I think the kitchen missed me

One disadvantage to being a truck driver is that your choice of stopping points is severely limited by where your truck is allowed access, and consequently, you will be parking in the most remote areas of town, where a truck stop won't wreck the aesthetic of the quaint little community nearby.  As a result, your choices of cuisine are limited to whatever is nearby, or at the truck stop itself.  This leads to eating a lot of food that is:

1. Disc-shaped,
2. Vaguely beef-flavored, and
3. Served on a bun with fries and a soda.

Or, you may encounter more haute cuisine choices, depending if there's a Denny's or another type of diner-type place at the truck stop. These places get a bit pricey, and much like everything else, it's all the same thing no matter where you go and it gets boring quickly.

This is why, when I do get home, I cook like a madman and eat like a condemned prisoner on his last day.  Last night, we went to our favorite Brazilian restaurant, where we had the rodizio (rotisserie-cooked meats on skewers served - and carved - tableside, what's not to love?); Monday will be a trip to one of the local Vietnamese restaurants, which one we haven't determined yet; and this evening and Wednesday are my turn in the kitchen.

Since I was away for all of the major holidays, we never had a proper feast as we had in the past.  If memory serves, we had a pot roast with homemade stuffing for our late Thanksgiving dinner, so I wanted to do something a little different this time around.  I have a recipe for a maple-mustard-glazed pork roast in one of my Cooking Club of America books (yes, I'm also a life member) that I had made once before to rave reviews.  We opted for my bacon-garlic sauteed potatoes instead of the sauteed apples, and a quickie dessert of mini-cupcakes and boxed pudding.  After dinner yesterday, we did our shopping to prepare for the cooking ahead.

After a nice breakfast of bacon and blueberry muffins, I puttered around the house before getting the preparation started for dinner.  I mixed up the roasting glaze, which was butter, maple syrup (the real stuff, not that Aunt Jemima corn-syrup crap), Dijon mustard, some balsamic vinegar, and a bit of sage, parsley, salt, and pepper.  This was spread over the roast a few minutes before it went into the oven.

Bacon and garlic was cut up, followed by the potatoes.  This was set aside until the roast was almost done, and the dipping sauce for the pork was prepped (syrup, mustard, and a dash of balsamic vinegar).  Once the roast was about five degrees from done, I heated the pan for the potatoes, rendered down the bacon, and tossed in the potatoes.  The roast came out and was allowed tor rest on the serving platter while the potatoes finished.  The garlic went in at the last moment to avoid overcooking, along with some parsley, salt, and pepper.  The dipping sauce was heated in the microwave right before service, portioned out into smaller bowls, and the whole thing was served with a lovely, sweet moscato.

The pork was very moist and tender, the potatoes came out very well, and Ms. Darkstar was extra-thrilled to have lots of delicious food cooked by me once again.  In a little bit I'll retrieve the desserts and relax with a nice chai.

Coming Wednesday: my attempt at Indian cookery.