Pork Roast, Garlic Potatoes & Green Beans

I bought a pork butt a couple of months ago on sale plus a coupon, so super cheap. It's been in my freezer for a while, partly because it takes so long to thaw (so I had to plan ahead) and because I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Cooking with pork doesn't come natural to me (except pork wontons of course!). So I called my Grandma Cutsinger, a former restaurant cook, and asked her for her recipe/advice for pork butt. This is what she said to do:

Pork Roast

Ingredients:

3lb pork butt

2 medium onions

6 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp Thyme (I didn't use this but I'm sure it's delightful)

S&P as needed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
2. Thaw pork, and then coat the outside of the pork with salt and pepper generously.
3. Sear the sides of the pork in a frying pan on the stove top, just until browned on each side.
4. Meanwhile, coarsely chop onions and lay in bottom of roasting pan (I don't have a roasting pan so I used the pot that fits in my crock pot and put foil over it as my "lid") along with 6 whole garlic cloves. Place pork on top of bed of onions and garlic.
5. Put two cup of boiling water into the empty pan that you seared the pork in. Scrape the pork drippings around the water and pour the water into the roasting pan along with the pork.
6. Put lid on top of pan and place pan in the preheated oven for 3 hours. I flipped the pork half way through the baking time but I don't think it's necessary.
7. Transfer pork to your crock pot on warm, if you're not serving it right away. I kept mine in the crock pot for an additional 3 hours and it was perfect.
8. Enjoy!

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

6 Red potatoes

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream)

3 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp chopped parsley

1 tsp onion powder

Directions:

1. If I use redskin potatoes I wash the potatoes in the sink but leave the skins on (as this is where much of the nutrients is in a potato). If using russet potatoes or Idaho, I peel them first.
2. Dice potatoes and place in pot of boiling water.
3. Boil until potatoes are tender to a fork.
4. Once tender, remove from heat and drain in a strainer.
5. Place potatoes back in the pot and add all ingredients. (for the garlic I used a fine grating plane to grate the cloves of garlic into the pot, to get fine, fresh garlic)
6. Mash to the consistency you prefer. Add S&P to taste.
7. Enjoy!

I also served this meal with green beans. So yummy, thanks grandma!