New Belgium Beer Pork Pot Roast

Does that pot roast look wonderful or what?  I told Connie that last Sunday should've been called Beerday instead of Sunday.  Thanks to the folks at New Belgium Brewing, we had a couple of cases of beer to play with.  And, play we did.  The day started early with baking three loaves of beer bread.  Then, for lunch we had Chili Cheese Beer Bread Melts.  Dinner was going to be pulled pork sandwiches made with beer braised pork.  But, after two servings of bread, I was done with bread for the day.  That and the fact that the pork was incredibly tender and flavorful all by itself tipped the scales in favor of pork pot roast instead of pulled pork sandwiches. 

Pot roast is one of my all-time favorites.  Typically, you brown the meat then cook it with moist heat.  I kept remembering the wonderful pork roast from Fine Cooking.  I made it January, 2009 when I participated in their cook the issue challenge.  It called for rubbing the meat with salt and pepper and refrigerating it over night.  Then, the meat is roasted at 300 degrees for 4-5 hours.  After that, you add the vegetables and some liquid and roast the meat for another hour.  Finally, the meat is broken into chunks and roasted for about 15 minutes.  I combined some of those techniques with a more traditional pot roast preparation.

What did we think?  We loved this.  I'll absolutely try beer instead of red wine next time I make a beef pot roast.  The meat was absolutely fall off the bone tender.  The gravy was fantastic.  It was a total winner!

And, now, just a word about the beer we've been privileged to use.  We've enjoyed Fat Tire MANY times.  I first ordered it in a restaurant because the bartender told me it fit my beer profile.  Did it ever. So, now we've got the Ranger and the Mighty Arrow.  Connie loves IPA's so he loved these.  Me, not so much.  But the Mighty Arrow is named after a border collie.  I had a wonderful border collie named Sallie.  Gracie the half a cat used to crawl through the "holes" another dog had made in the crate to visit Sallie in her "house."  Sallie'd go sit in the crate just because she liked it.  She LOVED George and Gracie and they returned that love.  And, she was my shadow.  Sallie died in 2004 of a stroke at age 10.  I miss her to this day.  Ok, before I puddle up, back to beer...  Now, when we're talking about the 1554, that's MY beer.  Dark ales?  My favorite.  That's the one I used to make the beer ice cream.  It's amazing. 

We were chatting with a marketing guru the other day and he mentioned the fact that so many of the beer producers are selling their wares based on a "cool" factor.  Buzz, it's called.  New Belgium doesn't need to do that.  Their beers actually TASTE wonderful.  And, isn't that what it's all about in the end???

Pork and Beer Pot Roast

Ingredients
3-4 lb bone-in pork shoulder roast
olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
red potatoes
onions
carrots
garlic cloves
12 oz Fat Tire beer
peppercorns
corn starch
garlic powder
thyme

Directions:

Pour about a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet.  Rub the roast well with salt and pepper. 

Brown it on all sides. 

Remember that when it releases from the pan easily, it's well browned.  If you are scraping and leaving meat in the pan, you're probably turning it too soon.  Once the roast is well browned, put it in the oven at 300 degrees for 4 hours.  Add the carrots, onions, potatoes and garlic cloves to the pan.

Then pour in a bottle of beer and roast for another hour.  Remove the pot roast and vegetables to a plate. 

Pour the drippings into a saucepan. 

Add some garlic powder and thyme and thicken with cornstarch.