There are fifty ways to leave your lover and plenty of ways to roast a lump of pork, but my Mum found this method and from that moment on, we have never roasted pork any other way.

You can use any cut, or joint, of pork for this method, but because there’s only 3 of us, I invariably buy a small joint of belly pork. With this cut, you get a good proportion of skin. This means a nice amount of crackling, which surely is one of the main points of eating roast pork.

Alex calls crackling ‘crunch’ and cooking it with this method, you will see why.

Now, because this cooks at such a low temperature, apparently it is important to check that your oven reaches the correct temperature when cooking at such a low temp. GM1 on the dial may not be GM1 in the oven.
So if you’re cooking a 4 kg joint of pork for your close friends and admirers, I am sure I would splash out on a (low cost anyway) oven thermometer.
Can you imagine serving raw pork to a crowd? Nightmare. Anyway, we shall assume your oven works and this is the way it goes:

Pat the pork dry with kitchen towel, paying attention to the rind; if the rind is not scored, do that with a sharp knife.

Place the pork on a plate, ready for a salting. If you aren’t going to make gravy in the tin, then go ahead and salt it in the tin.
Heat the oven to GM7/425F/220C Check there’s nothing important hiding in the oven – you aren’t going to be opening that door for a while.

Once the oven is up to temperature (this is important – it only gets a brief blast at this heat), sprinkle some salt over the rind. Get it into the scores, but you don’t have to rub hard; it’ll be frazzled later.
Transfer the pork from the plate to a shallow roasting tin.

Put in the oven for 15 mins.
Do not open the oven door. Not even for an emergency.
Turn the heat down to GM1/275F/140C and cook for the remaining hours.
Do not open the oven door during cooking. Really, not even for an emergency. You do not baste it – no you don’t! It’s pork. Pork at that temperature is basting itself.

At the end of the cooking period, remove the pork from the oven, turn the oven up to GM7 again.

Carefully slice the rind off the top of the pork – take a good layer of fat with it.

(Cut into strips with scissors now, whilst it’s floppy.)
Cover the rindless pork loosely with foil and set aside to rest.

Put the rind on a baking tray, and back into the blazing oven for 25-30 minutes. Keep an eye on it – burnt crackling is hideous. Put two timers on if necessary. Wear one of them.
You have 30 mins now to steam/simmer/whatever some vegetables and make some gravy. No pressure. Maybe you could sweep the floor whilst you’re at it.

I would suggest making some sweet potato fries, but we’ll get to that in a moment.

Here’s the pork, sliced and ready to plate up.

Heeeeeeeeeere’s the crunch and does it ever crunch. You won’t be able to hear a thing whilst you chew this, so whatever you do, don’t negotiate anything during this meal.

Did I mention it’s fabulously delicious? Because it jolly well is.
Of course, if you are too healthy for crackling, then cut the rind off, spit on it and throw it away. Let the meat rest under its low fat foil and serve it with veg. Sit on sharp stones and sticks. Burn your mouth deliberately.

So, some sweet potato fries?

sweet potatoes (Mine weighed 475g/1 lb 1 oz, enough for 2 adults and 1 child)
1-2 tblsp olive oil
(if no children are eating them, a sprinkling of sea salt wouldn’t go amiss)

Peel the sweet potato and cut into batons.

Toss in a large bowl with the olive oil and seas salt, if using.

Spread out on a baking tray – keeping them in one layer.

Bake at 230C/450F/GM 8 for 30-40 mins, turn them around occasionally.

Here it all is, served and ready to enjoy.

Delish!

Slow Roast Pork

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Sweet Potato Fries

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sweet potatoes (Mine weighed 475g/1 lb 1 oz, enough for 2 adults and 1 child)
1-2 tblsp olive oil
(if no children are eating them, a sprinkling of sea salt wouldn’t go amiss)

Peel the sweet potato and cut into batons.
Toss in a large bowl with the olive oil and sea salt, if using.

Spread out on a baking tray – keeping them in one layer.
Bake at 230C/450F/GM 8 for 30-40 mins, turn them around occasionally.

We’re having some strange weather again this Summer. It’s been cold enough to make you contemplate making a pot of stew, but yesterday it was hot again, with the Mother of all rain and murk arriving in the evening.

So what to make for dinner on these days? A strike down the middle;  warming, comforting pork chops and a healthy, tumbling portion of bright and beautiful Summer vegetables.

The vegetables are utterly versatile, really, you can chuck in whatever you like – carrots, green beans, fennel, aubergine, well anything! You could liberally strew some fresh herbs over the top for the last 10-15 mins of cooking if you fancied it. I would definitely get some of the fresh basil growing in the garden and tear at it.

I would if I had basil growing in the garden, but I don’t. I’d get one for the windowsill, but Gary (the male cat) would eat it. He likes green stuff. I don’t like cat spit all over my food, so I wouldn’t like that. Hey ho.

So, first pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 6/400F/200C, then have a look at the Summer veg

Sometimes I put the cannellini beans, more often, I don’t. Whatever moves you. After taking this pic, I found a courgette in the fridge, so I sliced that and chucked it in as well. Reckless and free.

So here is the punnet of cherry tomatoes, 2 red onions- cut into thin wedges, the sliced courgette (zucchini), a red pepper- seeded and chunked, and a tin of cannellini beans that I had emptied into a sieve and rinsed. Who puts sludge in the bottom of the tins, I ask you?

Fling them into the roasting tin and drizzle over some light olive oil, some freshly milled salt and black pepper and 2 garlic cloves that you have unfashionably crushed. I say unfashionably, because it’s all about squashing them in their little papers and chopping them nowadays, but I like the garlic in this to be very small and a bit on the fierce side, so none of that ‘slow-baking in its jacket will mellow it out’ junk in this recipe.

Turn it around to cover it all and admire. Pure Summer. Cover it loosely with some foil and bung it in the oven for about 30 mins.

After 30 mins, take it out of the oven, remove the foil and increase the oven temperature to gas mark 8/450F/230C.

It looks pretty unchanged huh? You can see the tomato skins pinching up a bit, but there’s no real change. That’s why we’re going to blast them in the furnace. Stick it up to gas mark 9 if you like them charred.

Charred in a good way, not in a ‘When cooking women dispose of their husband’s body’ way or ‘When good housewives go bad’ or ‘Women do the funniest things’. OK, I’ve finished. It hurt my feminist sentiments, typing that out.

Carry on letting this glorious concoction roast away for a good 30 mins. Keep an eye on them though – they’ll catch at the edges and it really is in your interest to periodically give them a stir to bring the edges into the middle.

I took them out at about 25 mins, because I didn’t want it too pappy, but we decided that we do like them a bit more cooked down; you can’t go wrong really. Even if they’re completely underdone, they’re only hot crudites.

Here they are finished

I stirred a couple of tblsp of balsamic vinegar in, just to keep the flavour lively. It tastes so delicious, and you know it’s good for you. Makes you feel seasonal and virtuous.

So you need to do something about that. You need to cook some meat. That’ll redress the balance.

There you are! Raw slabs of meat! Pork chops, seasoned with salt and pepper and thrust under the grill for about 8 mins each side.

Ta da! We like the crusty bits on the edges. We really, really like pork chops to have a bone inside and some rind, but this was all I could get, so you know.  It’s not like I substituted it with hedgehog, so don’t be ungrateful.

We had to have some broccoli and sweetcorn cut off the cob. Alex likes those vegetables with every meal. EVERY meal. I used to love sweetcorn passionately, but frankly, we need a break from each other.

The thing is, it’s my fault really.
Shouldn’t have shown him how to press each piece of corn onto his front teeth to give you that instant ‘ain’t never brushed my teeth’ look.
I still do it better than him. He has much to learn.

Dinner’s ready! Btw, this is Ian’s portion, not Alex’s. I’m not insane.

The pork was juicy and crispy, the roasted veg is so flavoursome, silky and yielding. The easiest meal, but so utterly delicious.

The leftover veg, ahhhh yes. You could reheat it and have it warm like a salad accompaniment, or just cold with a salad. Try it with some meat and mayonnaise in a sandwich. Oh yeah baby. Looks like carnage, but tastes far better than carnage. Ever eaten carnage? Do let me know so that I can alert the police.

Here’s the instructions again, sans wittering:

Roasted Summer Veggies

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1 tin cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
2 red onions, peeled (duh) and cut into slender wedges
1 courgette, sliced
I box cherry tomatoes
I red pepper, chunked
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
drizzle of light olive oil
freshly ground salt and black pepper
balsamic vinegar to drizzle on after cooking (optional)

Preheat oven to GM6/400F/200C
Put vegetables into a roasting tin, drizzle with oil, add crushed garlic and salt and pepper. Mix to combine.
Loosely cover with foil and bake for 30 mins.
Remove tin from oven and increase temperature to GM8/450F/230C
Remove foil, stir veggies and return uncovered tin to the oven.
Continue to cook for another 25-30 minutes. If you like your veggies more on the charred side, then up the oven temperature and leave them in for longer. Do periodically check them and give them a stir.

When cooked, remove from oven, check seasoning and add a splash (2 tbsp or so) of balsamic vinegar to them and give them another stir.
Serve hot (oh! mind your mouth!), lukewarm or cold with a salad. This makes a large quantity, so feel free to reduce quantities as you wish. One word of caution, don’t over-fill the roasting tin too much, otherwise you don’t give it a chance to do anything but steam.

Pork Chops

Preheat grill to medium.
Remove 4 pork chops from the wrapper. Wipe them. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill for about 8-10 mins each side.

Serve with the roasted veg and some fresh green veg.