Recipes: Roast Pork with Vermouth and Olives and Bishop's Bread

Q. Many years ago The Miami Herald had a recipe for Spanish pork roast. It had to be marinated overnight. The marinade was made up of chicken broth and vermouth. Green olives were put on it and then it was roasted. It was delicious and easy to make.

— Nan Spiegel

A. We have published many recipes for Cuban and Spanish roast pork, but a search of our library did not turn up any with vermouth. If a reader has the recipe, we'll be glad to pass it along. In the meantime, I took the ingredients you mentioned, added some touches of my own, and came up with what I believe is a wonderful recipe. There were no leftovers when I served it.

Roast Pork with Vermouth and Olives

Makes 10 to 12 servings

1 pork loin roast (at least 4 pounds)

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup dry vermouth

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary or sage, or 1/4 teaspoon dried

3 garlic cloves, smashed and minced

Cracked pepper to taste

1 teaspoon olive oil

3/4 cup sliced pimiento-stuffed olives (or to taste)

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1. Score any fat on the roast with a knife. Place in glass or plastic container or self-sealing plastic bag. Combine broth, vermouth, lemon juice, rosemary, garlic and pepper. Pour over meat, seal and refrigerate at least 2 hours and preferably overnight, turning occasionally.

2. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Remove meat from marinade and pat dry. (Return marinade to refrigerator.) Sear meat in a large, oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat, turning so all sides are browned. Place fat side up in skillet (or a shallow roasting pan). Spoon some of the reserved marinade over the meat, and roast until a meat thermometer registers 170 degrees (2 1/2 to 3 hours), basting occasionally with marinade. Do not baste the last hour of cooking and discard any unused marinade. During the last hour, add olives to the pan.

3. Remove the cooked roast from pan and cover with foil. Skim fat from the pan juices, and add enough water to make 1 1/2 cups. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, scraping up browned bits. Mix cornstarch with 1/4 cup water and add to pan, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes, until thickened. Slice pork and serve with gravy.

Q. A few years ago you printed a recipe for a breakfast bread or coffee cake with buttermilk, cinnamon and pecans in it. I don't remember what you called it. It was delicious and I lost the recipe.

— Janet Baker

A. Those ingredients are in Bishop's Bread, a quick bread of the 19th century American frontier, when settlements often were visited by traveling clergymen. "The Better Home and Gardens Heritage Cook Book" (out of print) tells a legend about it: "One early Sunday morning a circuit-riding bishop in Kentucky dropped in on one family unexpectedly for breakfast. The resourceful hostess invented quick fruit bread for the occasion and named it Bishop's Bread in honor of her guest." Some versions add chocolate chips (1/2 to 1 cup) with the fruit.

Bishop's Bread

Makes 2 small loaves, 12 slices each

2 1/2 cups flour, plus some to coat pans

1 3/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup raisins, currants or other dried or candied fruit

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans.

2. Combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in nuts. Remove 1/2 cup of the mixture and set aside. Mix baking soda into remaining flour mixture, then beat in buttermilk and eggs. Stir fruit into batter just enough to moisten.

3. Scrape batter into prepared pans, and sprinkle with reserved flour mixture. Bake about 35 minutes, until loaves test done. Remove from pans and cool on a cake rack.