacon (yep, you knew I'd get around to it sooner or later, didn't you)??
Salt
Pepper
Garlic (2-3 cloves depending on size of roast) If you happen to slice up too much, don't despair -- make the potatoes! 

Just a note here - this is a 5 lb roast - I paid $7.92 for it and we didn't even eat half the roast. Normally I buy a 20-lb roast and divide it into three equal portions... this was on sale at Walmart for $1.48 a lb!!! 
Wash and dry your roast -- imperative! I never, ever cook meat that I don't wash unless it's ground or tenderized... just a safety precaution. Be sure to trim any thick fat from the roast - I always leave a thin layer for better flavor.
With a serrated (steak) knife punch holes throughout the roast (fat side up).

See all the holes? Lots of holes -- the more the better! I usually poke the knife in and twist a couple of times to ensure the hole stays visible.


Now for the garlic



Hi there garlic cloves... do you know how much I love you??? 


Slice the garlic from tip to tail: 



If you chopped instead of sliced and your garlic does not look like the above picture -- put the chopped aside for the potatoes and slice some! 


Stuff the garlic in the holes -- all of them, and fill 'em up!


Make sure every hole has garlic in it





See the garlic peeking out? It's OK for it to peek out, it will settle in soon enough... for we are about to give the garlic a lovely blanket... of pepper!


Sprinkle a decent layer of pepper over the roast to cover. Remember this is a Pepper Bacon crust we're making so be generous! 





Add salt to taste, remember you can be generous...your roast will love you for it... 



Bacon... where did you come from? Did you know it was your turn??
Notice that I've halved the bacon slices, half a slice is a more manageable size...use however many pieces you need to cover the top of your roast.

Cover the entire top of the roast -- look at all that pepper in my pan... oh if I were making gravy this stuff would be awesome! 
Cover pan with foil and place in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes per pound. 


About 30 minutes before the cook time ends, remove the foil and pour 1/2 cup water gently over the bacon - this allows the juices to drip into the pan and makes for wonderful gravy!



Some of my garlic tried to escape... that's fine, it's not going far!
Remove the roast from the oven and allow to stand about 5 minutes before slicing -- this allows the meat to 'set up' and makes it very juicy!


Slice and enjoy! 

Oh yum! You can see some garlic there... oh this roast is good!




From the kitchen of a mom, with lots of love!
Magimom