Slow Roast Pork Shoulder By John Besh Food

SLOW-ROASTED PORK SHOULDER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
• In a food processor, combine the peppercorns, garlic, and cloves and puree. While the motor is running, drizzle in the oil until a paste is formed. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the garlic paste into a small bowl.
• Place the pork butt on a work surface and season all over generously with salt. Rub all over with the garlic paste. Place in an oven-safe roasting bag and close with a twist tie. Place in a large roasting pan, and cook until tender, about 5 hours.
• Remove roast from the oven. Slip the oven-roasting bag off the meat and discard. Transfer the cooking liquid to a medium saucepan. Skim the fat from the cooking liquid with a ladle or de-greaser. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer to thicken the juices slightly.
• Raise the oven to 400 degrees F. Return the pork, in the roasting pan, to the oven. Continue roasting, basting frequently with the simmering cooking liquid, until well-browned, about 30 minutes. If there is any cooking liquid left, pour it over the pork.
• Remove pork from the oven and let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes. With the pork drippings you may make a vinegar sauce using this formula: for every 1/2 cup of drippings, whisk with 3 tablespoons vinegar and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Either carve the pork into thin slices, or, using 2 forks, pull into small pieces. Serve with the vinegar sauce on the side.

SLOW ROASTED PORK SHOULDER

Steps:

• Season the pork shoulder with salt and pepper.
• In a Dutch oven or casserole set over moderately high heat, heat the oil until hot. Add the pork and brown on all sides. Transfer pork to a platter and discard all but 1 tablespoon fat from pan. Add leek, carrots and celery stalks to pan and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add garlic cloves, shallots, thyme, parsley and salt and pepper and cook the vegetables until golden. Transfer vegetables to platter. Deglaze pan with balsamic vinegar and reduce by 2/3. Add port and cabernet and reduce by half. Return pork and vegetables to pan, add stock and tomato paste and bring to a boil on top of the stove. Cover pan with foil and lid and transfer pan to a preheated 350 degree oven. Cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until very tender. Remove pork from oven, remove lid and loosen foil. Let cool for 1 hour in cooking liquid at room temperature or in refrigerator overnight.
• Discard all fat from surface and transfer pork to another pan. Strain cooking liquid and add enough to just cover pork. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, until heated through.
• Meanwhile, reduce remaining cooking liquid over high heat until liquid is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Season with salt and pepper. Cut pork into 1 1/2-inch thick slices. Swirl butter into sauce.

ULTRA-CRISPY SLOW-ROASTED PORK SHOULDER RECIPE

Steps:

• Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 250°F (121°C).

FOOLPROOF SLOW-ROASTED PORK SHOULDER

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Preheat the oven to 500 F. Mix all of the spice rub ingredients together in a small bowl to form a paste.
• Use a basting brush or spoon to coat the roast. (You might have some left over, depending on the size of your roast.)
• Place the seasoned pork shoulder on a rack in a roasting pan and transfer it to the oven.
• Roast for 20 minutes. Lower the heat to 250 F and cook until your probe thermometer reads 140 F, which will take another hour or so. The exterior of the roast should be a beautiful brown color.
• Remove the roast from the oven, cover it loosely with foil, and let it rest for 15 minutes, during which time the temperature will continue to rise until it reaches the target temperature of 145 F.
• Slice, serve, and enjoy.

EASY ROAST PORK SHOULDER

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 240C/220C fan/gas 9. Remove any packaging from the pork, retaining the string, and pat dry with kitchen paper - you want the skin to be as dry as possible. Score deep cuts into the skin in a diamond pattern using a sharp knife (you want to cut into the fat). If the skin is already scored, make sure each cut is dry and can be easily opened. Rub the oil into the skin, rubbing it well into each cut, then sprinkle the salt over in an even layer, rubbing this into the cuts, too.
• Scatter the onion slices over the base of a large roasting tin and sit the pork joint on top. Roast for 20-30 mins, or until the skin starts to blister and bubble. Put the kettle on to boil.
• Pour half a kettle of boiling water around the joint to cover the base of the tin, ensuring it doesn't drip onto the skin. Reduce the oven temperature to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Roast for another 2 hrs 30 mins, or until the meat under the skin is very tender when pressed. There's a lot of fat in pork shoulder, so cooking at a low temperature this way ensures the meat doesn't dry out - if needed, it can cook for up to 3 hrs.
• Turn the oven back up to 220C/220C fan/gas 7 and continue to roast the pork for 20-25 mins until the skin is very crisp and has started to harden - it should feel brittle when tapped with a knife. If needed, cook for 10 mins more to achieve this. Remove the pork from the oven and rest for 20 mins in the tin, loosely covering with foil. Remove the crackling in large pieces, then break into smaller chunks. Carve the meat and serve alongside the crackling and your favourite sides.

SLOW-ROAST SHOULDER OF PORK

Steps:

• The day before, pat dry the pork with kitchen paper. In a food processor, whizz together the garlic, paprika, oil and lemon juice with 1 tbsp salt. Rub pork with the marinade and refrigerate for 12-24 hrs.
• Heat oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2. Place potatoes in a large roasting tin and sit the pork on top (the potatoes act as a trivet). Pour over any marinade with 300ml water, cover with foil and cook for 5 hrs.
• Remove the foil and increase oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Cook for a further hr.
• Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 20-30 mins. To serve, lift off pieces of the crisp skin, then take 2 forks and slowly pull the meat apart. You can cut the pork into hunks if you want but I like it all in stringy bits, ready to go with whatever accompaniments you choose.

SLOW ROAST SHOULDER OF PORK

Steps:

• The day before, use a very sharp knife to score the skin of the pork in a criss-cross fashion at 1cm intervals. (Ask your butcher to do this if you prefer.) Combine the garlic, paprika, oil, lemon juice and 1 tsp salt in a mixing bowl. Rub this marinade all over the pork, cover and leave in the fridge for 12-24 hrs.
• The next day, heat oven to 220C/ 200C fan/gas 7. Put the potatoes in a roasting tin to make a trivet for the meat, trimming them flat if you need to. Sit the pork on top, then pour any marinade plus ½ a cup of water over the pork. Cook for 30 mins to start the crackling crisping up. Now turn down the oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2, cover the tin with foil and cook for 3½ hrs. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 30 mins. Serve with apple sauce, see below.

SLOW-ROAST PORK SHOULDER

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix the treacle, cider vinegar, paprika, cumin, mustard powder and chilli powder until smooth. Using a sharp knife, make deep slashes in the skin of the pork shoulder to cut through the skin and fat layer, but not the meat. Place the joint, skin-side down, in a large dish and rub the spice paste into the meat (not the fat). Turn skin-side, cover tightly with cling film and put in the fridge overnight, or for 24 hrs to give the pork maximum flavour.
• Heat oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2. Transfer the pork, skin-side up, to a deep roasting tin, rub 1 tbsp sea salt onto the skin and pour 500ml water into the bottom of the roasting tin. Cover tightly with foil and roast in the oven for 5 hrs.
• Remove the foil, turn up the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and cook for a further 1 hr 30 mins or until the pork is very tender and the skin has turned to crispy crackling.
• Once the pork is ready, take it out of the roasting tin, cover with foil and leave to rest. Pour the juices from the roasting tin into a jug and leave to separate. Pour off the fat layer and transfer the remaining juices to a large sauté pan. Simmer over a high heat, stirring, until reduced to a rich gravy.
• Once rested, cut the pork into pieces - it should pull apart with very little effort - and break the crackling into shards. Serve the pork and crackling with the gravy poured over and mustard mash, honey-roasted carrots and quick pickled red cabbage on the side (see goes well with below).