Le Pork Roast - French Rustic style

Now I will be the first person to put my hand down if someone gives me choice of roasts when pork is mentioned.   The only pork roast I recall liking is the crackling, and at Christmas, I skip the pork and eat the crackling only.  My hubby on the other hand is a country boy at heart and misses his pork roasts so when I found this recipe in an old Good Taste recipe I thought it might help me 'get over myself'.

And I'm thrilled to say it did! It's a bit of a french twist and a bit rustic too.  I bought my pork from the abbatoir frozen last shop, not even thinking whether it was bone in/out, rind on/off so when I read the recipe yesterday after defrosting little porky it said a deboned and de-rinded pork shoulder.  Mmmm I had the opposite.

So deboning it was quite a trial, and learning experience - because the bones/joint is at right-angles - I wanted to keep the loin intact as much as possible.  Well they don't call it 'butchering' for nothing I suppose but I did the best I can - it was a mess.  Luckily the recipe also called for it to be strung with twine so that was forgving of my inadequacies as a butcher!  Next time I'll be asking the guys at M&A Butchery to debone and de-rind!

So, the recipe: Takes about 3 hours all up from beginning to end

Ingredients:
1 pork shoulder - around 1.2 kg after de-boning and de-rinding
about 1.2 mt kitchen twine
2 tb celery salt
2 tb olive oil
1 brown onion, diced
1 cup chicken stock

1 tb honey

1 cup dry white wine
1 bunch baby carrots (I luckily grow these in my garden woot!)
1 small fennel
4 red delicious apples

Method:
Preheat oven to 190 degrees c

Roll and tie up with twine your pork into a tight and even as possible flank (about 2cm intervals with twine) and spread Celery celery seed all over roast.

Put your roasting tray on your stove and heat oil on it at moderate setting - put your pork on and brown all over.    Whilst the pork is browning, in a jug mix your stock, honey and wine.  Set aside.

Remove pork from tray when browned and set aside on plate.

Add onions to tray and soften on medium heat - add stock,wine and honey mix and let simmer for about 2 minutes. 

Add carrots and pork then seal securely with aluminium foil, put in the oven for 1 hour and 15 mins

Remove from oven take tops off carrots and add diced fennel and apples whole, baste in liquid from tray

Leave in oven a further 45 mins, then remove from oven, take pork out to rest for 10 minutes (I put the rest of the tray back in the oven).
(look at my crackling, very proud, it was delicous! I just put the pork rind on a separate tray and baked at the same time)

Slice in say 2cm slices, cut apples in half and place on top of sliced pork, drizzle with remainder of sauce - beautiful and make a great change from apple sauce!

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