My family always loved to eat. Of course, no one made a cult of food, but still a joint dinner in the kitchen, which discussed family problems, was one of our most enduring traditions. Well, as you know, any problem becomes less terrible if solved at the table, among the heady aromas of dishes and warm shades of home cooking. In each family, of course, it is different, but my mother always cooked her signature dish for “family advice” - it was pork baked with potatoes. I must tell you that I’m still trying to learn how to cook it like my mother, but I still don’t understand what her secret is.
For many years now, I have my own family, but in the same way, our family council is headed by pork baked with potatoes. Why? Yes, because this dish is not only very tasty, nutritious and healthy, it keeps centuries-old traditions in itself, brings a feeling of comfort and prosperity to the house. Indeed, many, many years ago, in prosperous merchant and boyar houses, it was pork baked with potatoes that was considered an integral attribute of the wedding table - bringing it to the table young, relatives and friends wished them a long, rich and prosperous life. Of course, it was not cooked then as it is now - and the pork was homemade, and the potatoes from their garden, and the seasonings were not from bags obviously, but it was cooked, of course, in a real Russian oven. Nowadays, the frantic pace of life and high technology, it is unlikely that a young housewife will be able to repeat that unique taste, but you can still try to make this dish as close as possible to that old recipe. So, pork baked with potatoes ...
For a family of four, you will need at least one kilogram of freshly harvested potatoes. Fresh, let’s better potatoes will be imported, Dutch, for example, than last year (if you cook in winter or early spring). Pork is better to take about a pound. Two large carrots, two large turnip bulbs and sour cream are still needed. Do not forget also greens - parsley and dill. So, peel the potatoes, cut into slices, put in the baking dish half of its total quantity. Then we spread the chopped onion in half rings, coat the layer with sour cream, spread the pork chopped into cubes. Again, coat with sour cream, put a layer of onions, carrots and cover with potatoes. We coat the potato layer with sour cream, pour a little baked milk on the bottom of the mold and put in the preheated oven for 50 minutes. Five minutes before cooking, sprinkle the browned layer with chopped herbs and let the dish obscure for a few more minutes. Everything, pork baked with potatoes, is ready.
Such a dish will please all family members without exception - the hostess will like the simplicity of cooking, the minimum effort spent on household chores, the head of the family will no doubt be satisfied with the healthy calorie content of the dish, and children, of course, will appreciate the soft, delicate, pleasant taste and sauce !
If you want to diversify the traditional recipe a little, then your trump card is pork baked with mushrooms. The principle of preparation is about the same, the base will not be potatoes, but mushrooms. But just do not forget that mushrooms, before they are placed in a baking dish, must first be boiled, in order to avoid food poisoning. You yourself know what ecology is now. So, first boil the mushrooms, then finely chop, and lay the layer on the bottom of the mold. Follow the familiar analogy. Only one small difference - the cooking time should be reduced by ten minutes so that our mushrooms, their upper layer, do not burn. Honestly, it turns out incredibly tasty, but cooking pork with mushrooms is often not worth it. This is a very heavy food, not every stomach, especially children’s, can constantly cope with such an abundance of carbohydrates. But nobody forbade pampering relatives and friends for any holiday ...
Eat on the health, joys and prosperity of your family!