Pork/Sauce Catawba

The Catawba grape is one of the oldest varieties from which wine was produced in the USA. Catawba wine is rather sweet, having a "foxy" flavor. I do not like to drink it, but it can be used to make a terrific sauce.

Method

Melt the butter in a medium size aluminium or iron skillet. Saute the bay leaf and onion. Add the rice. Saute until the rice grains become toasty. Throw in the chicken stock, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, cover tightly and simmer very slowly for 45 minutes. Allow 10 minutes for rice to rest.

20-25 minutes into the rice cooking, preheat the oven to 375-400 degrees F.

Heat up a skillet over a medium flame, add peanut oil and brown the roast on all sides. Season the roast with salt and pepper. Remove the roast from the pan, and degrease the pan.

Return the roast to the pan. Place the pan into the oven. Roast until the pork is medium. Turn the roast frequently during the cooking time - about 25 minutes.

Remove the roast from the pan. Tent it with aluminium foil. The heat trapped in the roast will "carry it over" until it's a juicy medium-well.

Degrease the pan. Reduce 1/3 cup of wine until it's a glaze. Repeat with another 1/3 cup. Pour the final 1/3 cup into the pan. Pour the accumulated juices under the roast into the pan. Reduce slowly, but not to a glaze.

Carve the roast into thin, wide strips. Turn the rice out onto a platter. Arrange the pork over the rice.

Return to the sauce, whisk the butter 1 Tbl at a time until incorporated. Dress the rice and pork - immediately - with the super-rich, winey sauce.

note

Any sauce, made with butter as an emulsifier, has a tendency to break. If you don't want to risk the breakage, substitute 4 Tbl of heavy cream for butter.