Give the people recipes they want

On Page B1 of the Nov. 4 paper, there was a story about a simple entertaining menu, and it referenced a sesame pork roast. We usually don’t have a ton of space on B2, so I only included the recipe for roasted green beans in the paper. Well. Bad idea. I got an overwhelming response from people interested in the sesame pork recipe (which I’ve included after the Garlic Pepper Noodles), asking for it to be mailed or e-mailed to them. So from now on, I’m going to try to include all recipes that come with stories we put in the food section, and if there’s no room in the paper you can find them here. On that note, here is one recipe that didn’t make it into the paper to go along with our Nov. 11 story on tailgating food:

Garlic Pepper Noodles
Ingredients
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 red and 2 yellow bell peppers, cored, seeded and sliced into strips
• 1 bag rotelle, campanelle or other pasta
Instructions
Prepare pasta al dente, according to package directions.
In a large skillet, heat olive oil. Saute garlic for about 30 seconds, add bell peppers and saute for 2 to 3 minutes more. Add broth and wine and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, until mixture cooks down to a quarter of its original liquid volume.
Toss with pasta and serve hot or cold.
— Marian Briones, Fremont

Sesame Pork Roast
Serves 6.
Basically a braised piece of meat, this roast is easy to cook whether in a slow cooker, in the oven, or on top of the stove in a Dutch oven. When prepared in the slow cooker, the roast doesn’t need to be marinated in advance because the meat marinates during the lengthy cooking time. But for ease in the morning, it’s helpful to prepare the marinade the night before. From “Come One, Come All.”

Ingredients
2 tbsp. sesame seeds
3 or 4 green onions, sliced (about ¼ c.)
½ c. ketchup
¼ c. soy sauce
2 tbsp. ground ginger
2 tbsp. molasses (any type)
2 tsp. salt
½ tsp. curry powder
½ tsp. black pepper
1 c. water
2 tbsp. wine vinegar
4 lb. pork shoulder roast (with or without bone)
3 tbsp. flour for gravy, if desired

Directions
Toast sesame seeds in a dry frying pan over low heat until golden and fragrant. Place seeds in a bowl with the green onions, ketchup, soy sauce, ginger, molasses, salt, curry powder, pepper, water and wine vinegar; stir to mix thoroughly. Place meat in a large bowl and pour the marinade over the meat. Marinate, covered, 2 to 3 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

To prepare in a slow cooker: Place meat and marinade in the slow cooker, cover, and cook on low for 8 to 9 hours or on high for about 3 hours.

To prepare in the oven or on the stovetop: Remove meat from marinade and pat dry. Brown it in a Dutch oven or frying pan. To continue in the oven, place meat and marinade in a covered casserole dish and roast at 300 to 325 degrees for 3 hours. (The roast should be falling apart when it’s done.) To continue on top of the stove, place the meat and marinade in the pot and heat until the marinade is boiling. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook, turning meat once or twice, for 3 hours.

Serve meat with pan juices or make gravy.

To make gravy: Pour pan juices into a 2-cup measure. Skim off fat, returning 2 tablespoons of the fat to the pan. If defatted pan juices do not equal 2 cups, add enough water or chicken broth to reach the 2-cup measure.

Whisk 3 tablespoons flour into fat in the pan and cook over medium heat on the stovetop until bubbly, scraping the bottom of the pan to release all the flavor from juices cooked to the pan. Slowly stir in pan juices and cook until gravy thickens, stirring constantly.

Nutrition information per serving:
Calories: 505
Fat: 27 g
Sodium: 1,695 mg
Carbohydrates: 16 g
Saturated fat: 9 g
Calcium: 43 mg
Protein: 47 g
Cholesterol: 135 mg
Dietary fiber: 1 g