A Case of Blood Oranges

I made a decision last week to buy a half case of blood oranges. So far I do not regret my decision, nor has my family tired of them....yet. We've eaten them straight up, juiced them, and grated their zest on things like last nights spaghetti ala carbonara. We made some refreshing blood orange drinks by combining blood oranges, honey flavored Greek yogurt, vanilla soy milk and ice cubes in a blender. This week I thought I'd share a blood orange roasted pork that blew our minds. Blood oranges, ginger, and chilies make this pork so spectacular. Simple ingredients go together in a big way. I also slow roasted it for about 4 hours, so the flavors really mingled.

1- 3lb. pork shoulder roast, or any variety of pork roast
2 blood oranges, halved
1 inch chunk of fresh ginger, sliced (I left the peel on and just primitively cut the ginger into thick slices)
5 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tsp sambal oelek, or any other preferred chili paste, adding more or less to your liking
2 cups chicken stock

Salt and pepper the pork roast. Sear it on all sides either on the grill, or in a cast iron pan, until all sides are browned well.  Choose a pan that is large enough to hold the roast and liquids. A dutch oven or large roasting pan would work well too.

In the same pan add the remaining ingredients. Cover the pan with aluminium foil, and place in a 300 degree oven. Set a timer for an hour. After an hour is up, pull the pan out of the oven. Flip the roast with a pair of tongs, and squeeze the orange halves over the top of the roast. Return the oranges to the pan, re-cover the pan with the foil, and return it to the oven. Set your timer for another hour, and repeat the above process. I did this for four intervals. The timing will depend on the size of your roast. You will know when it is fork tender, when you insert a fork into your roast and are able to pull the pork apart.

Remove the pork from the pan and allow it to rest for about 10 minutes on a cutting board. In the meantime place the pan with the roasting liquids on a burner on medium high heat. Reduce the liquids by half, so it has the consistency of a very thin bbq sauce.

Carefully pull the pork. Remove any bones and fatty tissues. You are left with delicious pork roast that is falling apart and you are probably eating bits of it here and there, and that is what is supposed to be going on in your kitchen. At this point I added the reduced roasting liquid to the pulled pork. Serve on top of toasted rolls with coleslaw. I did not have rolls, nor coleslaw, so we had it over jasmine rice and red quinoa with roasted asparagus. Either way, you win. Belly up!!