While I was a kid, you could easily tell that it’s Sunday simply by mouth-watering smells of roasted meat, floating through our building staircase. Growing up in a communist country (and later on during the war and post-war times) meant that meat was a scarcity and a luxury. We’d rarely have it during the week, but on the weekends, especially on Sundays, whole families would get together to feast on some sort of roast, usually with potatoes on the side. In lieu with those past traditions and memories, I decided to make a good old hunk of roasted pork.

INGREDIENTS:

(Yields 4 servings / 1.64 EUR per serving / 6,55 EUR for all)

For the meat:

1 kilo of whole pork rib roast (5.30 EUR)

1 tbsp pork lard (0.01 EUR)

1 tbsp herb steak seasoning (0.13 EUR)

1 tsp salt (0.01 EUR)

For the potatoes:

4-5 large new potatoes (0.80 EUR)

1 tsp pork lard (0.01 EUR)

Good pinch of salt (0.01 EUR)

Good pinch of freshly ground black pepper (0.03 EUR)

¼ cup water (–)

For the gravy:

1 tbsp butter (0.13 EUR)

¼ cup stock or water (0.07 EUR)

1 tsp corn starch (0.02 EUR)

Pinch of salt (0.01 EUR)

Pinch of freshly ground black pepper (0.02 EUR)

METHOD:

Prepare the meat the day before by rubbing it all around with lard, seasoning and salt. I used a prepackaged herb mix, but go ahead and use whichever flavors you fancy. The world is your oyster. Refrigerate the meat uncovered until the next day.

Remove the meat from the fridge at least half an hour before cooking, so it comes to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 200°C. In a pan on high heat, quickly sear the meat on all sides to close all the pores and ensure maximum juiciness. Transfer the meat to a baking tray, together with all the bits you scraped off from the searing pan. Chop up the potatoes, toss with lard, salt and pepper, and then arrange them around meat. Pour ¼ cup of water into the tray and place the tray into a preheated oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes. It won’t hurt if you stir the potatoes once or twice during roasting and add a tiny splash of water to the pan if things start looking too dry.

Once the meat is done remove it from the tray and let it sit for about 15 minutes before you start slicing. Give the potatoes one final stir and return them to the oven for these last 15 minutes so they crisp up a bit.

After the meat had time to rest, carefully carve it from the bone and slice. Transfer to a serving plate, together with potatoes. To make the gravy, strain any leftover juices you have in your roasting pan to a small saucepan and add butter and water (or stock) with dissolved corn starch. Bring to a boil and cook for a minute or two to slightly thicken. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Serve immediately.

Dok sam bila klinka lako ste mogli pogoditi da je nedjelja samo po mirisima pečenja od kojih cure sline, a koji bi lelujali po haustoru zgrade. Kad ste dijete iz ere komunizma (a kasnije i iz ratnog i poratnog razdoblja), navikli ste da je meso luksuz. U tjednu bi smo ga poprilično rijetko jeli, ali vikendom, a posebno nedjeljom, svi bi smo se skupili oko nekakve pečenke sa krumpirima. U duhu tih minulih tradicija i sjećanja, odlučila sam pripremiti dobro staro svinjsko pečenje.

SASTOJCI:

(Za 4 porcije / 12,31 kn po porciji / 49,23 kn za sve)

Za meso:

1 kg svinjskog karea s kostima, u komadu (40,00 kn)

1 žlica svinjske masti (0,10 kn)

1 žlica miješanog začinskog bilja za steak (1,00 kn)

1 žličica soli (0,01 kn)

Za krumpire:

4-5 velikih mladih krumpira (6,00 kn)

1 žličica svinjske masti (0,05 kn)

Dobar prstohvat soli (0,01 kn)

Dobar prstohvat svježe mljevenog crnog papra (0,25 kn)

¼ šalice vode (–)

Za umak:

1 žlica maslaca (1,00 kn)

¼ šalice temeljca ili vode (0,50 kn)

1 žličica kukuruznog škroba (0,15 kn)

Prstohvat soli (0,01 kn)

Prstohvat svježe mljevenog crnog papra (0,15 kn)

PRIPREMA:

Dan prije priredite meso tako da ga sa svih strana dobro natrljate sa mašću, mješavinom začinskog bilja i soli. Ja sam upotrijebila gotovi mix za steak, ali vi se slobodno razmašite i iskoristite ono što vam se najviše sviđa. Meso ostavite preko noći nepokriveno u hladnjaku.

Pola sata prije nego krenete sa kuhanjem izvadite meso iz hladnjaka kako bi došlo na sobnu temperaturu. Pećnicu zagrijte na 200°C. U tavi, na jakoj vatri, kratko popecite meso sa svih strana, samo da se pore zatvore i da osigurate maksimalnu sočnost. Meso skupa sa svim komadićima koje postružete iz tave preselite u protvan. Narežite krumpire na komade, pomiješajte sa mašću, soli i paprom, te rasporedite oko mesa. Ulijte ¼ šalice vode u protvan i stavite u zagrijanu pećnicu na 1 sat i 30 minuta. Neće škoditi ako jednom ili dva puta promiješate krumpire tokom pečenja, a po potrebi u tavu dodajte još mrvicu vode ako vam se situacija čini presuhom.

Kada je meso gotovo maknite ga iz protvana i ostavite da miruje oko 15 minuta prije nego krenete sa rezanjem. Krumpire još jednom promiješajte, pa vratite u pećnicu još tih zadnjih 15 minuta dok meso odmara, a kako bi se malo zahrskali.

Kada je meso odstajalo, pažljivo ga skinite s kosti i narežite na tanke ploške. Preselite meso na pladanj za posluživanje skupa sa krumpirima. Da pripremite umak, u mali lončić procijedite sve što vam je ostalu u protvanu. Dodajte u to maslac i kukuruzni škrob rastopljen u vodi (ili temeljcu). Pustite da zavrije i kuhajte minutu-dvije, samo da se zgusne. Kušajte i po potrebi dodajte soli i papra. Poslužite odmah.