Today I bring you a very special, cousin Chris’ birthday dinner edition of the Me n’ Martha Project! Since we’re an Italian family, it made sense to make Chris a Roast Pork Sub Italian Style from page 103 of the Northeast section. I came across a little problem when I got to the store – no broccoli rabe! After muttering some swear words in Italian I decided to buy some radicchio, an anaheim chili pepper and some tomatillos and do an Italian/Mexican fusion style topping. The cashier was quite baffled by the radicchio and tomatillos because even though he works at a supermarket that actually sells them, he’d never laid eyes on them before. I didn’t used to encounter this problem in NY and NJ, but I guess these aren’t ingredients that a lot of the residents of Hudson, Florida cook with.
So I roasted the pork with only the salt, pepper and olive oil, per Martha’s recipe and cooked it low and slow. OMG – so tender, it melted in my mouth!!! Then I did up a relish with the radicchio, tomatillos, chili pepper and garlic by reducing them in some balsamic vinegar…YUM! The Birthday Boy was very happy!!!
I must ‘fess up to one embarrassing error. When I made the sub I used in the photo I forgot the provolone cheese. So after I made a special trip to the store to get provolone cheese and broccoli rabe, I forget to add the cheese and they don’t have the broccoli rabe – sigh – but that’s cooking in the real world folks, stuff happens and you need to find a way to make it work anyway. It still was a wonderful meal and it showed me a whole new way to do a super tender pork roast.
Everyone should have a very happy Martha Birthday, and if it’s not your birthday, then have a very merry Martha Un-Birthday!
