Saturday, September 6, 2008

Move Over Rachael "Yummo" Ray...

Last night, I cooked a roast, while I slept. That's right, people, I am that good at multi-tasking.

Except, I'm not.

Here's the thing - I prepared this succulent pork roast with sweet sauerkraut (yes, I realize that sounds like an oxymoron), garlic cloves tucked deep into the meat, some lovely slices of apples and onions mixed in and a delightful glaze of brown sugar and butter on top...

And forgot to press "start" on the crockpot. Fuck.

So, now I have 3.7 pounds of pork, which has sat in a room temperature kitchen overnight (what temperature is room temperature exactly? I'm totally serious. I realize I could look this up on the Google, but I don't feel like it. I'm bitter and unmotivated right now.) and I think it probably needs to be thrown out. You can't cook something that's sat out all night, can you? Especially pork...isn't that how people, you know, DIE?

I don't know what to do. It wasn't a cheap roast and I already had it in my head that that's what I'll be having this week (with mashed potatoes and either orange simmered carrots or spicy pecan, nutmeg and cinnamon infused root vegetables. I totally sound like an awesome cook; I know, right? Yeah, evidently NOT!)

If I cook the meat, won't that kill any bacteria that sneaked in over the course of the unrefrigerated brainfart night? What did they do in olden days before they had refrigerators?


Sonofabitch.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You just have to make sure you cook it thoroughly to kill any bacteria. Keep in mind that turkeys get left out overnight all the time to thaw, and poultry is significantly more dangerous than pork.

Look on the internet or in a cookbook for the minimum cook temp/time for pork to ensure all bacteria are killed, then use a meat thermometer to make sure the inside gets hot enough.

Lainey said...

socalled, I'm trusting you because you seem to know A LOT about A LOT of things and you're so ridiculously charming, I can't help but believe you.

If I die from this, please know that I *will* haunt you!

PS: Please start a blog. Or a harem. I promise to be an enthusiastic participant in either or both of them!