Old Fashioned Pork Roast and Gravy ~ My Mama's Recipe

I am so excited about this post because not only am I posting another one of my Mom's great recipes, she was actually in the kitchen to share in the experience of cooking it with me.

My mom was such a great cook that when I was growing up, all our friends from the neighborhood would clamor at the opportunity to eat dinner at our house. It was great and let me tell you, my mom earned a certain level of respect from the neighborhood kids, especially from all my brother's friends, that lent credulity to the old saying that "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach". I learned from a young age, that statement is most definitely true.

I have cooked all sorts of ways through the years and I even had times of rebellion against my mom's cooking. Believing that my mom's cooking was overly-simplistic and therefor a more fussy and complicated recipe, with a longer ingredient list must be the superior one. And as I've grown older (and hopefully wiser), I know that this just isn't always the truth.  Plus I think that anybody who was lucky enough to have mother who could cook knows, there are just certain dishes that no other recipe can hold a candle to the way that Mom made it.

I love this particular recipe because not only is it delicious, it's extremely affordable (I paid only $1.49 a pound for this roast), and it's the kind of "Sunday dinner" style comforting fare that is worthy of even a holiday meal (I have served this as Easter dinner). Also it makes great leftovers (especially sandwiches).

I was glad, in particular to have my mom in the kitchen with me on this one because she was there to coach me on the gravy. When I was growing up my Mom always made gravy using water. For some reason, I cannot help myself wanting to use canned chicken broth when I am making gravy. I don't always love it, but I just can't help it for some reason, I am afraid there won't be enough flavor even though I know my Mom's method works.... So glad I did it her way, it is the best.

As I get older, I cherish the opportunity to learn all I can about the food I grew up with.

Old Fashioned Pork Roast and Gravy ~ My Mama's Recipe

Note* You can use any pork roast you want for this recipe. I prefer to use a more inexpensive cut of pork (I used pork shoulder here). It is good if the roast has at least a thin layer of fat on top so you will be sure to get enough drippings to make the gravy. I used a pretty large roast here (6 1/2 lbs.) because I wanted to have leftovers to use in other dishes but you could go as small as 3 lb. and use the same method, the cooking time will just vary.

**I like to serve this with boiled potatoes and either steamed green beans or roasted brussel sprouts, like I did here. I made the brussel sprouts by taking halved, trimmed brussel sprouts, tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread them out on a baking sheet and roast at 375 degrees until browned and tender, about 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

Pork Roast (see note above)

garlic powder

salt and pepper

4 T. flour

2 c. water

Instructions:

1. With the oven rack in the middle position, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Pat pork roast dry with paper towel and sprinkle liberally with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Place in a 13x9 inch baking dish (or you could us a roasting pan).

2. Roast pork until the internal temperature registers 145 degrees, when checked with a thermometer in several places (for my 6 1/2 lb. roast, this took around 3 hours). Transfer the roast to a serving platter and cover loosely with foil, set aside while making the gravy.

3. To make the gravy: Add the water to the baking dish, being sure to scrape the browned bits form the bottom of the pan. Remove the liquid to a fat separator. Separate the fat from the liquid. Alternately, if you don't have a fat separator you can poor the fat out of the pan first then poor the water into the pan and scrape up the bits.

4. In a medium saucepan add 4 T. fat and whisk in the flour. Cook over medium heat for a couple minutes to cook out the raw flour flavor. Slowly whisk in the liquid and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute to thicken. Season with salt and pepper if needed.