Originally published on May 15, 2014
There are about a million different ways you can do pork roast. It’s a relatively neutral canvas so whether you’re feeling Italian, French, or even Southwestern, you can pretty much season it however it suits your fancy at the time. It seems that every time I find a new way to do it, it becomes my favourite – until the next time I come across a great pork recipe. I have to say, this way is my new favourite, even though it’s not really a recipe.
What I mean is that, again, you can flavour the roast however you want, but it’s the technique that really makes this pork what it is. It’s very similar to those huge open ovens you see in the streets of Greece (I’ve actually never been to Greece, but I have seen it done on TV) where the roast rotates on a spit and drips down onto potatoes below, infusing them with flavour and turning them golden brown. I was always jealous of those that got to eat this type of roast, but now I’ve figured out that you can do it right in your own oven. And let’s be honest. Doing it this way really has nothing to do with the roast, because it’s the potatoes that steal the show.
Ingredients:
1 pork roast, about 3 pounds
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground mustard
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon dill
Salt
Pepper
4 or 5 russet potatoes, quartered
1 tablespoon bacon fat or lard
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Directions:
1.) Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a cast iron skillet with the bacon fat or lard. Make sure that one oven rack is in the centre of the oven, and another is directly below it.
2.) Pat the pork roast dry. In a small bowl combine the coriander, ground mustard, paprika, dill, and some salt and pepper. Rub generously over the entire pork roast.
3.) In a large bowl, place the potatoes, salt, pepper, and vegetable oil. Toss so that the potatoes are just covered in the oil and then place into the cast iron skillet.
4.) Place the cast iron skillet into the oven, onto the second rack (the one at the bottom.) Then, place the pork roast directly on the oven rack above, fat-side up, making sure the entire pork sits right over the cast iron skillet. You don’t want the juices running right onto the burner elements, or anywhere else in the oven. They need to be able to drip right down into the potatoes.
5.) Cook the pork roast and the potatoes at this high temperature for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 300 degrees and cook for another one hour, or 20 minutes per pound until the center has reached 140 degrees F. Don’t worry – your potatoes will not be mushy when it’s time to remove them from the oven. Also stir the potatoes once or twice while cooking at the lower heat, but remember to pull out both racks when you do so that the pork juices once again don’t just fall into the oven.
6.) When two hours has passed, remove both the potatoes and the roast from the oven. Allow the roast to rest for about five minutes while you arrange the potatoes on a large platter. Then slice the pork roast into about 1/2″ slices and arrange right on the potatoes, or to the side.
7.) Serve and enjoy!