MOTHER'S DAY: SLOW-ROASTED ONE- STOP PORK DINNER

Beautifully tender one-stop pork dinner with all the trimmings that basically cooks itself... 

   Pork roast in one pan
Pork shoulder is well & good but belly pork makes a great roast, too

What a treat it is to have a roast dinner with all the trimmings. What a joy if the meat is a less expensive but delicious cut.  And what bliss if all it basically involves is turning the oven on and wrapping a few veg.

With pork belly roasts on special at M&S for about £7 and shjoulder roasts a tenner, Mothers Day may be the time to test this easy roast dinner.  

Exquisite crackling requires a bit of fiddly prep (well worth it!!) but the one-stop method of roasting makes life easy.  The meat and several veg are ready at the same time and saves on fuel costs.

The prep starts the day before serving.  

Ingred:
    1 kilo/2lb belly pork (with scored crackling)
    salt
    water or stock
    up to 1/4 cup/60 ml armagnac/apple cider/apple juice (opt)

    2 med onion
    2 sticks celery
    
    2 small eating apples, unpeeled but cored & cut into 8ths
    butter
    cinnamon

    Vegetables - all wrapped individually in foil with a couple of tablespoon water (not potatoes): 

    potatoes
    carrots
    cabbage (opt)   
    broccoli (opt)
    peas (opt)
    corn (opt)

Equipment: one roasting tray with baking rack, foil or parchment paper, a small oven tray

Method:

The day before:

1. If the crackling hasn't been scored, take a very sharp knife and draw parallel lines in the fat down to, but not into, the flesh.  The lines should be 1/2 inch/1 cm apart.
2. Boil a kettle.  Place the pork on a rack in a tray and pour boiling water over the crackling layer.  Discard the water; remove tray and turn the pork upside down so the crackling layer rests on the bottom. Pour in sufficient boiling water to cover the fat layer but not the flesh; leave 20 mins. (Bear with here; these are butchers' instructions and worth the effort).  Drain.
3. Refrigerate overnight crackling side up, uncovered 

On the day:

1. Preheat oven to 160C/320F
2. Rub crackling with light layer salt, pushing it into the cracks; lightly pepper & salt the flesh; cut onions in thin wedges, add with celery in the bottom of the baking pan
3. Place the joint on a rack crackling side up; pour in 1/2 cup/125  ml water with a generous slug armagnac, white wine, apple cider or apple juice
4. Roast 3-4 hours;  do not baste.  If top looks in danger of burning, cover with foil.
5. 1.5 hours before end of cooking, place potatoes next to meat
6. Wrap apples in a piece of foil or greaseproof with a tablespoon of butter and a couple of pinches of cinnamon; place alongside meat or on oven floor 
7. Wrap vegetables in individual packets of foil or greaseproof paper. Place root veg alongside meat, or if not enough room, on oven floor 
8. 45 mins before the end of cooking, place broccoli corn/peas on oven floor 
9. When the roast is done pull away the crackling.  Cover meat with foil; rest 10-15 mins. Turn off oven, leaving veg inside.
10. Break or cut crackling into bite size pieces; place in separate serving dish
11. Remove as much fat as possible from the the juices in the pan; place over med heat; add a bit of water and scrape away at the bits on the bottom.  Strain, mashing onions & celery to maximise flavour; keep warm.  (For a thicker gravy, add a slurry of 2 tbsp cornflour mixed with 2 tbsp cold water, stirring until blended)
12. Serve apple in wedges or as mashed applesauce
13. Arrange meat, veg, fruit & crackling on a large platter

Tips:

• For a pork shoulder of 2 kilos, double cooking time but check 3/4 of the way through.  The meat should be tender but still sliceable
• This method of one-pan roasting will also work with a chicken or joint of beef but  the cooking time will be much reduced.

                           

                   More Meat on Nav Bar: Recipes II ...

Please leave a Comment in the box below

This reipe has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.