Czech Roast Pork With Dumplings Sauerkraut Food

CZECH ROAST PORK

Steps:

• In a bowl, form a paste using the vegetable oil, mustard, caraway seeds, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Rub over the pork roast, and let sit about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Arrange the onions in the bottom of a large roasting pan. Pour in the beer. Place the roast, fat side down, on top of the onions. Cover the pan with foil.
• Roast 1 hour in the preheated oven. Remove foil, turn roast, and score the fat. Continue roasting 2 1/2 hours, or to a minimum internal temperature of 145 degrees F (63 degrees C). Remove from heat, reserving pan juices, and let sit about 20 minutes before slicing thinly.
• In a saucepan, bring the reserved pan juices to a boil. Mix in the butter and cornstarch to thicken, reduce heat, and simmer 5 to 10 minutes. Serve with the sliced pork.

ROASTED PORK WITH SAUERKRAUT AND DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Preheat oven 350 F / 180 C. Take room temperature boneless pork shoulder roast and with paired knife, make 9 small holes on the top of the roast. Place 9 small garlic cloves inside. Season with salt and pepper. Let aside.
• In a dutch oven or any other cast iron pot reheat, vegetable oil on medium high and sear 1 large chopped onion for 1 min. Brown the roast on both sides, for about 1 minute each side.
• Remove the dutch oven from the heat. Add large bay leaf, caraway seeds and balls of allspice. Add 2 cups of water and place it in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, uncovered. After 30 minutes of roasting reduce the heat to 325 F/ 160 C and continue roasting for another 1 hour, covered.
• After one hour of roasting, uncover and roast for another and final 30 minutes. The roast must reach internal temperature 160 F/ 75 C. Use the juices to brush over the roast time to time.
• Let the roast sit in the dutch oven (covered) for 20 minutes, before you slice it.
• To prepare starter, place instant yeast in a small bowl with warm milk and sugar. Mix it well with spoon to get creamy texture. Cover the bowl with food foil and let it stand in warm place for 10 minutes. The yeast starter should double in size.
• In a bowl of stand mixer with hook attachment; add flour, egg, salt and yeast starter and mix on low speed. Add slowly warm milk, until the dough gets well combined. Knead the dough with hook attachment on medium low speed for 10 minutes. If you don't have a stand mixer, knead the dough with your hands for 10 minutes or until the dough is stretchy and soft.
• Shape the dough in ball and place it back to the bowl and cover with plastic food wrap. Let the dough rise for 40 minutes to 1 hour in warm (sunny) place. The dough should double in size.
• After first rise, punch the dough in the bowl. The dough will slightly deflate. Place the dough on lightly floured surface and cut it in 4 equal pieces. Shape 4 dumpling logs and place them on baking sheet, covered by plastic food wrap or parchment paper. Cover those 4 logs of dumplings with clean cotton kitchen towel and let rise for another 20 minutes in warm place.
• In the meanwhile, prepare large sauce pot with steam basket. Fill it with water at the steam basket level. Brush the steam basket with butter or oil preventing sticking. Bring the water to a boil. Once the dumpling logs has risen for another 20 minutes, place 2 logs of dumplings in large sauce pot with steam basket. Cover the sauce pot with lid and lower the heat on medium-low. Steam the dumpling logs for 20-25 minutes.
• Remove the dumpling logs out of the steaming basket and poke them with toot pick or fork. Cut the dumplings with sawing thread or unscented dental floss. Serve!
• In a large skillet with lid, reheat vegetable oil and sear chopped medium onion for about 5 minutes, or until slightly brown.
• Add sauerkraut and water. Season with salt and pepper.
• Cook covered, for 15 -20 minutes or until the water will slightly evaporate.
• Add sugar and flour and cook for another 1 minute on medium high heat, uncovered. Serve the pork with dumplings, sauerkraut and drizzle with juices from the roasted pork.

UNCLE EMIL'S CZECH-STYLE SAUERKRAUT

Steps:

• Put sauerkraut & liquid, butter & caraway seeds in a lrg saucepan over med heat. When the mixture begins to bubble slightly, lower heat to simmer.
• Peel & grate the potato & onion. Add them to top of the kraut & press lightly into the kraut w/the flat surface of a spoon. Do not stir into the kraut.
• Cover & cont to simmer (add sml amt of water as needed) till the grated potato is cooked. Now combine the pan contents (this process keeps raw potato from scorching &/or sticking to the bottom of the pan).
• Add the applesauce, mix well & taste. Add more applesauce if you prefer a sweeter, more apple flavored kraut.
• All we need now is some meat flavor in the kraut. If you have meat drippings for that, deglaze your meat pan & add to the kraut. If not, add a chicken bouillon cube to the kraut. Be sure it's completely dissolved & mixed in well w/the kraut. Serve it up!
• NOTES: After pan contents are combined in #3, stir freq to ck moisture & prevent any ingredients from sticking to the pan. --- After the last step, you can cont to simmer if you feel the kraut is too liquid, but is unlikely to be needed.

ED & SANDI'S PORK ROAST AND DUMPLINGS W/ SAUERKRAUT

Steps:

• DUMPLINGS: Mix and knead flour, prepared instant potatoes and eggs. (See photo #2) Go on, fondle that mass! Add a little water if too dry or flour if too wet. The dough should no longer be sticking tenaciously to your hands or the board as you knead. Be careful not to add too much flour or your dumplings will be too hard. Use your culinary expertise. If, by chance, you have none, welcome to the club. Form dough into a loaf (See photo #3) and set aside. Go put the next load of laundry in the washer and neglect, as usual, folding the dryer load until someone complains so loudly, you have no choice but to submit.
• PORK ROAST: Place sliced and now screaming garlic into slits you've cut all over roast. Season with the sage and half of each of the following; caraway seeds, salt, pepper and onion powder. Push the laundry out of your mind. It really has no business intruding on your kitchen time, now does it.
• Sear in skillet on all sides. Remind yourself to use the splatter guard next time you do this and turn the stereo up louder to muffle the sounds of self-flagellating irritation ricocheting through your head as you count the newly forming grease blisters on your hands and forearms.
• Put into baking pan and cook at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Unless the roast has quite a bit of fat attached to it, add several pats of butter on and around the roast. Remind yourself that there are others in the house who, if they really appreciated you, would be doing that laundry.
• Lower heat to 375 and cook for 1.5 hours. Lower again after that to 250 for 15 to 30 minutes to finish. Meanwhile, QVC wants you to know.... "You're worth it!" (the diamond earrings...Give in.).
• Check the roast occasionally and baste with rendered fat, adding butter if needed, but don't tell your doctor or at least don't mention our names.
• RESUME DUMPLING PRODUCTION WHILE ROAST COOKS: Cut across loaf of dough at 1" intervals (see photo #4). Roll into cylindrical shapes about 1" in diameter x 3-4" long.
• Boil several at a time, but don't overcrowd, in a large pot until they float like -- well, like things that float. Make sure they don't stick to the bottom while boiling. Cut into a cylinder to check for uniform doneness. The color/shade should be the same throughout the thickness of the dumpling. Remove the remainder of the dumplings and cut each into 1/2" slices, setting them aside in large bowl. Finish boiling/slicing all dumpling cylinders.
• What laundry?.
• MEANWHILE: Cook the drained sauerkraut with salt, pepper, the remaining caraway seeds, (we like LOTS!) and dried onion flakes on medium heat with 1 tablespoon butter until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. If your mother in law is present, notice how she periodically cuts her eyes toward you in the kitchen -- in essence, "back seat cooking". If she tries to take over, asking if she can "help you", suddenly remember the laundry. Laugh internally as she slumps toward the laundry room.
• Check for doneness by cutting into roast. Don't worry about losing any juices - you have butter, one of the major food groups, on your side. Resist the temptation to ram your incisors into roast before it's plated.
• Serve roast sliced. Use roast juice over sauerkraut and dumplings. Or, for the less socially correct, bathe everything on your plate in good, old-fashioned FAT! Yum!