This was French-style pot-roasted pork with mashed turnips.
Rolled pork loin with toasted garlic and butter inside and Herbes de Provence outside, gently cooked in a apple, onion, garlic, thyme, white wine sauce until turned into tender, juicy, flavorful pot roast. I think this was one of the best recipes I tried from Cook's Illustrated. Apple and pork was an unbeatable matched couple for a fall supper. The dish looked complicated but actually it was pretty easy to make and didn't take much time.
Hello, pork.
Look, so juicy!
The side dish was mashed turnips. We picked fresh turnips at a local farmer stand. I adapted a
recipe of creamed turnips from a great cooking blog, Simply Recipes. Simmer turnips with black peppercorns, whole cloves and bay leaves and mashed soften turnips with butter. The recipe used 1/2 cup of heavy cream, but I skipped it. Mashed turnips were already naturally creamy. Just a couple of drops of butter added a good rich flavor. Plus, much lighter and healthier in this way. Finish with white pepper and freshly grated nutmeg. My spiced-mashed turnips were so tasty. The turnips were surprisingly sweet, not bitter at all. Because they are less starchy than potatoes, it was lighter than mashed potatoes. After eating a mountain of the mashed turnips, I didn't feel stuffed. It was a very ideal side dish for the rich pork. If I host Thanksgiving dinner in the future, this gorgeous dish will be a strong candidate. I believe J won't say No.
