Bacon Wrapped Pork Roast and Smashed Potatoes

This dinner is honor of my son Daniel, who believes anything wrapped in bacon is go-o-od.  My son is 25 years old and a sargent in the army.  He is stationed at Fort Drum in upstate New York.  Daniel is my oldest child and my only son.  He has been in the army since he was 19 years old and has traveled all over the world.  He will be leaving soon for the Middle East for his first time.  So when he came to California in August 2009 on leave I made him this dish.  Of course he absolutely loved it.  it was slathered in garlic, one of his all time favorites, and then draped in bacon.  How could I miss?!
 
This year we were blessed with being able to see Daniel and my grandson DJ (Daniel Junior) three times.  Now that he is going to Iraq we will not be able to seem him for at least 12 months. That is going to be extremely difficult for our family.  His presence will be missed dearly.  In order to cope with my mother's absence I started finding comfort in making dishes that she had cooked for our family.  I decided that this strategy will help comfort me while my son is gone.  So as I made this dish again last night I thought of Daniel the whole time. I talked to him by phone as the pork was roasting in the oven and tried to make the aroma waft through the phone to him so that he could know that he is never far away from home.

This pork roast is tender, and so juicy.  Plus it is chock full of flavor.  It does not consume too much time to make and it looks very chic. The smashed potatoes is a simple side dish but looks very elegant, and tastes fantastic.

I season the pork roast with the adobo recipe my mother had passed on to us, which if you can guess consists of a whole lot of garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and olive oil. If you wanted an Italian flare to this adobo you could add parsley and sweet basil, rosemary, etc. I try to use fresh minced herbs whenever possible as the flavor is much more intense and savory. My mother taught me the technique of poking holes into the meat to add more of the flavor to each slice of meat. So I incorporated that technique into ths recipe as well

     Adobo Recipe

1 head garlic, finely minced

1-2 teaspoons salt

1/2 - 1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon minced oregano

2 tablespoons oilve oil

Mix all ingredients thoroughly.

Bacon Wrapped Pork Roast

1 lb. Pork Roast

Adobo

Bacon

Poke holes into the pork roast and add a little adobo into each hole. Then give the pork roast a nice rub down with your adobo. Once it is nicely seasoned then you wrap the pork roast with slices of bacon. You can use kitchen string to tie the bacon in place or in a pinch use tooth picks. Then you place into a baking pan and sear the outside of the roast at 500 degrees for 15 minutes on each side. Once seared, reduce the heat to 325 degrees and allow the pork to roast until an inserted thermometer reads 140 degrees. Once this happens remove from the oven and tent with aluminum foil. Allow it to rest for 15 minutes and then slice. Don't forget to remove the string or tooth picks first. 

Smashed Potatoes

20 Baby Red Potatoes, cut into quarters

4 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1/4 cup milk, warmed

1/4 to 1/2 cup reserved potato liquid

salt and pepper to taste

2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives

Take the baby red potatoes and slice them into quarters. Place in a pot of boiling water and allow to boil for 15 to 20 minutes.

Drain the water reserving 1/2 cup of liquid to add back into your potatoes.  While the potatoes are still hot add in butter, and a little milk, reserved liquid, salt, pepper, and chopped chives. Smash potaotes and combine ingredients. Serve with additional chopped chives over the top for some added color and flavor.