Pork Roast with Pears

Both apples and pears seem to be the perfect fruity complement to a roast pork. The succulent juices will help to make an incredible pan sauce to accompany the pork and oven roasted potatoes. For this dish I will be using fresh Bosc pears.
Well I have quite a number of photographs to add to this post and hope you enjoy them all. First though I would like to say this recipe will feed four to six people. The total cost of the dinner came to $17.68. Should you have a family of six that would net out to $2.94 per person which is inexpensive in today's world.

• 4 1/2 pound pork rib roast
• salt and pepper to taste
• onion powder to taste
• butter - 2 tbsp.
• olive oil - all in all about 5 tbsp.
• 2/3 cup apple sauce
• 3 Bosc pears - peeled, cored and sliced
• 2 large cloves garlic, smashed and finely minced
• 1/3 of a large onion - sliced
• cornstarch and water slurry: 2 tbsp. cornstarch, 3 tbsp. water - mixed well
• Green Beans or any vegetable of your choice

Begin by preparing the pears. Peel the pears and then slice them. You want to make sure that you remove the core from the pears but you don't have to be too fussy about slicing them. Just make sure you don't slice them too thin.

We purchased a 4 1/2 pound rib roast - bone in and it had a nice fat cap which I like. The fat cap helps keep the roast moist and the bone also provides tons of good flavor.

It is important that you see some grains of marbling in the meat itself - this lets you know the roast should be more tender than a roast with little or no marbling of fat. Make sure you liberally season all sides of the meat with salt and some ground black pepper. First though put the pork roast in your roasting pan and drizzle all over with some olive oil.

Once you have done that you will sear the roast over medium high heat on top of the stove. At this juncture you are sealing in the meats juices and when it roasts in the oven it should retain those lovely delicious juices.

Once the roast is seared add in some sliced onion along with a drizzle more of olive oil. Stir the onion to coat and cook for a minute or so then add in two large cloves of garlic that have been finely minced.

Cook those together being careful not to burn the garlic - turn the heat down to medium or medium low. Allow the onions to give off a bit of their juice - stir so the garlic does not burn. Then the next step is to add in your pears.

The roast is ready for the next step: measure out 1/2 cup of chicken broth and 1/2 cup of water. Add that to the roasting pan and put the cover on. Place the roast in a 350° oven and set a timer for 2 1/2 hours.
At the end of that time you are going to check the liquid and the internal temperature.

For this recipe, I actually like to use whole potatoes you purchase in a can. Once you drain them cut the larger potatoes so that all of the potatoes will be approximately the same size. Next, dry them on a paper towel or kitchen towel and they are ready to crisp up on the stove top with butter and olive oil and spices.

You are trying to achieve this nice golden, crisp potato. Technically they are all cooked but by adding them to the pork roast they will absorb more flavor. Canned potatoes crisp up well on the outside but you will experience some popping of the butter as the potatoes release the rest of the liquid inside. And if you season them with salt and pepper and onion powder they taste very good. Super inexpensive as well. We purchased 3 cans and they cost .99 cents each. Affordable and no peeling saves you time.

They [the potatoes] get added to the roasting pan and will cook after the roast and the liquid, the pears and onions have been removed. Finished internal temperature of the pork roast is 140 - 145 degrees. Today pork with just a slight hint of pink is acceptable. I prefer a little bit past that.

The vegetable I have decided on is some fresh green beans. The total weight was just over a pound of beans. I use a knife and skim off the ends. Then, for stretching the amount I like to break or cut the beans in half - especially the longer ones. They will get rinsed in cold water and cooked in cold water on the stove top until they reach just past el dente. We like our veggies with a hint of crispness. If you like them super crisp you could always add them in boiling salted water and cook for just a few minutes and then shock them in a bowl of ice water.

To finish off the entire dinner, remove the roast to a cutting board and tent with foil and let it rest for at least 15-20 minutes before you carve it.

Remove the onions, garlic and pears from the pan.  Place them in a bowl and cover and keep warm. Do the same with the potatoes in a separate bowl.

There is certainly plenty of liquid. I strained it so I could remove the fat.

Set the pan you used for the potatoes on the stove top and over medium heat, add in the juices from the pan. Let this bubble for about 4-5 minutes so the sauce reduces.

Then add in some apple sauce and stir well. You can thicken the sauce slightly with a slurry of corn starch and water - don't over do it. Taste and adjust for more salt, pepper or applesauce.

The final thing is to call the troops in for dinner. The pears have just cooked down are very soft. The roast came out so tender you could cut it with a fork.