Lean roast loin of pork

Press, 7 December 1988, Page 18

Lean roast loin of pork

Alison Hoist’s

Food Facts

It is nice to have something that you do not often cook at one of the special meals you serve over the holiday period. A roast loin of pork comes into this category for me. A roast of trim pork differs from the pork roasts that my mother used to cook, partly because it is so lean, and partly because it is not covered with crackling. I love crackling, so I cook it separately, and feel that I get the best of both worlds since the lean pork cooks quickly, with very little wastage. In fact, a 2kg loin of trimpork, stuffed as below, cooked for 1 'A hours at 180 deg. C, weighed 1.74 kg. This means that, from the 2kg roast you can get: 17 servings of IOOg each. 15 servings of 125 g each. II servings of 150 g each. 8 servings of 200 g each. The size of the serving depends on the amount of meat you put on each plate, the number of second helpings, and the other things that you are planning to serve with the meat. To me, a special dinner means more accompaniments and at least four vegetables, so it does not necessarily mean larger servings of meat. I like a pretty stuffing, as well as a tasty one, and find that the following one answers on both counts: about 8 prunes about 8 dried apricot halves or 8 thick slices bottled or fresh tamarillo, or 1 red pepper, blanched 2tbsp brandy or sherry or fruit juice 1 onion 2tbsp butter y 2 cup fresh breadcrumbs 2-3 tbsp finely chopped

parsley and any other herb you like about 8 spinach leaves Cut the prunes almost in half, and put on a plate with the apricot halves, if you are using them. Sprinkle with whatever liquid you are using, and leave to stand while you prepare the rest of the stuffing. Drain the tamarillo halves if using them. Halve, then remove seeds and pith from the red pepper, if using it, cut it into strips so these will lie the length of the pork, and blanch by leaving them to stand in boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain after this. Chop the onion finely and cook until tender, but not brown in the butter, in a fairly large pan. Remove from the heat and add the breadcrumbs (made from stale bread) and the herbs. Add fresh or dried sage or thyme or rosemary to the parsley for extra flavour, if you like. Blanch the spinach by pouring boiling water over the leaves, and leaving them to stand for 2 to 3 minutes before draining them. STUFF AND ROAST LOIN OF PORK a loin of trimpork, about 2kg stuffing (above) mixed mustard Untie any string that may have been holding

the loin of pork in a cylindrical shape and lie the meat flat. You should have a solid, lean piece of muscle and a thin strip of meat which was wrapped around it. Your aim is to put the stuffing on the thin strip of meat, close to the big muscle so that, when you wrap it up again, the stuffing will be completely enclosed too. If you have only the muscle, and no thin strip, cut lengthwise down the side of the muscle into the centre and put the stuffing in here. You will not use as much stuffing as is listed.

Spread the upper surface of the meat thinly with mustard. On the thin muscle, close to the large muscle, lie a row of opened prunes. Beside this, lie anothe row, of apricots or tamarillos, or red pepper strips. Over the top of this, sprinkle the onion and crumb mixture. Overlap the spinach leaves, and lie them in a sheet over the onion, etc.

Now, roll the thin part over the main muscle, enclosing the stuffing. Secure firmly, either with skewers or string, then rub the whole surface evenly but thinly, with more mustard. Place in an oiled roasting pan, then roast at 180 deg C for 11/ 2 hours, or until a meat thermometer reads 160 deg F or 70deg

C. If you like the meat well cooked, allow about half an hour longer, but remember that lean pork, if overcooked, becomes dry.

Leave to stand for 15 minutes in a warm place before serving with stewed unsweetened apples, or with tamarillo halves which have been baked, cutside down, in a little honey and vinegar in a covered dish, with crackling and/or gravy. Any pickled fruit is good with this pork. Cranberry or any other tart jelly is delicious, too. CRACKLING These days, you can buy crackling which has been detached from large cuts of trim pork. These sheets of crackling cook, very quickly and may be eaten as a snack, or as an accompaniment to roast pork. Either way, they are delicious. Cut the sheet of pork skin so that it does not have much fat on its under-surface. It should be Icm to 2cm thick. Make sure that the surface is scored over the whole surface, with lines about smm apart. Sprinkle the surface with salt, and rub it in to the cuts. Next, rub oil evenly over the whole surface. Lie the crackling on a rack on a flat pan. You can cut it into strips, about scm to 6cm wide, if this suits you. If you like, tuck the ends under the rungs of the rack, so they do not curl up as they cook. Grill 10cm from the heat for about 10 minutes, until it bubbles and turns golden brown. Watch it, to take care that it does not burn. Turn, and grill for another 10 minutes, or until cooked on the underside. Hide it, until you are ready to serve it.