Roast Pork Leg with Garlic and Leek

Hey, it worked! Since I don't have a lab notebook for food, I'm putting this here.

Given that pork roast was on sale, back fat is cheap-ish, and I had two leeks left over from a previous recipe, I made this. And it was good. Or really bad, fat-intake wise. Depends on your point of view.

Bulk items:
1 pork leg roast, skin and bone on (it's cheaper). The whole thing was about $6, and market price was $1.5/pound. So 4 pounds, I guess. I picked the smallest one (it's freaking four pounds as it is!). Some people brine it, I don't have the fridge space so I don't.
1 bulb of garlic. I used 3/4, because this is my last bulb and I'm saving a bit for emergencies (you never know!) I don't remember how much it costs, but surely it was less then 50 cents.
1 leek. $2.99 a bunch of 3, so a dollar each.
Half a pack of salted back fat. I think this is beef fat, actually. It was $1.45 (dimensions about 10*20*0.5 cm^3) and I used only half of it. Bacon'd probably work too except bacon rarely lasts long enough 'round here for me to cook something else with it.
Generous bunch of fresh sage. It languished in the fridge all week, so I put it in. It was $3 or so, I think.

Spice-type items, no particular order:
Cumin
Allspice
Kosher salt (I was feeling experimental one day and switched from table salt)
Ground black pepper
Cayenne pepper

So. Preheat the oven to 450 ^oF*. Leave the meat on the counter until it's room temperature, unless it's really hot out or something.

Cut off the dark green top and the very bottom of the leek, split the thing in half, and wash it well. Chop as finely as patience allows. Peel and chop garlic. Wash the sage, pull off all the leaves, roll the bunch of leaves up, and chop (chiffonade, they call it). Chop the fat. Add the spices to taste, and toss everything together (go light on the salt because the fat is salted). Put about 3/4 of it on a baking pan (nonstick or not, line it with foil first unless you find pot-scrubbing relaxing).

If the roast is tied with twine, take that off. Wash it and dry it reasonably well. Score the skin if you can (I can't). Make some deep cuts on the other side of the roast, as well. Sprinkle the entire thing, both sides and inside all the cuts, with spices. Stuff the cuts with the remaining 1/4 of the chopped stuff, and rest the thing skin-side-up on the bed of chopped stuff.

Stick it in the oven for about 30 minutes until well-browned. Crank the heat down to 300 ^oF and leave it there until it's done (I usually start with 3 hours and work up from there). If in doubt, poke it with a knife - it should go right through. Or use a meat thermometer if you have one. Meanwhile, wander away to do assignments (just don't leave the house). Or cook other things.

Transfer the roast onto a plate or something and let it sit there for awhile. In the meantime, spoon off the not-burnt bits of fat and veggies from the pan. I was too lazy to make gravy, but if you like that sort of thing, that's what the just-scraped-off bits are for.

How I make gravy (if I were to do so): Heat fat on pan, medium-low heat. Add the same amount of flour as fat (eyeball it - yes this is by volume), and stir until the flour starts to smell nutty. While stirring vigorously (whisk if you have one), add in some liquid of choice (half stock half water/milk if it's me), somewhat more than however much gravy you want. Salt and pepper. Turn the heat down to low and simmer until it's almost at the desired viscosity. Taste it and adjust if necessary before taking it off the heat.

Anyway, cut the rested roast. I basically shred the thing because that's all my knife can do. You might have to break apart the skin separately. Top with gravy; consume with starch, something mildly absorbent like rice or potatoes, along with something green on the side.

(For the record: rice is $15/20 kg, potatoes $3/10 lb, green stuff, it depends, but say $1.5/lb).

Serves one...for a week.

I don't like taking pictures when I cook, it makes things inefficient. Maybe next time.

Now, what to do with the remaining leek? Leftover meat/bone from this roast, the last leek, some root vegetables, something leafy, some water/stock, some pasta... I think I'm looking at soup. Pie is also a possibility, except I can't use the bone in pie.

Obviously, I'm from the "too lazy to measure anything" camp when it comes to cooking. But hey, my yields in the lab are never this good when I actually measure stuff! (Of course, food isn't air and water sensitive, and aren't inclined to form the wrong products just because you glanced at it sideways...)

*The only time I use Fahrenheit freely: so many recipes use this instead of Celsius (or - hah! - Kelvin) that now I think in Fahrenheit when I cook. Sigh.