It’s time for part three of the roast dinner playlist and this thyme (sorry, time)…, it’s roast pork with homemade apple sauce, crackling, slow cooked red cabbage & dauphinoise potatoes! If you missed the first videos in the series you can click here to see roast beef & yorkshire puddings here to see the roast chicken! This is a really fun recipe to make and if you get your timings right you can smash it out of the park & mix up any sides for vegetables as you see fit! Lets get to it…
Roast Pork
Super simple! Make sure the pork joint is at room temperature. Leave the string on the joint to help hold it’s shape. Grab a knife and score lines into the fat approximately 1 inch apart to create small gaps. This will make the crackling easier to portion up. Rub good quality flaked salt into the gaps and press on top of the skin. That is it! Of course you can get more flash with this if you want, but this will be great.
Place in an oven and cook with the following times depending on the size of the pork.
The first blast at the higher temperature is to get the crackling nice and crunchy. Then lower the heat to cook through and add the other items you plan to bake alongside it! Remember if you think it’s caught a bit too much you can cover it with foil during baking. Once done, check it’s ready by putting a skewer into the thickest part and making sure the juices run clear. Leave to rest for 30 mins with foil on top. Make gravy like in the other videos with the pan juices if you wish. Carve up after removing the crackling lid which will come off easy and serve! Leftovers make a great stir fry.
Apple Sauce
This goes alongside roast pork like peas and carrots! After peeling, coring and roughly chopping the apples chuck them in a pan with the lemon juice and zest, sugar and water. Place on the hob and warm on a low heat with the lid on. Keep your eye on it and stir from time to time! As you’ll see in the video, I got caught out by a delivery driver! The apple will soften as it cooks in the lemon sugar water, it’ll naturally break down so if you want it more chunky take it off the heat before it gets too soft. For a naughty twist add a little butter and mix through off the heat. Allow to cool, taste and tweak if needed (you may want to add a little sugar) and serve, or you can make ahead and freeze it / store it in the fridge. A really good thing to make ahead and forget about.
Red cabbage
I think red cabbage is pretty underrated. Here we fry it with onions and bake it slowly, it works well as you can put it in the oven with your roast at the same time. First drizzle a little oil in the frying pan and add the onion, fry it for a few minutes to soften (the onion is actually optional but works well, if you want to omit, skip to the next step frying the cabbage in a little oil). Add the grated cabbage, stir over the heat regularly, it will wilt a little bit. After a few minutes add in the sugar, vinegar and a dollop of jam. I used redcurrant but cranberry / strawberry even the apple sauce would work ok or omit and add more sugar. It’s all about getting that balance between sweet and tangy. Let this all warm through and simmer slightly for a few minutes stirring regularly. Tip into a baking dish, cover with foil and bake in the oven for 90 minutes alongside your roast at the lower temp of 180c/160fan/gas4 until softened. Remove the foil, give a gentle mix with a spoon and serve. Can also be frozen.
Dauphinoise Potatoes
An insanely naughty side dish – cream, cheese, softly cooked potatoes, what is not to love! Make sure you don’t over fill it like I did haha but if you do and use a lined tray it’ll catch anything so don’t worry! Lightly butter a dish big enough to fit your potatoes in when they are lying down, don’t worry, make chips with the leftovers! Lay the potatoes down just overlapping eachother, season with salt and pepper, add a little the cream and stock just to cover the potatoes, then repeat again in this order with more potatoes until you reach the top. Finish with a final season and sprinkle generously with grated cheese. Cover in foil and place on a lined baking tray. Bake for 50 minutes at 180c/160cfan/gas4, remove the foil and bake again to brown the top – this takes roughly 25 minutes. Remove, allow to cool slightly and serve up!
Conclusion
Serve up with vegetables of your choice, make a gravy like in the beef and chicken videos! Next up is lamb and mint sauce so keep an eye out for that one, just mix and match and have fun. Enjoy and let me know how you get on!