Tonight's dinner was especially tasty. We have a nice Center Cut Pork butterflied and stuffed with breadcrumbs, cheese and parsley, along with some fresh local Grenadian String beans and Rosemary's Potatoes, um I mean Rosemary Potatoes.
Ingredients:
2 lb Center Cut Pork Roast
1 bag of Long Stringed Grenadian String Beans
4 Red Potatoes
1 Head of Garlic
1 Tablespoon of Parsley
Salt and Pepper
1 Cup of Breadcrumbs
1 Cup of Parmigiano-reggiano grated cheese
Olive oil in hand (as always)
A sprinkle of Rice Wine Vinegar
A sprinkle of Rice Wine Vinegar
So we start off with the the Center cut of Pork. This was a fine piece of meat if you dont mind me saying. A lot of people think that pork is better since it is "leaner" and is the "other white meat" but I have to say that Fat is where it's At. Check out the beautiful layer of fat that will (and did) eventually drip down and encapsulate the whole rost adding to its natural flavors being expressed like a rhythmic dance routine at the Olympics. 
I enjoyed this meal because I got to put my knife work to the test. This was a thick piece so I was able to double butterfly it leaving about 1/2 inch width at all times. I started from the bottom and then when I got to the end I just flapped over and continued. The picture to the left shows the first slice flapped open then the second in the picture down below. 
Stuffing it was as simple as pie. While it was open, make sure to Salt and pepper that baby up as you should with any meat in its raw form. Then in another bowl I mixed the holy quadrumvirate of Italian stuffing ingredients: Parsley (loosely chopped), Garlic (about half a head), Breadcrumbs and grated cheese. Then I simply layered it on the opened hunk of meat, drizzled some extra virgin olio di olivo on top then folded it back to its original shape. I even drizzled some of the mixture on top as well (dont forget to oil down the pan a bit too to keep it from sticking). I threw it in the oven at 325 and anticipated about a 45 min - 1 hr cook time (periodically checking every 15 min or so).
Next I dealt with the string beans. If you ever have been to Grenada you would know that their string beans are long. And since its not the size that counts, plus its hard to spin it on your fork like spaghetti when its like that, I chopped it down to smaller bite sizes. Then I blanched it for 5 minutes in a strong boil.
Next I did something different. Instead of frying in olive oil like I usually do, I decided to steam the large chunks of garlic in the water from the blanching beans over a hot pan. This is most likely an asian way of cooking the beans which is why I subsequently used my next ingredient.
I threw in the string beans, salt and peppered them, then I sprinkled rice wine vinegar in order to give them a tangy and different flavor than I'm normally used to. I made sure to cook them jus past "al dente" for a crunchy yet soft mixture of mouth feel.
Next were the Rosemary potatoes which were simple, you just need a bit of time. The thing with potatoes is that it goes so well with caramelized onions. In order to caramelize onions, you need to let them take their time to get where you need them to. 
As I usually do I did start off with some sliced salami as my primer for the onions (which if you actually read the blog you will know thats the real secret to my potatoes since I didn't put it on the ingredient list). The potatoes were seasoned with crushed rosemary, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder and a dab of paprika. I let them cook down for about 15-20 min or until desired texture.
Here are the results of the hard work:
Many thanks to my dinner partner for the evening and she even gave me my first revered review:
Garlicky salto texture, cooked perfectly, leaving all the moisture sealed inside. Addition of rice vinegar adds an interesting and unexpected acidic flavor you haven't experienced before. Potatoes with onions for a touch of sweetness to the otherwise savory meal.
- Alexandra K
