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Cook Once - Roast Pork
The Sunday or mid-week roast is the customary meal when children and teenagers sit down to eat with their families. Here are some simple recipes for a basic pork roast, followed by quick and delicious ways of using up the leftover meat. You may wish to buy a slightly bigger joint if you like the look of the ‘eat twice’ recipe and know your family will devour the roast in its first outing.
Ingredients show imperial units
1kg leg of pork will feed 8 servings
- 2.25kg loin of pork
- 1 small, onion peeled
- Sea salt
Salt
Consider tablesalt, sea salt or crystals.
Sea salt’s pronounced and salty flavour means less is required to season food.
- 1 tablespoon plain flour
Flour
For pastry making or to thicken sauces, soups, stews and casseroles.
- Raising agents are added to plain flour to make self-raising flour, used to lighten and give an airy texture to cakes and sponges.
- Once opened reseal with quick clips or transfer to an airtight container or kilner jar. It will keep for up to 3-4 months
- 275ml dry cider
- 275ml vegetable stock
Stocks
Made from your meat and fish bones.
Frozen in ice cubes for gravies, risotto and cooking rice. Once frozen, remove from the ice trays and pack into freezer bags. Use stock powder or cubes if you do not have any home made available.
- Pepper
Black peppercorns
Best used as a condiment.
They can be lightly crushed and used to spice up a creamy sauce or to coat fillet steak or chicken breasts.- Although it might seem odd, grinding black pepper over a bowl of strawberries enhances the flavour of the fruit.
- Pepper that is pre-ground is not fresh tasting and often has other ingredients mixed in.
- Choose the type of mill that suits you, and if you want coarser pepper you can loosen the screw on the top of the mill or crush the seeds in a pestle and mortar
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 240C/475F/Gas 9.
- While the oven is preheating, score the skin of the pork all over into thin strips. To do this you can use the point of a very sharp paring knife, or Stanley knife.
- Now place the pork on a wire rack in a roasting tin, skin-side up, halve the onion and wedge the two pieces in slightly underneath the meat. Sprinkle the salt evenly over the skin, pressing it in as much as you can.
- Place the pork on a high shelf in the oven and roast it for 25 minutes. Turn the heat down to 190C/375F/Gas 5, and calculate the total cooking time allowing 35 minutes to the pound. In this case it would be a further 2½ hours.
- There’s no need to baste pork as there is enough fat to keep the meat moist. The way to tell if the meat is cooked is to use a meat thermometer towards the end of the cooking time: insert into the centre of the joint or at the thickest point. If you don’t have a thermometer insert a skewer in the thickest part and the juices that run out should be absolutely clear without any trace of pinkness.
- When the pork is cooked remove it from the oven and give it at least 10 minutes resting time before carving. While that is happening, tilt the tin and spoon all the fat off, leaving only the juices. The onion will probably be black and charred, which gives the gravy a lovely rich colour. Leave the onion in, then place the roasting tin over direct heat, turned to low, sprinkle in the flour and quickly work it into the juices with a wooden spoon.
- Now turn the heat up to medium and gradually add the cider and the stock, this time using a balloon whisk until it comes up to simmering point and you have a smooth rich gravy. Taste and season with salt and pepper, then discard the onion and pour the gravy into a warmed serving jug. Serve the pork carved in slices, giving everyone some crackling.
Eat twice with leftover pork
TOP TIP
To freeze solid foods, pack them as tightly as possible... Read more
Comments on this recipe
Ahh, wonderful! I can almost taste it!
Couple of things. I like to sprinkle the joint with a level tablespoon of brown sugar in addition to the salt, and if the crackling is a bit soft I peal pieces off and finish them in the microwave on high power for 30 seconds. Place on some kitchen roll to adsorb the fat and cover as it will spit and make a mess inside your microwave
Comments on this recipe