A Roast

For the first time in my life I made a roast. I'm not even sure if I've really ever eaten a roast before, but when a friend of mine asked if I could make one, I said "Sure, why not!" I probably should have been more nervous about making a roast for someone who had actually grown up eating them, but when it comes to cooking, I have somehow or other convinced myself that I can cook anything, as long as I do enough research on it. Luckily for both myself and Matt, the roast turned out just fine.

Pork Shoulder Roast with Rosemary and Garlic:
-1 4lb pork shoulder for a roast
-several cloves of garlic, sliced in long quarters or thirds
-a big bunch of rosemary
*garlic and rosemary depends on your preference

-Preheat the oven to 375
-Trim the fat off the meat as best you can (and get a sharper knife than I have to make this easier) and make several incisions all over the meat (this is where the rosemary and garlic will go)...really, just stab it all over (but this does not quite sound as nice).
-Stuff the incisions with a piece or two of the sliced garlic and a small bunch of rosemary.
-Season the meat liberally with salt and pepper
-place on a rack in a roasting pan and stick in the over for an hour and a half to two hours or whenever the internal temp reaches the appropriate done-ness for pork.

Fabulous Sides To Accompany a Rosemary-Garlic Roast:
Roasted Asparagus:
-1-2 bundles of asparagus, washed and the ends snapped off
-lemon juice and zest (if you want)
-olive oil
-salt n pepper

-Preheat the oven to 350 or 375 (you can just add these at the end when you take out the pork since they take no time at all)
-Place washed and trimmed asparagus in a pan or on a cookie sheet
-Drizzle olive oil over (to taste--I don't like a whole lot, but that's my preference)
-Season with salt and pepper and zest if using
-Cook for 10-15 min until tender (I would do about 10 since I like mine a little crunchy)
-After removing from the oven, squeeze lemon juice over and serve immediately
Garlic Mashed Potatoes:
-5 russet potatoes or more (I had leftovers but I don't eat a lot)
-maybe 1/2 a cup of milk
-salt n pepper
-smashed garlic--a few cloves or to taste
-2 tablespoons of butter or so

-Put the potatoes in a big pot and cover with water
-Boil until tender (maybe 10 min--not totally sure)
-Once tender, remove from heat and pour off almost all of the water
-If the pot isn't too hot, just use a potato masher or, ideally, a hand mixer to smash and whip them up. You can also use a very deep bowl
*Note-it helps to cut them up a bit before attempting to mash and whip them...if you don't, you may end up with potato pellets attacking you out of the bowl. Woops!
-Add the garlic, butter, and about 1/4 of the milk
-Continue whipping them and season to taste
-I like my potatoes a little chunky, but add more or less milk according to the desired tendency.