Mock Porchetta

Preparing this dish was a 3-day process, much of it hands off. We prepared the herb/garlic/caper/lemon peel mix as per instructions, except I had to use dried sage and dried rosemary instead of fresh. Preparing the cut of meat to expose veins was a challenge for me; I seldom cook meat. In the end, I had several large segments opened up, but one big piece with no natural vein. Wanting to get the yummy mix into that part, I went ahead and cut a large slice right into the middle. As per instructions, I tied the meat up with cotton cord, wrapped it, and tucked it away in the refrigerator. The instructions say 1-3 days. I had planned this for Christmas dinner, but we delayed by one day, giving us 3 days of seasoning.

I prepared a mix of vegetables - fennel, parsnips, turnip, carrots, garlic, onio, and rutabaga.

I cooked the meat in my 12-inch cast iron frying pan, but there wasn't enough room for all the vegetables. I put the overflow into an 8X8 pyrex dish. After 1 1/2 hours, the vegetables had cooked down enough that I could combine them all.

I cooked for the suggested 2 hrs and 1/2 hours, and added chicken stock (made from a zuni recipe) in the last 15 minutes.

I prepared the pan sauce also as suggested, with vermouth. 1/3 C stock is also recommended here. I had saved the best drippings from the Zuni roast chicken, and used it here. The sauce was AMAZING.

My family of largely non meat eaters just loved this dish. They all wished we could give six starts. The rich herb mixture made the meat very flavorful. I especially liked the flavor from the fennel seed. The meat turned out moist and perfectly cooked. The vegetables were amazing. And the pan sauce was to die for.

This recipe looks intimidating because it takes a long time, but most of the time is sitting in the refrigerator. I highly recommend you try it.