Cooking for a Meaty Guy

Over at Meathenge, Dr. Biggles has challenged us to cook for him. Knowing Biggles as we who read his blog regularly do, we know he loves meat, all meat, any kind of meat, the more meat the better and if it includes bacon, that's approaching heaven. I couldn't come up with an idea that included bacon or barbecue (that may be a fatal mistake) but perhaps this oniony pork roast will please that tall, redheaded guy. Herewith is my submission for "Cook For Me," in time to make the revised contest deadline.

This is a riff on a recipe I downloaded from epicurious.com; any pork roast that includes cocoa powder in the list of ingredients captures my full attention. I didn't have everything on their list so I fudged a little. My Beloved, when asked if he liked the pork roast, said, and I quote, "I loved it!" so I found the courage to submit this one to the contest. Here goes:

Meaty Guy Pork Roast (adapted from Cocoa and Spice Slow-Roasted Pork with Onions)

Spice Rub:
1 tsp. white pepper
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 Tbs. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Scharffenberger)
1 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

Pork and Onions:
4 Tbs. olive oil
2 lbs. onions, sliced
1 tsp. ground sage
1 cup water
1 3-lb. pork shoulder butt with bone (the one I used was rolled and had no bone)

Heat oil in a large pot or frying pan with a cover, over medium heat. Add onions and sage, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Saute' about 10 minutes, then add the water, cover and cook until the onions are soft. Uncover and continue cooking until onions begin to brown and water has mostly evaporated, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Combine spice rub ingredients and sprinkle on a baking sheet or sheet of aluminum foil. Roll pork in the rub, pressing to coat (some of the rub will be left over). Set pork in a large roasting pan. Top pork with onion mixture, scattering the rest around the pork in the pan.

Roast pork and onions until onions are deep brown, stirring occasionally, about 3 hours. Transfer onions to a bowl. Continue to roast the pork until very tender, perhaps 2 more hours. Transfer pork to a platter, rewarm the onions briefly in a microwave, and season with salt and pepper. Spoon around the pork.

Okay, so Biggles, enjoy! Are there any consolation prizes? :-)