Birthday Pork Roast Food

PORK ROAST WITH CRISPY PORK CRACKLING

Steps:

• Dry skin: Pat the skin dry with paper towels. If time permits, leave in the fridge uncovered overnight (even 1 hr helps). If not, pat extra well.
• Preheat oven to 220°C/430°F (200°C fan).
• Season flesh: Sprinkle pork flesh with 1 1/2 tsp salt, all the pepper and all fennel seeds and 1 tbsp olive oil. Rub into flesh, right into all the crevices and cracks.
• Salt skin: Flip pork, drizzle skin with 1 tsp oil, then rub all over with fingers. Sprinkle all over with remaining 1 1/2 tsp salt, taking care to get even coverage. Un-salted patches will not become bubbly crackling, it will be a hard flat sheet.
• Garlic & onion bed: Place halved garlic bulbs and onion in roasting pan. Place pork skin side up on top of them.
• Wine: Carefully pour wine into the pan, being sure not to wet the skin. Transfer to oven.
• Lower oven: Immediately turn oven down to 160°C/320°F (140°C fan).
• Slow roast: Roast for 2 1/2 hours.
• Level at 1 1/2 hours: Check pork after 1 1/2 hours to see if the pork is warped and the skin's overall surface is significantly unlevelled. If so, adjust to make the skin surface as level as possible using balls of foil and moving large dislodged pork pieces to the side (key tip for crispy crackling, Note 3). Then return to oven for the remaining 1 hour.
• Check pan & salt on skin: If pan is drying out, add some water. If there are bald patches on the skin without salt (eg it fell off), spray lightly with oil spray (or brush lightly with oil) then sprinkle with salt. (Remember, salt = bubbly skin!)
• Increase heat: Turn oven up to 250°C/485°F (all oven types), or as high as it will go if your oven won't go this high.
• Make skin crisp: Return pork to oven for 30 minutes, rotating pan as needed, until skin is crisp and bubbly all over. If needed, use foil patches, secured with water soaked toothpicks, to cover parts that are done and keep crisping up remaining patches.
• Rest: Transfer pork to serving platter, tent loosely with foil (don't worry, crackling stays super-crisp) and rest for 20 minutes (stays warm up to 1 hour). Then slice using a serrated knife.
• Serve with gravy. Don't pour gravy over crackling - pour it off to the side! See note for reheating.

SIX-HOUR PORK ROAST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 275°F.
• Blend together sage, rosemary, garlic, fennel seeds, salt, and pepper in a food processor until a thick paste forms. With motor running, add wine and oil and blend until combined well.
• If necessary, trim fat from top of pork, to leave a 1/8-inch-thick layer of fat. Make 3 small incisions, each about 1 inch long and 1 inch deep, in each side of pork with a small sharp knife, and fill each with about 1 teaspoon herb paste. Spread remaining herb paste over pork, concentrating on boned side, and tie roast with kitchen string at 2-inch intervals.
• Put pork, fat side up, in a roasting pan and roast in middle of oven 6 hours. Transfer roast to cutting board and let stand 15 minutes.
• Discard string and cut pork roast (with an electric knife if you have one) into thick slices.

SUNDAY PORK ROAST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Place vegetables on bottom of a shallow roasting pan. Mix 2 tablespoons flour, bay leaf, thyme, and 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper; rub over roast. Place roast on top of vegetables, fat side up. Add 2 cups water to pan., Roast, uncovered, 1-1/2 hours. Sprinkle brown sugar over roast. Roast 15-20 minutes longer or until a thermometer reads 140°. (Temperature of roast will continue to rise another 5-10° upon standing.), Remove roast to a platter. Tent with foil; let stand 15 minutes before slicing., Strain drippings from roasting pan into a measuring cup; skim fat. Add enough water to the drippings to measure 1-1/2 cups., In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk remaining flour and 1/3 cup water until smooth. Gradually whisk in drippings mixture and remaining salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly; cook and stir 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve roast with gravy. Freeze option: Freeze cooled sliced pork and gravy in freezer containers. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Heat through in a covered saucepan, gently stirring and adding a little broth or water if necessary.

DAD'S BASIC MOIST PORK ROAST

Steps:

• Combine oil, pepper, and salt in a bowl; rub oil mixture over pork and refrigerate while oven preheats.
• Preheat an oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).
• Place a roasting rack in a large roasting pan; arrange pork on the roasting rack.
• Roast in preheated oven until pork with browned, about 30 minutes. Remove pork from oven and reduce oven heat to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Allow pork to rest uncovered at room temperature for 30 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read between 115 degrees F (46 degrees C) and 140 degrees F (60 degrees C).
• Return to oven and continue to cook until pork is slightly pink in the center, 15 to 30 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 145 degrees F (63 degrees C).
• Let the roast stand uncovered at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes before slicing and serving.