February 20, 2008

Sunday Night Dinners

When I think of Sunday night dinners, I think of roasts. Roast beef, roast pork, roast chicken, the animal doesn’t really matter so long as there is an animal and it’s roasted. The typical accompaniments to said roast are potatoes and a veggie. Both of those can take a number of forms. The potatoes can be baked, boiled, mashed or smashed. The veggies can be steamed, fried, cooked or raw. Put it all on the table with a salad and a dessert afterwards and you’ve got Sunday dinner. There’s usually lots of food so it’s perfect for company. Unfortunately, when you don’t live with any family, Sunday night dinners are few and far between. But sometimes you just want homey, comfort food, whether or not you’ve got family there to share it with. And that’s how I ended up cooking an entire pork roast, for one. Can you say leftovers?

My solo Sunday night dinner consisted of a roast of pork, mashed potatoes and glazed carrots. When I was little and we had mashed potatoes I insisted that mine take the form of a potato volcano so that I could fill them with gravy and proceed to dunk anything and everything into it, including my fingers. I suppose not much has changed because I still make potato volcanoes. For the pork I used a Rob Rainford recipe for Pulled Pork Picnic Roast. I have made this recipe before, complete with accompanying Peach Chutney and it’s fantastic. Ideally I would have done the pork roast in the smoker like I have in the past, but wait, the smoker is at the family house. That’s another reason why Sunday night dinners mean family. I no longer have a large enough porch, (or any porch) to accommodate the smoker and it remains at my parent’s home. The picture of the smoker in the snow is from last time I was home which was for Dad’s birthday. When winter takes up a good portion of the year you just have to deal with it. BBQ season is all year round, snow or no snow. I miss the porch dwelling smoker, BBQ and infrared fryer…

Enough bellyaching, I’m really not that hard done by, I had a whole roast to myself, didn’t I? I also made glazed carrots from a recipe we used at school. I liked cutting the carrots into bâton shapes so I decided I’d do it at home too, it makes me feel fancy. Oooh la la, les carottes sont coupés en bâtons! Apparently it also makes me feel French. I was feeling particularly full of myself while cooking this meal so I even made a wine gravy and I thought it was damn good gravy too. I treated myself to a few glasses of wine with my meal, (well it was already open…) and capped the night off with some homemade split level chocolate and vanilla puddings. My craving for Sunday night dinner was satisfied, although next time I need to invite some company over so that I don’t have to immediately start planning what to do with the leftover pork. I’ll tell you about what I did with some of it tomorrow, I was surprisingly happy with the results. For extra fun, I used an ingredient I never have before in tomorrow’s dish. What could it be?




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26 comments:

RecipeGirl said...

Well it looks like good comfort food for that snowy weather you have there, even if it was only for you! We live in Sunny Southern Calif. and you'd think it was snowing here too since I haven't used our grill since November! We really take our winters seriously :)

Rachel said...

That gravy looks amazing!

Deborah said...

Sunday dinners are my favorite. My husband is not a big "roast" fan, though - but I just may have to roast something up for myself one of these Sundays!!

Mandy said...

An entire pork roast for one? Well done Brilynn! I usually resort to instant noodle or potato chips when I am eating alone. Now I am really interested to see how you use up the leftover. :)

M said...

That looks so filling and hearty. I think I might make mashed taters tonight. Yummm.... :-)

K and S said...

love the sound of that potato volcano!

Ferdzy said...

Love the potato volcano!

Looks like a great (series of) dinner(s).

Peabody said...

Ah, so comforting...I just need my mom here to make it for me.

test it comm said...

Great job BBQing in the snow! The roast looks good.

Anonymous said...

Please make yourself a Cuban sandwich for me...I've been thinking about roasting pork just so I can have one. Please let me live vicariously!

Manggy said...

Oh, that looks perfect for the frosted-over surroundings :) Awesome smoker! I'd throw every cut of meat on that thing, it's quite a gem!

Susan @ SGCC said...

Good for you, Brilynn! Just because you're cooking for one, doesn't mean it still shouldn't be special. When I lived on my own, I always tried to set aside a few nights each week to make real meals. Looks like you did a great job!

Chibog in Chief said...

too bad i wasnt invited :-) the dinner sound perfect to me, everything i wanted ..love the concept of the potato volcano!!

Jerry said...

Hey! That's MY smoker! When did you come steal it?

No... It's still in the yard.

Dana said...

I am a *huge* fan of Sunday Night Dinners. They're a big thing with me. Right after college, a bunch of my friends instituted a "Sunday Night Dinner" for all of us who were single, living alone and in the area. It was a great idea -- a stand-in family, if you will :).

Gabi said...

Good for you for making that dinner for yourself! I miss the big Sunday dinners of my childhood. A pork roast is so useful for making other dishes so I know it'll go to good use.
Lo-ove the potato volcano. mmmm
x x x

Patricia Scarpin said...

Bri, I wish I lived nearby - I'd "invite myself" for your Sunday dinners! :)

Judy said...

Looks delicious. Anything related to pork has my name on it. I cook dinners every night, whether I'm alone or not. If I'm alone, I either have great lunches or a quick dinner. Good for you!

Katy said...

Sundays dinners were always pasta nights for me in college, and I'll forever want pasta and salad with a big bowl of ice cream on Sundays because of it!

Gigi said...

What's a girl gotta do to get a roast sandwich? (just kidding)Your dinner looks so YUMMY! I love the mash potato volcano. Send some of that lava my way!

chem said...

If you don't have your smoker (or a porch for a grill), how did you cook the pork?

Annie said...

Love the potato volcano! ...and I'm glad I'm not the only food blogger that has never tried kumquats! I was starting to feel uncool. lol.

I guess I should jump on the bandwagon as well :)

Helene said...

You just crack me up speaking French and all...Seems like we have the same appetite!

T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types said...

I'm with you on Sunday dinners - and I think a single pork roast is the perfect size for one!

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I don't know if there is anything on this planet that compares with the comfort of a roast, gravy and mashed potatoes. I put butter inside the hot mashed potatoes and form the potato around it...the melted butter oozing out when I dig in is my volcano...now I am telling secrets :D

Anonymous said...

MMMMMmmmmmmm roast Sunday dinners are the best. The only thing I'm not able to do them at home as I don't have an oven :-( I always have to go round friends which they love (= personal chef for the night).