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Has It Really Been 11 Months?

The pandemic has certainly made my days and weeks disappear. Has it really been almost 11 months since our children went to school? Before last January, remote learning, Zoom, and masks were not in our vocabulary.

Most seasons used to involved food and sharing it with friends. April meant that first sweet radish, sliced thin on sweet buttered French bread. The first salad made with soft Boston lettuce. The first platter of fried clams or a lobster roll sitting outside at Captain Scott’s or Fred’s Shanty or the Clam Castle. A hamburger or hot dog in someone’s yard on Memorial Day or the Fourth of July. Playing boules on summer Sundays.

Sure, I have cooked a lot in the past year. Honestly, I have cooked more than I ever thought I would. But so little of what I have cooked has been very seasonal. Fortunately, I made corn chowder with corn I froze two summers ago. I didn’t bake as much since I’d no dinner parties and I was afraid I’d eat that pie in two days. Why open a bottle of wine when I would forget it in the refrigerator?

And here I am, foraging in the big freezer in the garage. Wow, a pork roast dated 2019. I always made a pork roast on the last cool day in October. Here it is, almost February 2021, and I hadn’t made one yet. But here it is. It’s a big one, enough for six to eight people. At the end of the recipe, I tell you how to make casseroles out of the rest.

Lee White of Old Lyme has been a food editor and restaurant reviewer for more than 25 years. You can email her at leeawhite@aol.com.

Roast Pork Dinner and Leftovers for Another Day

There is only one problem with this great pork and sauerkraut dinner: The pork is roasted over the sauerkraut, so you can’t make gravy from scratch. I use one of the gravy mixes you can buy at the market, preferably Knorr. To do a leftover casserole, make extra vegetables and mashed potatoes.

Yield: 2 for dinner; the casserole will feed 4 to 6 for dinner

Preheat oven at 350 degrees

Ingredients:

A large can of sauerkraut, about 27 ounces

6-pound pork loin, bone-in

salt and pepper, to taste

applesauce (24-ounce or so)

2 to 3 pounds Yukon potatoes

fresh vegetables (broccoli, carrots, Brussels sprouts, beans,

peas or a combination)

2 envelopes gravy mix, such as Knorr

Directions:

In the sink, place sauerkraut in a colander. With your hands, twist water out of the kraut as much as you can.

In a large Pyrex baking dish, form sauerkraut into a flat loaf with your hands. Put the pork loin, bone down, onto the kraut. Season with salt and pepper. Place pork and sauerkraut onto the oven and cook for 1 ½ or 2 hours.

Remove from the oven and, using two big forks, put kraut into another baking pan, placing the pork back onto the Pyrex baking dish. Mix applesauce with sauerkraut in the smaller pan, and place both pans into oven. Bake for another hour.

While pork and kraut bake, make your mashed potatoes, vegetables, and gravy mix. Serve.

After dinner, create the new casserole(s) in a freezer-safe, oven-safe container by layering mashed potatoes, vegetables, sauerkraut, and small chunks of pork; pour leftover gravy on top. Place casserole(s) into a jumbo zippered plastic bag and freeze. When ready to serve, thaw, remove zippered plastic bag, and roast in a 350 degree oven until hot. Serve with fresh gravy and apple sauce.