Medium
5–6
By Tessa Kiros
Published 2010
This is really quite simple even though it may seem fussy. Ask your butcher to prepare the meat for you by cutting it away from the bone and leaving it attached just at the bottom. Then, to serve, all you have to do is detach the last bottom bit and slice it up. Roasting it with the bones just gives extra flavour to the dish and it looks good. But, if you prefer, you can cook it from the beginning deboned — a simple loin of pork. You can easily get a bigger piece than this, depending on how many you will be feeding. If you prefer, use unsweetened clear apple juice in place of the wine. And you can brush the pork with some mandarin jam and mustard instead of the honey, if you happen to have some. Or leave out the last step of brushing with honey mustard and serve a plain unsweetened roast instead.
Put the pork in a roasting tin and tuck the rosemary sprigs between the bone and the meat. Secure it closed with a skewer, or tie it with string so that it stays in place while cooking. Season all over with salt and pepper. Scatter the potatoes, shallots, garlic, bay leaves and fennel around the meat. Sprinkle
Put the tin in the oven and
Meanwhile, mix together the honey and mustard until smooth, pressing down with a spoon to squash out any lumps.
Preheat the grill (broiler) to high. Remove the roasting tin from the oven and move the vegetables to the ovenproof dish to keep warm in the oven. Brush the honey mustard over the meat and put it under the grill for about 5 minutes, until it crisps up and becomes nicely golden. Cut the meat completely off the bone and serve on a platter, carved up in slices as thin or thick as you like. Arrange the vegetables on the platter around the meat and drizzle some of the melted honey juices over the potatoes before serving.
© 2010 All rights reserved. Published by Murdoch Books.