Food Porn Nation

When I am in the mood to impress this is something I like to whip up. What you have is a lot of contrasting flavours and textures. Salty, sweet, crunchy and tender. The best part is laying it out and slicing it for that deafening CRACKing noise and all eyes are on you. The pressure is on when you bring this baby home. However, to make sure it is ready for the cracking. One thing I like to do is to grab a knife and give it a good whack with the tip of the knife. If it sounds crackly and hollow, you’re good to go.

The recipe was given to me by Ms G, which I have slightly adapted. I caramelise the apples underneath the pork, so that the pork juices infuse into the apples. When you pull the pork out of the oven, everyone will swarm over to have a little perv then quickly turn on the apples and start picking at them. So I always prepare some extras. It tastes like candied flavoured apples with a rich pork flavour. It tastes so incredible, that you could probably stop right here and forget about the sauce! But having it, in its entirety with the pork is pretty bloody unreal. Give it a go because you won’t know what hit you!

Ingredients

• pork rack for four – scored
• oil
• salt

Caramelised Apples

• 4 or 5 green apples
• brown sugar
• knobs of butter

Caramelised apples, white wine and sage sauce

• caramelised apples (from above)
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 cup sage (roughly chopped)
• 1 teaspoon of cornflour

Method

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees. Massage the pork rind with oil and rub with a generous amount of salt. Let it sweat for half an hour to draw out the moisture. This will help create the perfect crackling.

Meanwhile peel, core and slice the apples, then lay them out on a base of an oven tray. Drizzle the apples with brown sugar and place knobs of butter in around the apples. Set aside.

Return to the pork and pat dry with a paper towel, removing all the moisture, oil and salt. Repeat the process and massage the rind with oil and rub with salt ensuring that you work everything into the score marks. Don’t be shy with the salt, as this helps with the crackling. Place the pork in the centre of the tray of apples and into the oven.

Reduce the heat to 200 degrees and let it roast between 30-45min. Always ask your butcher for cooking times, as this will vary depending on the size and weight of the pork. Keep and eye on the apples as they can darken very quickly. If they look like they are about to burn. Just turn the apples around and if you really need to, add a little water to the section that is browning.

When the pork is ready. Remove from the oven, cover with foil and set aside to rest.

While the pork is resting, prepare the sauce. Add the wine to a pot and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken stock and cook for approximately 10 minutes until it reduces. Mix the cornflour and water together and add the mixture to the pot to thicken. Place the caramelised apples and the remaining pan juices into the pot. Top with the sage and bring it up to a simmer. Keep warm until you are ready to serve.

Best to serve slicing the pork in front of everyone so they can gawk at you!

Serve with a side of mash and enjoy x

Notes:

• You can smoke the pork with wood chips in the weber. It creates a lovely smokey and woody flavour throughout the pork and in the crackling. I personally prefer using wood chunks (I use hickory wood) rather then the pellets/chips. I find it more user friendly. Simply soak the wood chunks overnight and place directly on the grill. Wait until there is plenty smoke before you cook the pork. Remember to ask your butcher for cooking times. 
• You can also substitute the apples for pears