Fork and Gobble It: Pigging Out on Thanksgiving!

About four years ago, it was suggested by my old girlfriend/new wife, that I prepare a pork roast for Thanksgiving. She's Jewish. I'm of Italian descent. Most of her family doesn't eat pork. Most of mine worships it. Since we would all be at the table and there was an abundance of turkey, roast beef, and all manner of side dishes anyway, why not? So I set about preparing to create a tradition. I haven't missed making this dish once in the last four Thanksgivings.

My favorite way of preparing pork is a twist on a recipe I learned from the late Vincent Scotto, former Chef at Fresco by Scotto in Manhattan. It starts with a twenty-four hour brine in a brine solution flavored with molasses and brown sugar. The meat itself is the loin of the pig, on the bone. This is the same piece of meat that gives us Crown Roast, or loin pork chops, but here it becomes something otherworldly. For this crowd I purchased the whole loin. I had my butcher saw through the chine, or backbone, so that the bones could be portioned out after I carved the loin.

The piece of meat weighed somewhere around 12 pounds. That would feed at least fourteen people as the principle food item. If you try this, figure about 1 pound for each 2 persons. You will also need a deep tub to put the brine and pork into, and a space in a refrigerator big enough to keep it overnight.

I cut that monster in two halves, and then made small gashes in the top, or fat side, to stud it with slivers of garlic and fresh rosemary leaves.

Next, I prepared my brine. This was composed of four cups of Kosher salt (irony is duly noted), 1 pound of light brown sugar and a jar of unsulphured molasses. I put all of the above into a plastic dish or bus tub and added about a gallon of water, half at a time. It is easier to get the solid ingredients to dissolve in the water if you start with half the entire quantity. These ratios can be adjusted to make enough brine for whatever size roast you start with. There just has to be enough brine to cover the pork.

Cover that and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, but no more than 24.

The following morning it was ready to cook. I lit up the Weber kettle with hardwood charcoal and took about four cups of cherry wood chips and soaked them in warm water. Apple or Hickory would also work for this, Mesquite is a little too strong for pork, I think. I removed the two loin roasts from the brine and blotted them dry. Once the fire was ready I put the soaked wood chips on the coals and covered the grill to let the smoke start to build up. I then placed the two roasts on the fire and covered the grill.

I started cooking them on the fat side and allowed that to sear and then put them bone side down over an indirect fire, meaning the coals and smoking chips were on one side of the grill, and the meat was kept to the other side. The grill was kept covered for the most part, in order to retain the smoke and keep the temperature in the grill low. I'm guessing the temperature in the grill was somewhere around 275 degrees fahrenheit. I kept the pork loins on the grill for approximately 3 hours until they reached an internal temperature of 140 degrees.

At that point, the meat was brought inside and allowed to rest for about an hour. The loins had a beautiful bronze patina and smelled of smoke, molasses, and brown sugar.


At this point, the meat could be carved as chops but what I prefer to do is take the entire loin off the bones and slice it thin. I then separate the individual bones and serve them also. They are, I believe, the best part, all sticky and smokey with bits of meat stuck to them.

Wine choices for the evening were varied. While making up my mind I opened up nice bottle of Champagne! Chartogne-Taillet St. Anne Brut NV is a killer bottle of bubbles for a very nice price of $34.99. Apples, quince, toast, and chalky minerals combine for a lovely way to start the evening. It didn't surprise me that it came from the portfolio of Therry Thiese. He is brilliant at sourcing great grower champagnes. Now, since there would also be turkey and beef being served, I chose wines that would best suit all three. My first choice was Beaujolais. The old vines Julienas from Potel/Aviron is a great choice for turkey or pork. It combines a fresh, bright fruity taste with touches of earthiness and tobacco, and crisp acidity which is such an important component when choosing a wine to go with food. Dolcetto, which I have mentioned in weeks past was also another obvious choice because it is not too heavy and not too light, but just right in a Goldilocks and Three Bears kind of way. Bruno Giacosa Dolcetto d'Alba 2009 was another bullseye. Repeating the same themes, it had bright, medium weight fruit, a touch of herbaceousness in the form of fresh tobacco, and zingy acidity to cut through the richness of the meal. Red Zinfandel, that perfect American wine for the original American holiday was my final pick. Dashe Dry Creek Zinfandel 2008 is a well balanced, juicy, rich, wine that succeeds where so many Zins fail these days. The alcohol is kept in check and doesn't dominate the wine. It was a great meal, paired with just the right wines. Diversity was definitely the order of the day in the dishes served, the wines we drank, and the company at the table.

Hope you and yours enjoyed your holiday as well. Please direct any questions or comments to the website and thanks!