Pot-roast Pork
May. 28th, 2006 11:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
desperanceThis is what I ate last night. It's so simple, I'm almost embarrassed to post it; just as Capote said of Kerouac's work, "That's not writing, that's typing," so this really isn't cooking, it's chopping. Well, peeling and chopping. Knifework. But it tastes good, so:
Buy a slab of belly pork, skin on and bones still in. If you don't have a seriously sharp knife at home, have your butcher score the skin for you for crackling perfection (I know a man who keeps a Stanley knife in his kitchen, just for this, but it's not necessary; a good kitchen knife well honed will do the job just fine. Me, I am suspicious of his honing).
Back home, peel and coarsely chop two or three onions, a handful of carrots and a large beetroot (guess the contents of my vegetable box? Other veg is also available; your mileage may vary. Sweet roots is key here - pork loves sweetness, whether it comes from roots or fruits - but a fennel bulb would also have been gorgeous; and if you were going that way a little more greenness in the flavours, some celery would not have hurt; and so on. Actually, I take it all back; this is cooking. This is the essence of cooking. You could call it food-management, but please don't). Take a casserole and scatter the chopped veg into it, along with a couple of bay leaves (fresh if possible - a bay tree is the easiest thing in the world to grow, even if you start as I did with a twiglet), a handful of thyme (ditto ditto), other herbs as wanted. I used some dried wild oregano flowers, just because I can.
Salt and pepper, and then not quite enough water to cover - a quarter of a pint, a little more, something on that order. Depends on the size of the casserole. Add a splash of good vinegar (red wine to match the beetroot, or white wine to match the pork, or cider to complement it, which is the way I went) for a touch of edge. Rub the pork with salt & pepper and lay it on top of the veggies, skin side up.
Cover the casserole and put it in a low, low oven, and leave it for a long, long time. Four or five hours is good. Check every now and then, and if it's boiling vigorously, cool it down. It only needs to simmer.
Finally, turn the oven up high, take the pork out of the casserole and lay it in a roasting tray, slip it into the top of the oven to crisp up the crackling. While that happens, boil & mash some potatoes; if you like it, add finely-chopped spring onion to make champ. Or whatever you fancy.
And there you have it. Snappy crackling, meltingly soft meat, flavoursome veg and juices. What more could you want?
Buy a slab of belly pork, skin on and bones still in. If you don't have a seriously sharp knife at home, have your butcher score the skin for you for crackling perfection (I know a man who keeps a Stanley knife in his kitchen, just for this, but it's not necessary; a good kitchen knife well honed will do the job just fine. Me, I am suspicious of his honing).
Back home, peel and coarsely chop two or three onions, a handful of carrots and a large beetroot (guess the contents of my vegetable box? Other veg is also available; your mileage may vary. Sweet roots is key here - pork loves sweetness, whether it comes from roots or fruits - but a fennel bulb would also have been gorgeous; and if you were going that way a little more greenness in the flavours, some celery would not have hurt; and so on. Actually, I take it all back; this is cooking. This is the essence of cooking. You could call it food-management, but please don't). Take a casserole and scatter the chopped veg into it, along with a couple of bay leaves (fresh if possible - a bay tree is the easiest thing in the world to grow, even if you start as I did with a twiglet), a handful of thyme (ditto ditto), other herbs as wanted. I used some dried wild oregano flowers, just because I can.
Salt and pepper, and then not quite enough water to cover - a quarter of a pint, a little more, something on that order. Depends on the size of the casserole. Add a splash of good vinegar (red wine to match the beetroot, or white wine to match the pork, or cider to complement it, which is the way I went) for a touch of edge. Rub the pork with salt & pepper and lay it on top of the veggies, skin side up.
Cover the casserole and put it in a low, low oven, and leave it for a long, long time. Four or five hours is good. Check every now and then, and if it's boiling vigorously, cool it down. It only needs to simmer.
Finally, turn the oven up high, take the pork out of the casserole and lay it in a roasting tray, slip it into the top of the oven to crisp up the crackling. While that happens, boil & mash some potatoes; if you like it, add finely-chopped spring onion to make champ. Or whatever you fancy.
And there you have it. Snappy crackling, meltingly soft meat, flavoursome veg and juices. What more could you want?