When we decided to try out Sean Brock’s slow cooked pork shoulder recipe from the Heritage cookbook we concluded the rest of the meal should be Southern-themed as well. I had made some pimento cheese earlier and that seemed a perfect appetizer option. We also had some Virginia peanuts from our CSA that we had roasted and were sitting in the fridge and Jeremy decided to take some inspiration from the “Bar Peanuts” we had a the Rogue Gentleman in Richmond and sautéed them in butter with a generous amount of fresh cracked black pepper and Maldon salt.

Dinner came together perfectly with the pork, tomato gravy, potato gratin and roasted brussel sprouts with pancetta (provided by our dinner guests). Definitely need to go “Southern-inspired” for dinner more often. Simple ingredients, un-fussy recipes, and a good bottle(s) of wine? A recipe for success.