Pork Busters!

Wife and I, we get silly sometimes. One time in the car, we were on our way to Costco, somebody said, "Pork Busters." I don't remember who said it first, or in what context, but we both decided that it was important as a phrase, and that it needed preservation somehow. So I decided to make a dish befitting to such a name. This was years ago. Since that time Pork Busters has evolved into a regular menu item.

The reasons are twofold:
1)It's easy.
2)It's tasty.

Basically, you find a small pork roast (Costco around here carries these three packs of lean 2lb shoulder roasts, but I've also used a tenderloin and other roasts with success). Then you rub it liberally, crust it even, with a special little mixture. The mix consists of about 66% chili powder, 15% ground cinnamon, 6.3% cumin, 6.3% coriander and 6.4% salt and pepper. Bear in mind that none of this is ever measured, I just eyeball my ratios.

Mix all that together and then roll your dried roast in it until it's completely coated, pack it on there so you really get a nice crust.

Then throw it into a hot hot cast iron (or other oven safe) skillet with some butter melted and sear that baddy on all sides. Remove skillet to preheated 375° oven for about an hour, depending on your roast. Use a probe thermometer and remove when it reaches 150°. Remove from the cutting board to a plate, cover with foil: it will coast the last 10° goverment mandated degrees.

Slice it thin and serve with Raspberry Chipotle Sauce. Which is easy. 1 big tub of Danish Orchards Raspberry Jam (yep, the cheap stuff-I prefer seeds in), 1 can of chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. Chop the chilis (which are HOT). Remove enough Jam from the tub to accomodate chilis and sauce. Mix. You can also buy premade versions of this sauce from most grocers.

Described so far is Pork Busters 'control group.' There are variations.
-First, use different cuts, as mentioned above.
-Also, at one point we decided such a name should mean that 'something' should be busting out of the pork. I've tried different things, the best results were using more pork: we stuffed the roast with chorizo. That was pretty good, but also heart attack material.
-And today's variation: hickory smoked on the grill!

I fired up Chewie and soaked some hickory chips and chunks in water while the coals were heating. Then basically, prepare as above, but skip the sear and roast in the tightly shut grill for about an hour. Ho Ho, that's tasty.

On the side there was some grilled asparagus (we do eat a lot of that, don't we?) and some brown rice I steamed with chicken stock and dried shitakes. Pour a glass of wine -today I uncorked a bottle of Reschke 'Vitulus' Cabernet- a nicely spiced deep red that paired well I think - and Enjoy!