Pork Roast

There's nothing better than a slow cooked pork roast that will fall off the bone with lots of moisture to make your mouth water.
I like rubbing the pork butt with spices and olive oil and then shocking it with a high temperature oven that is brought down to a very low temperature immediately and cooked for a long amount of hours. And if your family is small like mine, you know that roast will last thru several meals. We had it sliced first and then sandwiches and tacos. Love it!

Ingredients:
1 Pork Butt ( about 6-8 pounds)
Salt
Pepper
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon of paprika
2 cloves of garlic mashed with a bit of salt
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 cup white wine

Remove the pork butt from the refrigerator about 2 hours before cooking. In a small bowl mix all dry spices, garlic and olive oil. Using your hands rub the oil mixture all over pork giving it a nice massage.
Cover pork with plastic film and let it rest outside the refrigerator until ready to cook.

Preheat oven to 500F.
Place pork in a baking sheet or a rack if you have one, fattier side up. I use a digital thermometer placed away from the bone but way into the meat. Place sheet in hot oven and immediately bring the temperature down to 225F.
Mix 1 cup of wine and 1 cup of water and put in a spray bottle. Spray pork every 20-30 minutes. It should take about 4 hours to reach 160F. Remove from oven and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. Slice, pull or chop!
You can make a little gravy with the pan drippings by adding a little of wine or chicken stock, whisking it until all fat is dissolved. Mix 1 tablespoon of softened butter and 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour and whisk it in with pan juices until thickened.

Black Eyed Pea Salad

Working at a southern restaurant in NYC for too many years to count, made me meet, like and finally fall in love with black eyed peas... and I will love them forever...

Ingredients:

2 cans of black eyed peans, rinsed and drained

1 small sweet onion chopped

1 zucchini diced

2 tomatoes seeded and diced

2 ears of corn off the cob (boil them first for a few minutes)

handful of chopped parsley and basil

1 cup italian dressing( i use the "Good Seasons Italian All Natural Salad Dressing Mix" and mix with mustard, good olive oil and red wine vinegar)

salt and pepper to taste

Toss all ingredients together and cool in refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving.