Catholic Ragemonkey

"Pork Caramel"

A brief funny story from last Sunday's penance rite. Because it is such a long drive back to Guymon from Alva, Fr. Hamilton stayed over at my place. To think, double the rage, double the monkeys. Anyway, I was working on cleaning up the kitchen, a project which took a couple of days, and had pulled the cooking liquid from the pork roast to reduce it to a sauce. Well, folks, there was way too much sugar in the solution for sauce. As it reduced the solution thickened and darkened and became...syrupy. It was really delicious, but I had a bad feeling about it. So I poured it off into a storage container. It was incredibly viscous as it cooled. I was beginning to have my doubts.

The next day, I pulled the substance from the refrigerator to find that the compound had set up solid. It was like taffy. Dark and lovely, smelling of apricots and pork seasonings, it had become ... well... caramel. I had created a savory candy which I dubbed "pork caramel." I would not expect the people at Russel Stover's or Godiva to carry the stuff anytime soon. Now, before the naysayers reading here run for a Tums, I would like you to think about potential applications.

For example, smear some apples in this stuff and then roast them with a pork roast over low heat in the oven. Or use it as a cement for pulled pork sandwiches. This was my favored technique with this batch. It held together marvelously. Not a loose scrap of pig meat in the house. I think you could also use it as a potent flavoring agent for stir-fried rice and other dishes where you need a flavor boost.

Anyone want the recipe?