the secret is in the sauce

every thursday, we try to have dinner with our friends matt and katie sweenlinghouse (sween + garlinghouse... now that they're engaged we can give them a proper last name :). we take turns with hosting, and whoever hosts does the cooking. and, of course, since this is the sweenlinghouses we're talking about: before, during and after dinner, we drink plenty of wine and/or beer.

our actual hit rate has been more like two thursdays a month, which is still pretty good if you ask me. (and you were asking me, right?) we didn't actually have dinner with them tonight (...), but we did last thursday. well, ok, so actually only *I* had dinner with them; kevin couldn't go b/c he had to work late. (excuse me, but do you MIND not looking at me like that?!? a girl has to eat!)

anyway, last week was a little impromptu, so even though we had dinner at katie and matt's, i cooked b/c i had already had a pork leg "scheduled." (i plan our food for the week on the friday before and buy all the ingredients over the weekend.) below is the recipe from dinner. you really can't go wrong with it, as it's marinated overnight in a pool of deliciousness, which is then turned into an even delicious-er sauce. we ate it with crispy roasted baby red potatoes and baby carrots, but of course feel free to serve it with whatever sides you prefer.


Honey & Dijon-Mustard Roasted Pork

1 bottle of amber ale
1 cup Dijon mustard
3/4 cup honey (I like orange blossom raw honey from Marshall's Farm)
1/2 cup olive oil (try Stonehouse)
3 tbsps chopped fresh rosemary
4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 4-lb boneless pork leg

1 cup half & half
salt and pepper to taste

Place first 6 ingredients into a medium bowl and whisk until blended. Pour marinade into a gallon-sized ziploc bag, place pork inside bag, remove air and seal shut, making sure pork is immersed in marinade. Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Reserving marinade, transfer pork to rack in roasting pan and roast until meat thermometer registers 150°F. Let rest for 15 minutes.

While meat is resting, strain marinade into medium saucepan; add half & half and any juices from roast pan. Boil until sauce reduces to about half, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Slice pork and arrange on serving platter. Serve with sauce on side. Serves 6.