For a few months now I have been craving an old-fashioned pork roast, one with the skin on that gets real crispy, sort of like chicharron.
Lately, I have been staring longingly at the pork shoulders in the meat counter at Super Bear, realizing that if I cooked one I would have to invite lots of people to help me eat it. I hesitated. But as Oscar Wilde was famous for saying, “I can resist anything but temptation.”
So this week I bought one. Twelve pounds of meat, bone and skin! These roasts come in packages of two. Just tell the butcher you want just one. Who buys two anyway?
Pork roast ready for baking. (Photo by Patty Schied)
I only managed to find five people willing to help me eat it. For sides, I served cucumber-onion salad, red cabbage cooked with apples, currants and onions, and also crispy roast potatoes. There was dessert, of course. Also, plenty of leftovers for guest to take home. Lots left for me, though.
This recipe is simple to follow. You just need patience. The nice part about it is that you can put the roast in the oven at eight in the morning and take it out at five in the evening, perfectly cooked. This leaves you to do whatever you want in the meantime. My side dishes were time-consuming, but they don’t have to be. I just can’t help myself. I am a sucker for cooking anything complicated. You could just do mashed potatoes and a green salad.
You will need:
1 large roasting pan with a rack
Salt and pepper and any other seasonings you want to add
One pork shoulder roast with the skin on. (This recipe won’t work for a typical skinless pork roast)
Next:
Turn oven to 275 degrees. A long slow roast is essential.
Season roast with salt, pepper, and any other spices you want
Place roast on rack, skin side up then put it into the oven.
Cucumber-onion salad. (Photo by Patty Schied)
NINE HOURS LATER
Remove roast from oven. Turn up heat to 500 degrees. Lift roast on its rack from the pan, and pour off the fat and drippings. If you don’t do this they will burn in the oven and set off the smoke alarm. Anyway, these drippings are great for making gravy.
When the meat has rested for at least 10 minutes, put the meat back into the roasting pan and place it into the 500-degree oven. Roast for about five minutes and check to see if the skin has puffed up and gotten crisp. Watch the roast very carefully. If you leave it in the oven too long, the skin will burn and your wonderful crispy, crackling will be utterly destroyed!
Place roast on serving platter and let rest while you are serving up your side dishes.
Crispy roast potatoes. (Photo by Patty Schied)
To make gravy, measure out ¼ cup of pork fat, separating as best you can from the meat drippings. Place pork fat into sauce pan and add ¼ cup of flour. Cook at medium heat, stirring constantly until flour becomes a light brown. Add two cups of chicken broth, mixed with the pork roast drippings (without the fat). Whisk thoroughly and bring to a boil. Taste for seasoning. This makes about two cups of gravy.
Note: Lift off the crispy skin and break it into pieces. Place it on a plate and pass it around to your guests to nosh on while you cut up the pork roast into servings. You will notice that the succulent meat tends to fall apart. That is because it cooked long and slow. The result is a very tender, mouth watering roast. Everyone will consume second helpings even though they may be moaning about eating too much. They will also be happy to take any extra meat home with them. At least my guests did.
• Patty Schied is a longtime Juneau resident who studied at the Cordon Bleu in London, has cooked meals for both AWARE and the Glory Hall, and has written a cookbook. Cooking For Pleasure appears every other week in Capital City Weekly.
Red cabbage cooked with apples, currants and onions. (Photo by Patty Schied)
