Asian Glazed Pork Roast

Breakfast of “Champions”?

I usually tell people that my policy is not to drink alcohol before noon unless it’s St. Patrick’s Day. Then it occurred to me that I sometimes make an exception for a brunch. I don’t really consider that drinking since I usually just order a bellini or something really light.

This past weekend, however, I was tempted by a brunch menu item that I just had to try.

Any menu that lists a breakfast Martini is taking a risk. The option jumped right off the page at me. They definitely caught my attention. I had to at least read the description. It was just too bold a concept.

A breakfast Martini was described a potato-based vodka infused with house-cured pancetta and a bit of maple syrup. Then it was advertised to have an addition of a pickled quail egg. It also came garnished with a crispy piece of Neuske’s bacon.

I guess they are starting to make some vodka’s out of things besides potatoes, but I figured they were just trying to make you feel like getting potatoes in your drink made it okay for breakfast. Then they added bacon (the pancetta) and maple syrup; two staples of my childhood Sundays. I’d eaten quail eggs before but never a pickled one, and couldn’t imagine how that was going to taste after it sat in the bottom of a martini glass filled with vodka. The Neuske’s bacon is a big hit, so I dove into the opportunity to try something completely bizarre.

The martini arrived looking pretty normal. Clear, and the little picked egg was indeed in the bottom. The Neuske’s bacon balanced on top. The glass was property chilled and I set myself up for my first taste. It was really remarkable. I couldn’t believe how I could actually taste the pancetta and then it was immediately followed by a faint maple syrup flavor and aroma. It really did taste like a chilled breakfast of some type and the vodka was not overpowering. The crunch of the bacon worked well with the sipping of the vodka.

I had a few more sips and waited for my brunch entrée to show up.

As time passed, the novelty of the martini wore off as the alcohol kicked in. The more the martini got closer to room temperature, the more it started to taste like liquid bacon.

Liquid bacon does not sit well on the tongue. I passed up two-thirds of my martini, and it was now well past noon. I had a perfect excuse to continue drinking it, but happily switched to ice water.

So much for Breakfast Martinis.

Switching directions...I hope you enjoy this week’s latest entrée “invention”.

Asian Glazed Pork Roast

1/3 cup of hoisin sauce
2 Tbl apple cider vinegar
1 tsp of hot chili oil
3 Tbl of olive oil
1 tsp of toasted sesame oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 pork center cut loin roast fillet (If you can’t get this you can use a small pork roast. Just adjust cooking time if necessary. I like the center cut fillet because it cooks fast and stays tender)

Put all of the items except the pork in a large zip-lock bag. When you have them all in, zip the bag shut and jiggle the bag around to get them mixed up. Then open the bag and add the pork roast. Re-seal and roll the roast around inside the bag, so it gets completely coated in the marinade. Then let sit in your refrigerator four to six hours.

When ready to cook, set your oven to 375 degrees to preheat. Remove the roast from the marinade and place it in an ovenproof pan (9 by 13-inch pan will work fine). Roast for 30 minutes. Then open the oven and use a pastry brush to pick up the marinade that has spread into the pan and brush it across the top of the roast. Put roast back in the oven to roast until it reaches 160 degrees on your meat thermometer. That should be about 15 minutes more depending on the exact size of your roast.

When finished, remove from oven, let sit five minutes and then slice into quarter inch thick slices, and serve.

I served this with butter-sauteed pea pods and couscous as a semi-exotic meal. Nice enough for company or a summer picnic.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola

Send email to Zola at dinnerwithzola@hotmail.com.