Roast Pork Rack

ROAST PORK RACK RECIPE: Guest Contributor, Kelly Lowdon www.mybeachkitchen.com

This week I was lucky enough to get my hands on the most beautiful organic pork rack, thanks to my lovely cousin Jake who kindly delivered it to my doorstep….thanks Jake!  

It came from Hagens Organics, a family run butcher who specialise in the highest quality organic meats. It is a piece of the rare breed of Berkshire pork, and having read a few cookbooks featuring this breed of pig, I was very excited to try it.  

If you are looking for something special to feature on your Christmas table this year, I strongly recommend you take a look at their Christmas section on the website at hagensorganics.com.au

Now with such a superb piece of meat in my hot little hands, the last thing I wanted to do was stuff it up!  So I consulted the queen of meat.  Well not directly, but I did pull out my copy of Maggie’s Harvest by Maggie Beer.  In my opinion, she knows her meat! Take a read of Maggie’s section on Pork in her book, it is really insightful and will make it hard for you to buy commercial breeds of pork again. Maggie knows and respects her beautiful meat.

But down to the cooking! In her book Maggie suggests using a pan only slightly larger than the pork itself, so that the juices don’t burn during cooking.  

Score the rind with a sharp knife and rub with olive oil, then a generous amount of salt.  

Stand the piece of pork on a wire rack in a roasting pan and roast at 210 degrees for 20 minutes (for a 1.2 kg piece of pork), then pour in verjuice, wine or water, which will create steam and help to keep the pork moist.  

Reduce oven to 180 degrees and roast for another 50 minutes.  

Remove from pan and rest for at least 20 minutes.

Well, all I can say is this method worked really well for me! I did however crank my oven up a tad higher than 210 degrees and cooked my pork for a slightly shorter time.  The results were a perfect roast rack of pork, and the flavour was outstanding.  I also used wine in the pan, that way I could follow my rule, one for the pan, one for me!

So do yourself a favour and check out Berkshire rare breed pork.  I promise you will not be disappointed.

This pork rack will make a great addition to any table for Christmas dinner, and they are available online delivered to your door, or in any of the Hagens shops.