
Scrumptious!
Ingredients
—1.5gk (3.3lb) loin free-range pork 1 Tbsp dry English mustard powder 1 tsp caster sugar 1 Tbsp white wine 3 rashers (about 75g/2½ oz) streaky bacon, finely chopped 4 Tbsp dry panko crumbs 3 Tbsp olive oil Mushroom Sauce 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped 45g (1½ oz) butter 1½ Tbsp plain flour 100ml (about 3½ fl oz) white wine 300ml (about 10 fl oz) homemade or premium stock 175g (6 oz) small flat mushrooms ½ tsp tomato concentrate (UK tomato paste)
Method
—1 Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F). Remove skin from pork. Mix mustard, sugar and wine to a paste and spread over pork fat. Scatter bacon over the seasoned fat, then the crumbs, and gently press everything on to the fat.
2 Put oil in a roasting tin and heat in the oven. When the oil is nice and hot, put in the pork crumbed side up and baste well. Cook for 1 hour, basting every 15-20 minutes. The pork should be cooked to a pale juicy pink. It will continue cooking as it stands for 10 or so minutes once it’s removed from the oven (check the juices by piercing with a skewer; they should be copious, but clear). Keep pork in a warmish place such as on the oven top, but don’t cover.
3 To make the sauce, cook onion in 30g (1 oz) of butter in a small saucepan over a very gentle heat until soft, stir in flour and brown well; this may take around 25 minutes – do it quickly and the flour will burn, do it slowly and you’ll develop a rich nutty flavour to the sauce. Pour in wine, increase heat and bubble away for 1-2 minutes. Pour on stock, add tomato concentrate and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes, then strain sauce into a bowl, pressing gently on the onions. Return sauce to cleaned pan, taste for seasoning and cover with a lid.
4 Wipe mushrooms clean with a clean damp cloth. Heat a medium frying pan (skillet) over a medium-high heat and once it’s hot drop in remaining butter. Add mushrooms cap side down as soon as butter is sizzling. Cook for 1 minute only, turn them over and cook for 2-3 minutes more, then add them to the sauce. Warm through at the last moment and tip into a heated bowl for serving. Slice pork relatively thinly and arrange on a heated plate (some slices will have a bone and others won’t, so no fights now!). Serve hot with mushroom sauce and vegetables.
Recipe Notes
Look for slim flat mushrooms for the sauce – chunky ones will be too bulky and will not cook through in time. Bring the pork to room temperature before cooking (allow 20-30 minutes, depending on the temperature of your kitchen) to ensure it starts cooking evenly as soon as it goes in the oven.
Photography Aaron McLean http://www.aaronmclean.com
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