My cousin and her boyfriend came round for lunch and this is what I cooked. Okay, so you have to start cooking the night before, but from then on it really deals with itself until you’re ready to eat. Ideal if you want a calm morning rather than rushing around preparing things!
Large joint of boned pork shoulder, about 3kg
3 large cloves of garlic
2 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red chilli
2 tbsp light soft brown sugar
Pinch of ground cloves
Half a teaspoon salt
250ml dry white wine
Redcurrant or quince jelly
1) First, heat up your oven to as high as it will go. Make a paste of the garlic, vinegar, olive oil, chilli, sugar, cloves and salt. Rub this liberally over the joint on both sides. Place the joint on a rack skin-side up over a hob-proof roasting dish which is one-third filled with water (this stops some of the smokiness which will ensue from the hot oven!) and place in the oven for half an hour.
2) Turn the oven down to 120 centigrade, 100 fan, turn the joint skin-side down and basically leave it there until about an hour before you want to eat! At that time, change the roasting tin under the pork and turn the oven back up to 240 centigrade, 220 fan. It needs 30 minutes at this heat, after which take it out and wrap in tin foil to rest. The reason for changing the tin is that you don’t want those precious juices to get too burnt.
3) Put your first roasting tin on the hob over medium heat and add about 250ml white wine and the redcurrant or quince jelly. Stir well and let it bubble for a few minutes, scraping all the bits off the bottom of the pan. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
4) Take the crackling off the pork and slice thickly with an electric knife. Eat with the gravy and with abandon – this will serve at least 8 good appetites with seconds!
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