Yummy Hot German Potato Salad with Pork Roast and Pancetta Broccoli on the side

Sometimes I think I need a little spanking to wake me up from the bliss of cooking such delightful concoctions. I broke the rules, I think...if there even are any. I served pork in three freakin' dishes tonight. Does my family care? No. I did it to get my children to gobble up the veggies and try new dishes and it worked. It bloody well worked. It's been decades since I enjoyed and made a good Hot German Potato salad. In fact, making a HGPS was the very first thing I ever made together with a pot of coffee when my mom came home from work one night. It was the first of many nights, that I would indulge in the joy of making, alchemizing, stirring, peeling, and sauteing, simply for the joy it brought to moi, but of course to all of those around...moi. Yesterday my mom made HGPS for our annual family/chick luncheon. Here's what she did. Never be afraid of the measurements, just add a little more of this or a little more of that:

Hot German Potato Salad

Boil six potatoes with skins on until you can prick a fork in it and it's just tender (get your mind out of the gutter). Drain and cool the potatoes. Saute up one half of a red onion and three slices of chopped up bacon in a pan until its gliseny and cooked how you like it. Be careful not to burn the onions, you only want it all to be soft and slightly brown. Then to make the vinaigrette, add 1/4 cup of canola oil with about 3 tbsp. of HONEY MUSTARD, and 1/8 cup of apple cider vinegar, or any other whitish vinegar you have on hand. Finally peel all the potatoes of their skins and slice into a dish. Add the bacon and onions, then the vinaigrette and toss ever so gently. Add some pepper and a little green garnish if you'd like.

The little Pork Roast that Could...

Mix up a marinade of 1/4 cup of orange marmalade, 1/8 cup of low sodium soy sauce, a tsp. of minced garlic, and 1/4 cup of olive oil (I love oil and you ought to see my smooth skin!). Mix up and pour 1/2 of the mixture over the roast (which is in a nice roaster with a bunch of washed button mushrooms), pour some chicken 1broth in the pan (why is there no pork bouillon?), and then put into a 350 degree oven until meat is just cooked (there can be a little pink in it). There is seriously NOTHING worse than overcooked pork. Use a meat thermometer to help you along or look on line to get cooking times. When the roast is just cooked to medium rare, take it out of the oven and put tin foil over it to rest.

Last but not least, broccoli with pancetta: Simply clean and cut up broccoli and steam either in a steamer or in the microwave until al dente (not soft but just soft with a bit of bite to it.) Toss into a frying pan, once again with a tad of garlic, a smattering of olive oil and 1/2 cup of pancetta (which is an Italian bacon).

Alright then. Pork pork and more pork. It was an evening of experimentation to get my kids to try more things. They ate ALL of the broccoli, all of the pork and their HGPS which they said was ok, but me.....I had to undo my pants because I ate so much of it tonight. Until these kids know what they're talking about in terms of good taste when it comes to HGPS, trust me...you'll love it! XOXXOXO