Pechenia po-Domashniomu (печеня по-домашньому, home-style pork roast)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A heavy 5 to 6 litre Dutch oven or stockpot with a lid
• •A wide wooden spoon
• •A box grater
• •A bowl to hold the zasmazhka

Instructions

1. 1

   Season the pork

   Toss the pork shoulder with the salt and black pepper while you cut the vegetables. If it sits for twenty minutes, good. If it sits overnight in the fridge, even better. The surface should go a little tacky, not wet, so it browns instead of boiling in its own mood.

   Use shoulder or neck, not loin. This pot needs fat and connective tissue; lean pork turns dry before the potatoes have done their work.
2. 2

   Make the zasmazhka

   Warm the sunflower oil, or the lard and oil, in a heavy pot over a low flame. Add the onions with a pinch of salt and cook until they slump and turn glossy, then add the grated carrots. Keep them moving slowly until the raw onion smell changes into sweetness and the fat turns orange. Scoop the zasmazhka, the Ukrainian slow-sweated flavour base, into a bowl and leave every orange smear in the pot.

   This is the one why that decides the dish: the zasmazhka goes back in near the end so its onion and carrot sweetness sits brightly on the gravy instead of disappearing into the pork stock.
3. 3

   Brown the pork

   Turn the heat up under the same pot and add the pork in a single layer, working in batches if your pot is crowded. Let the pieces catch in places, deep brown at the edges and still soft inside. You're building the dark bottom that will become the gravy, so don't clean the pot and don't panic when it looks a little fierce.

4. 4

   Start the braise

   Return all the pork to the pot with the garlic and bay leaves. Pour in enough hot water or light broth to come halfway up the meat, then scrape the bottom until the browned bits loosen into the liquid. Cover and keep it at a lazy blip, not a boil, until the pork starts to yield when pressed with a spoon and the whole pot smells rounded, not raw and meaty anymore.

   Listen to it. A hard boil sounds angry and tightens the pork; the right simmer mutters quietly under the lid.
5. 5

   Add the potatoes

   Tuck the potatoes into the pork and liquid, salt lightly, and add a splash more hot water if the pot looks dry. Cover again and cook until the potato edges round off and a few pieces begin to collapse into the gravy. You don't want perfect cubes here. The spoon must stand up straight, at least for a second, because the potatoes have thickened the pot themselves.

6. 6

   Finish and rest

   Fold the reserved zasmazhka back into the pot with the chopped dill stems. Let it bubble uncovered until the orange carrot fat shines on the surface and the gravy clings to the pork and potatoes. Taste for salt and pepper, then pull it off the heat and rest it while you set out smetana, dill fronds, and something sour from a jar. Serve in deep bowls, with more gravy than you think is polite.

Chef Tips

• •If your pork is very lean, add a spoon of lard with the sunflower oil. This is not decoration; fat carries the onion sweetness and gives the potatoes something to drink.
• •The browning can be patchy and the potato chunks can be uneven. The gentle simmer and late zasmazhka are the steps to respect.
• •Floury potatoes make a thicker gravy because their edges collapse. Waxy potatoes hold their shape more, a bit more modern and still good, but mash one or two pieces against the side of the pot before serving.
• •A spoonful of brine from fermented tomatoes stirred into your own bowl is very good with leftovers. In August we'd be drowning in tomatoes; in January we open a jar instead.
• •Pechenia reheats gently with a splash of water. Don't stir it hard or the potatoes will break into paste.

Advance Preparation

• •Salt the pork the night before if you remember. Cover and refrigerate, then let it sit at room temperature while you cut the vegetables.
• •Pechenia improves overnight. Chill it, then reheat slowly with a splash of water until the gravy loosens and shines again.
• •Chop the onions and grate the carrots earlier in the day if you need a faster weeknight start.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 420g)