Behold, the most perfect pork roast. Moist on the inside, crisp on the outside.
What? What's that? You've NEVER made a roast of pork before?
Difficult? Dry? Afraid?
People, this is NOT your mother's pork roast!
First of all, back in the day, our mother's would cook what began as lovely specimens to oblivion. The thinking way back when was to cook until the internal temperature reached 180 degrees F. Not so anymore. It seems that 150 - 155 is enough to kill whatever creepies may be in the meat...and to allow the succulent juices to flow and leave you with a juicy, flavorful roast.
Here's how you do it.
First, start with a decent sized cut of meat. Ask for the ribs, and keep the bones in! Do you see that darker piece of meat in the picture near the bottom of the chop? That part goes away if the ribs go away so DON'T DO IT! Also, it's critical to leave a nice layer of fat on the meat. Do not let the butcher cut this away, no matter how much money or how many calories he thinks he's saving you. Even if you don't EAT this fat, it's important to roast the meat with it ON.
How much meat to buy? If you live in the USA, figure on one rib per person and you'll have leftovers. In Switzerland, you can probably get away with one rib per 2 people. I just roasted a 5 and 1/2 pound (approximately) piece with 8 ribs and got nearly 18 nice slices out of it--but there were 2 other main courses. If it was the main attraction, it probably would have served 8 - 10 just fine.
Second, heat your oven to 160 Celsius or 325 F.
Third, prepare the meat. All you need is salt, pepper, and garlic. Take a few garlic cloves and slice them thinly. Poke several holes in the roast and slip the garlic slices in. Next, DOUSE and I really mean DOUSE the fat layer with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Remember, each person will get only a thin sliver of this on their plate and it's the only place that the pork will be seasoned.
For those of you who are creative, really--go crazy with what you put on as seasoning. I am sure you can come up with something very exciting. But trust me, sometimes a good old garlicky piece of pork is just what the doctor ordered.
When the oven is heated, place the roast in--roasting approximately 20 minutes per pound in a conventional oven. But here's the trick--invest in a GOOD (the digital kind) thermometer which you can poke in the middle of that succulent piece of meat so that you can watch it and at the PRECISE moment it turns to 150 F in the center (don't let the thermometer touch bone) whisk it out of the oven and let it sit for at least 20 minutes.
During this time it will go up in temperature by another 5 degrees, and this resting time will also help for some of the juices to be retained.
Then, carve it up! Use a very sharp knife, and just watch those juices stream out!
Serve with scalloped potatoes, or your favorite spelt pasta, a veggie like butternut squash or somesuch...and you're ready for company.
Let me know how you do!
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