It's Pork confusion day!
Jan. 17th, 2006 11:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stitchwhichI have a big honking leg o'Pork thawing in my sink right now. Yes, I know it's safer to thaw meat in the refrigerator. That supposes that the 26.5 pound chunk of pig could fit in my refrigerator. Which it can if I take two shelves out. And find a place to keep all that other stuff cold while the pork takes its merry time thawing. So I may end up beginning to cook it while it is still partially frozen. I don't know. I asked on the Cook's List for advice. Got two nice responses (good advice) and a bunch of "oh, oh, cook it with apples!" responses, which were endearing but didn't really help this never-cooked-pork-leg person. Some suggested brining - uh, huh. I'll just run out and buy a big rubbermaid tub, fill it with the pig thigh and add water and salt? Hmmmm... Actually, I could do that. Do you think it'd matter if the chunk was still partially frozen? Would the plastic affect the taste? Hmmmm.... I can't do anything but oven roast it. I wonder if I could brine it a bit first...
Arni weighed it for me. It was very cute watching him do it. But he played coy and wouldn't let me see how much he weighed. Heh. He just told me that the 'scale is very good'. Well, yes, I know that - I bought it so I could have an accurate idea of what I weigh every day. (Weighing every day helps me control impulse eating - either I remember that I was down more than the day before, "hey, it's working. Get that food away from me" or that I was up a bit more, "My goodness, I've over indulged the last few days. Get that food away from me!" I carefully ignore the concept of water weight after I step off the scale each morning. I carefully remember it each time I step on.)
Arn has a new tunic and undertunic for IB-12. Siobhan gave him the fabric years ago and I didn't make anything from it for the longest time. I found it again while I was looking for muslin to makes some kitchen aprons with for my cook crew. And in a fit of avoidance behavior, decided that I needed to sew more for Arni than what I already had on my plate. Of course. But it didn't take much time and it is very gratifying to see him smile while he's trying on new duds.
Okay, back to cruising the Internet to find cooking instructions that don't assume that one is working with a 6-8 pound shank of pork. (For those who feel inspired to help - I'm figuring to roast it at 325 for 25 minutes per pound. I'm concerned about it drying out so am trying to find out if covering it with foil would be a good idea and basting it like it was a chicken... rubbing in salt, pepper, garlic has been suggested. So has covering it with sliced Granny Smith apples. I'm truly at the puzzled but beginning to see the light stage.)
(And it's going to be fun.)
Arni weighed it for me. It was very cute watching him do it. But he played coy and wouldn't let me see how much he weighed. Heh. He just told me that the 'scale is very good'. Well, yes, I know that - I bought it so I could have an accurate idea of what I weigh every day. (Weighing every day helps me control impulse eating - either I remember that I was down more than the day before, "hey, it's working. Get that food away from me" or that I was up a bit more, "My goodness, I've over indulged the last few days. Get that food away from me!" I carefully ignore the concept of water weight after I step off the scale each morning. I carefully remember it each time I step on.)
Arn has a new tunic and undertunic for IB-12. Siobhan gave him the fabric years ago and I didn't make anything from it for the longest time. I found it again while I was looking for muslin to makes some kitchen aprons with for my cook crew. And in a fit of avoidance behavior, decided that I needed to sew more for Arni than what I already had on my plate. Of course. But it didn't take much time and it is very gratifying to see him smile while he's trying on new duds.
Okay, back to cruising the Internet to find cooking instructions that don't assume that one is working with a 6-8 pound shank of pork. (For those who feel inspired to help - I'm figuring to roast it at 325 for 25 minutes per pound. I'm concerned about it drying out so am trying to find out if covering it with foil would be a good idea and basting it like it was a chicken... rubbing in salt, pepper, garlic has been suggested. So has covering it with sliced Granny Smith apples. I'm truly at the puzzled but beginning to see the light stage.)
(And it's going to be fun.)
