The crown roast of pork

Cooking with Parind

Hello everyone. My name is Parind Vora. I’m the chef/owner of Bistro in Lockhart and Gonzales. In this column, we talk cooking, tricks to cooking, and sometimes eating.

We are full tilt into the Christmas holidays, so time is tight and we often end up just eating a second Thanksgiving dinner for Christmas. This recipe may seem complex, but it is quite easy to make if you read the recipe a few times and write out a plan of what you will do first, second, and so on. This recipe is very forgiving and flexible.

We will do an old school show stopper; the crown roast of pork. It’s basically a whole rack of pork that is usually (12 plus or minus) bones. You can ask your butcher to trim and string for you.

I used to brine meats but now, I just buy better quality. Nature is always smarter, better and more honest than I will ever be so I just buy from those who work with nature. 

Usually, these roasts are served with stuffing. I had a grandma of a girl I dated put a little broken up fruit cake into her bread (not corn) stuffing. I found that combination so delicious with the pork.

Today we will make a Morello cherry — chipotle glazed crown roast of pork.

Now that the meet and greet is out of the way, let’s get started.

Ingredients:

1 trimmed whole 12-bone rack of pork formed into a crown and tied.

Glaze:

½ medium Spanish onion peeled and roughly chopped

1 pinch nutmeg

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 cup Mayonnaise (I like Dukes)

1& ½ cup or one 14 oz jar of sour cherry (Morello) jam/jelly or any other preserve you like

4 leaves of sage

2 teaspoons of fresh rosemary (stemmed)

2 cloves of fresh garlic

2 tomatillos

¼ cup organic apple cider vinegar

3 chipotle peppers in adobo

other:

2-3 sweet potatoes or regular potatoes or a mix that are peeled and sliced into ¾” thick disks

1 large orange sliced into 1/2 “disks

4-6 fresh bay leaves

4-5 whole cloves

Salt to taste

Cracked black pepper

½ cup wine, water or stock

2 sticks of unsalted churned butter (Plugra or Kerrygold are good).

Any stuffing that you like prepared and kept hot.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (Fahrenheit).

Season the crown rack of pork with salt & pepper on all sides. Wrap all exposed bones in aluminum foil tightly.

Blend the rest of the glaze ingredients in blender until it’s the way you like it (smooth, coarse or in-between). I like almost smooth.

Slather the resulting paste all over the seasoned crown roast of pork and let rest covered outside for an hour to macerate.

Toss and season with salt and pepper the sliced potatoes, bay leaves, cloves, orange slices, water and line the bottom of a roasting or a lasagna pan that is big enough to hold the crown roast of pork.

Top with the glazed crown roast of pork and bake at 350F while rotating a quarter turn every 25 – 30 minutes until the center of three of the pork chops in the roast are 145F.

Pull out of the oven and let rest for at least 15 minutes. Transfer to a presentation platter, remove the foil off of the bones and fill the center of the crown with the stuffing. Strain the liquid in the roasting pan and use it to moisten the stuffing and pour over the roast.

Serve the potatoes on the side if desired after re-seasoning to taste. Carve the roast between the bones & serve with the stuffing.

Enjoy with your favourite older Bordeaux or a nice Champagne as this is a celebration.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year from all of us at Lockhart and Gonzales Bistro!