Slow Roast Pork

Today I cooked pork. This is the third time this year, and it is all down to picking up a joint reduced in the supermarket. I slow roasted it as I had back in February...

Sunday 10^th February 2013

·        It’s been a long time since I cooked a joint of pork, but seduced by a bargain in the shops, I bought a leg joint home.

After researching a load of recipes and having ‘big’ ideas about what I would do to win my family over (we have been a “roast chicken on a Sunday” family for some time now!!), I opted for plain, simple slow-roasted pork. My decision came from my need to bake my Bara Brith at 150 C for an hour or more, and also slow cook a beef stew for 2 hours for tomorrow’s dinner – decision made!

To prepare the pork, I dried it with paper towel, salted  the rind (for carckling) and allowed it to rest for ½ hour. After this, I dried the rind and removed the salt before placing it in the oven. There it sat, gently cooking for 6 hours…

After resting for 40 mins after the end of cooking, the meat gently fell apart into shreds of tender pork.

Serve the pork with baked apple sauce:

Take a nice size Bramley cooking apple, and cut 5-6 slits in the sides. Place the apple in the roasting  tin with the pork, and roast on a low heat for 40-50 mins, by which time the skin will have split, and ready-made apple sauce will be oozing into the pan.

Collect the sauce and discard the skn and core. The sauce wil have browned slightly on hitting the tin, but mix it thoroughly to a smooth, thick, caramel-coloured paste. Nothing more to do but enjoy with your pork.

This is just the best way to eat pork, and is a great sharing plate. I would also serve this with salad in the summer. Perhaps it will be time to do that soon with all the sunshine we are getting -

Fingers crossed!