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Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009

Flavors of fall: Harness them for entertaining made easy

MINNEAPOLIS — Do dinner parties have to be complicated?

No, says this unharried host.

I’d rather have friends and family around the table more often and serve a simple, good meal than spend hours in planning, organizing and executing a masterpiece that I won’t enjoy because I’m too stressed out (not to mention the state I’ve put my family into because I’m so stressed out, and you know exactly what I mean).

Or worse, I don’t invite anyone over because it seems like too much work.

Wait a minute.

Repeat after me: Entertaining isn’t that difficult.

Case in point: today’s menu. The main course is a slow-cooked pork roast braised in Asian spices, with a dark rich gravy that shouts out for mashed potatoes. Make that sour-cream mashed potatoes.

I serve it to company with pride — but I also serve it to the family for Sunday dinner. It’s just plain good, whether or not the “good” dishes are on the table. (And they should be out all the time, but that’s another story.)

I serve it to company because, let’s be frank, how many home cooks prepare roasts these days? This is a welcome novelty at most tables. And even if it weren’t a novelty in and of itself, the spices change this dish sufficiently to make it new.

So how good is it? The Star Tribune cafeteria prepared the roast as its main entree during the Taste 40th birthday celebration. The dish won rave reviews by what can only politely be called a very persnickety crowd. Your guests will be easier to please.

I prefer to make the roast in the slow cooker, the busy person’s favorite kitchen tool. There’s nothing more pleasing than to come home to a kitchen fragrant with dinner almost ready to eat. Entertaining couldn’t be easier. The meat also can be made in the oven or on top of the stove if you’re around to watch it.

This sesame pork recipe has traveled throughout my family faster and with more persistence than a chain letter. My aunt heard the recipe on the radio 40 years ago. She told my mother, who told her daughters, and we’ve been serving it up and passing out recipes ever since.

The ingredients — especially the spices — seem far too abundant, but they are correct. Yes, all the ginger and sesame seeds are necessary for the resulting flavor. For the Svitak-Dean family, these are the flavors of fall.