Roasted Rack of Pork and Roots with a Gooseberry Horseradish Sauce

I guess you would have had to have spent the past couple of days under a rock not to know what I've been up to lately, what with my galivanting across the country and rubbing elbows with some of the finest specimens of pork on the planet!! Today I'm going to show you what I chose to do with one of the fine cuts of meat that I was given on Monday at Jimmy's Farm.



One cut that I chose was the Rack of Pork. I know, it may seem like a boring cut to choose, but it needn't be! Rack of Pork can be succulent and delicious as long as you follow a few rules.

• Remove the crackling and cook it separately. (in order to get really crispy crackling you would have to cook it at such a high temperature you meat is more likely to dry out before your crackling is crisp)
• Leave a good layer of fat on the surface, about 1/3 inch at least. Score lightly, but not all the way through to the meat.
• Do not overcook! You are better off taking it out whilst still a bit pink in the middle and allowing it to set for a fifteen minutes or so, lightly covered with foil. During the setting time it will finish cooking through and still be lovely and moist.

To make crunchy pork crackling, cook the rind separately from the meat. Cut the rind from the meat with a small, sharp knife and place it in a shallow baking dish; brush rind with one tablespoon of vegetable oil and rub with one tablespoon of coarse cooking salt. Bake, uncovered, in a very hot oven for about 40 minutes or until rind browns and crackles. Drain on absorbent paper. (I have a smaller oven on top of my larger oven and I cook it in this while the roast is cooking in the oven below.) No more crackling failure!



I toyed with the idea of stuffing my rack with fruit and other goodies, but in the end I decided that I would stay more traditional and rub it all over with a tasty mixture of herbs and olive oil. Roasting some root vegetables along side . . . delicious sweet potato, carrots and potatoes. I also decided to make good use of the gooseberries that are ripe in my garden at the moment.



Fruit goes very well with pork and need not just be apples, which are oh so scrummy. Gooseberries also go wonderfully! I added a hint of sharpness to the sauce by adding some creamy horseradish to the mix, along with the richness of a knob of butter.



This was fabulous! I think I made a wonderful choice! To see more pork recipes be sure to check out the Pork On Your Fork Campaign page!




*Roasted Rack of Pork and Roots with a Gooseberry Horseradish Sauce*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

A traditional roast, moist and delicious, accompanied by a variety of roasted root vegetables and served with a scrummy Gooseberry Horseradish Sauce on the side!

1 four rib piece of Rack of Pork (Free range of course!)
(about 2 1/2 pounds)
(Remove the crackling and reserve for another use)

For the rub:
4 to 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed (depending on how much you like garlic)
2 TBS olive oil
2 tsp seasoning salt
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp parsley flakes
1/2 tsp dried thyme

For the vegetables:
4 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 large baking potatoes, washed, unpeeled and cut into chunks
2 TBS olive oil
2 tsp parsley flakes
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

For the Gooseberry Sauce:
50g of golden caster sugar (1/3 cup)
250g of topped and tailed gooseberries (about 2 cups)
2 TBS white wine
pinch salt
a knob of butter
1 tsp creamed horseradish

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Remove the crackling layer from your pork, leaving about 1/3 of an inch of nice fat. Score this in diamonds with a sharp knife, without cutting all the way down to the meat.

Whisk together the olive oil, seasoning salt, black pepper, paprika, parsley flakes, thyme and garlic. Mix well and then rub this all over the meat until coated. Place in a roasting pan and then cook for about 35 to 40 minutes while you get the vegetables ready, and make your sauce.

Prepare your vegetables. Put them into a bowl. Whisk together the oil, parsley flakes, salt and pepper. Toss the vegetables with this mixture, coating them all over.

To make your sauce, place the gooseberries in a saucepan along with the wine. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a slow simmer and cover. Simmer for about 10 minutes until very tender. Push the mixture through a sieve into a clean pan, scraping through as much as you can. Discard any solids left in the sieve. Whisk in the salt, sugar and butter. Cook and stir for about 5 minutes. Keep warm.

Remove the pork from the oven. Move it to the side. Toss in the vegetables and roll them around in the pork fat in the roasting tin. Move them until they are around the roast. Cover with some aluminium foil and then return to the oven. Roast for a further 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the pork and place on a plate, covering loosely with foil. Give the vegetables a stir in the pan juices. Increase the oven temperature to 230*C/450*F/ gas mark 7. Return the tray to the oven and roast uncoverd for 10 to 15 minutes, until they are tender and beginning to brown.

Serve the roast cut into slices, one rib per person, along with a portion of the roasted vegetables and some of the sauce. Pass the remainder of the warm sauce at the table.

I have to just say, this was one very tasty joint of pork! I'm still licking my chops!! (no pun intended!)

Put Pork On Your Fork and Jimmy's Farm!

A few weeks back I was invited to visit Jimmy's Farm with a select group of other Food Bloggers here in the UK. This was to be a special event designed to Promote the One Pig Weekend, which is happening on the 30th and 31st of July. The One Pig Weekend has been created to inspire people to dedicate one weekend in the year to buying and cooking British Pork, and why not turn it into a party at the same time!

Anyhoo . . . what better way to kick it all off than by treating some of us dedicated foodies to a special day at Jimmy's!! When I was first invited I almost decided not to go as with my knees being the way they are, I was not sure I would be able to cope with the long trip down to Ipswich from Chester and then to spend a day walking about. Thankfully my good friend Julie offered to go with me and Chris was more than happy to have her join in, so all was well!



It was a fabulous time. Everything, including the trip down and the whole day ran smoothly like clockwork. Our every need was attended to. Julie and I had a very comfortable trip down on the train the day before, Sunday . . . a comfortable evening in a great hotel the night before (where we talked each other silly until the wee hours of the morning about everything under the sun . . . but mostly food . . . you know how it goes!) . . . a lovely cooked breakfast when we got up in the morning and then a comfortable ride out to Jimmy's Farm.

We could not have been given a warmer welcome or had a finer day for traipsing around a farm! The sun was shining. The air was sweet with the smell of summer blossom . . . the sounds of twittering of birds . . . I was quite surprised actually. I had expected a pig farm to . . . well . . . PONG big time! But it quite simply didn't. Seriously.



We could not have had a nicer host than Jimmy. I know that it was an event, but you just can't fake sincerity and I was impressed with his warmth and affability. This is a really nice guy! He was genuinely pleased to be showing us around the farm, and his love and passion for what he does was very apparent in every step. This is a man who loves his animals and cares a great deal for their welfare, even if they are going to end up on someone's plate. Animal Husbandry is clearly very important to him and it showed. He was informative, genuine and very down to earth.



The pigs ( fabulous rare breed Essex, Saddleback and Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs) were in small groups, scattered all over the farm, free to do what pigs do best, wallow in the mud, snuffle up goodies with their snouts . . . walk about in grass and dirt and flower, free to be, well . . . pigs.



This particular one was my favourite. Just look at that face!! I am a firm believer in "happy" meat. I think it tastes better, I truly do.

We really had a wonderful time walking around in the sunshine, seeing where the animals live . . . learning all sorts of interesting facts and folklore about pigs. For instance, did you know that Old Spot pigs are said to have developed their spots because they were traditionally held in Apple Orchards and the spots were said to have been developed by falling apples!



We got to walk through his Butterfly House . . . hot and humid but fascinating. There is a great lack of butterflies in the wild today, due to climate change, the spraying of pesticides, encroaching habitation of their habitats by mankind, etc. We just don't see them like we used to and it was wonderful to be inside where they were flying about in abundance, so very pretty!



There were chickens, beautiful chickens! (I love chickens!)



Sheep and ferrets and guinea pigs. All sorts to entertain a family. I could see where it would be a wonderful place to bring your children on a sunny Saturday.



After our tour of the farm we were treated to a special Butchering class given by Joe Collier from the famous Berkhamsted butchers, Eastwoods. Joe took us through the butchering of a whole side of pork whilst Jimmy explained all the cuts and what we could do with them. I found it very informative and could not wait to get home and put some of it into action! Especially interesting was all the information we were given regarding the "lesser" cut of pork, or cheaper cuts. I have always found that these are the tastiest bits!



After the Butchery Class, we were treated to a lovely lunch in Jimmy's Restaurant.



Tasty snacks of Pork Scratchings and slices of a variety of Jimmy's sausages (all delish!) kept the hunger at bay whilst we waited for our lunches to arrive, which interestingly enough was all the same! Go figure. Given our choice of anything on the menu, we all had opted for the Tasty Pork Burger with onion relish and wedge potatoes, fried in pork fat. Oh sooooooo scrummy yummy!! Normally the Toddster trys to discourage me from taking pictures of my food in restaurants . . . but I quite happily clicked away with abandon along with everyone else!



Jimmy was kind enough to sign copies of his books for us and then sit with us afterwards whilst this very busy man had some lunch of his own.

Julie and I both came away from this day with a much better idea of what British Pork is all about and really enthused about this whole Put Pork on Your Fork Campaign! I, for one will be planning something special on the day, and I know Julie is as well. I'm not quite sure just what yet, but I have my thinking cap on. Do make sure to check out the Put Pork on Your Fork page online, and also sign up for their Facebook Page! You can also keep up to date on their Twitter Channel ( @onepigweekend).

All in all this was a fabulous experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. I am so glad that I was able to put my mobility fears behind me and very grateful for Julie's having gone along with me. We got to meet some really nice bloggers, had a really unique and wonderfully informative tour from Jimmy, learned a lot about pork through the Butchery Class, ate some beautiful Pork Burgers, and came away with some lovely pork cuts to take home and cook ourselves, a nice cookbook and having had a truly worthwhile experience. It's not really about all of that though . . . it's about supporting our British Pork Farmers and speaking up for responsible and ethical farming practices by putting our food pounds where our mouth is!

Many thanks to Chris and his crew for helping everything to run so smoothly and affording us the opportunity to particpate in this fab event, also to Jimmy for being such a gracious and warm host, to Joe for sharing his expert butchery skills with us, to the staff in Jimmy's restaurant for treating us so well and serving us so efficiently!



(Chris and Julie. I know!! I didn't end up with one snap of her with her eyes open! Wot is she like!!)

In short . . . thanks all for a fabulous couple of days! (Oh and thanks Julie for being so kind as to come along with me!)

Tune in tomorrow to see what I managed to cook up with my lovely piece of pork!