Crown Roast of Pork

The King of Kitsch



I was really excited to get a whole bone-in loin from Willowgrove. This primal cut is in demand by the best of chefs in many restaurants in Toronto. Unfortunately there are only two loins per pig, my playtime is second to supply and demand. I knew my time would come and it did, so what project was worthy of such a wonderful ingredient.

 

I thought I would french the loin; it delivers such a incredible presentation. I remembered my youth and the Crown Roast of Pork.  This was not just a "Sunday Roast", it marked a festive event, it was a step over the family turkey even a whole salmon. I immediately thought of my mom in her apron, us in our Sunday best. Served at the table with our best china (from Eaton’s of course) and out came Grandma's stemware.

This dish was very popular post WWII with the availability of fresh meat. It was celebrated to make an outstanding presentation fit for royalty. In my humble opinion, TV made this popular with the masses. Local butchers made the custom cut more popular and affordable, promoting the dish. The roast itself was simple to prepare and it was as excellent vessel for stuffing with various components, as vast as one's imagination, breads, sausage and even other game meat.

Simple but extravagant, it was the perfect ingredient for every home cook who wanted to stand out at a dinner party.
 
You can get your loins whole and do it your self but ask your butcher to french the loin for you. Seriously, get the butcher to do it, it worth the money. If you’re not doing this every day, as in my case, it may take a full hour to clean my bones off. This is not hard work, it is just time consuming.

If you must, look at the profile of the loin you will see the muscle line and the large fat component, while I always say fat is flavour, today we are losing it. The cleaner you get the bones the better your presentation.

I chose to marinade my loin overnight in olive oil, garlic, fresh lemon and a nice bunch of fresh oregano. The stuffing would be roasted pine nuts and blue cheese.

The next day I roasted a cup of pine and got the loin out of the fridge. Match the two ends together to make a nice small crown roast. Another version is made with two loins but expect enough for 12-15 people; we were ok with 8 that night.

Off to my stuffing, two cups of panko break crumbs, course chopped pine nuts and 8 oz of blue cheese, crumbled. A hit of fresh cracked pepper and I filled the centre of my roast.  Don’t wipe off the marinade, it will add to the flavour giving it a nice crust. I add flavourmatics to the pan with the choice of baby potatoes, small onions and carrots. You might as well go all out with traditions here, carrots with the texture of warm butter, how this reminds me of mom’s cooking, I hang my head another notch. Into the oven for 2 ½ hours at 375 (f).

Now here is where I part from tradition and my mom’s cooking. She would cook the roast to an internal temperature of 180 (f) and she wanted to make sure it was safe so she would let it go until 185(f). This woman never heard of carry-over so her internal was likely 190 (f) by the time she served dinner.  Hence, my mom’s roast was approaching pulled pork and we could cut it with a fork. There was a certain dryness that was eagerly reconstituted with apple sauce… good times.

Nope, for me I was pulling at 140 (f) with a carry-over to 145-150 (f). This would leave my roast nice and juicy.  Now don’t cry to me about the danger of undercooked pork. The  Ontario Pork Counsel confirms a loin is done at 160(f) and their pull temperature is 155(f). Good quality pork can be eaten medium rare, just like beef. I’m not sure I would eat my pork blue as I do with beef, nope thats just a little too rare for me. If you have great concerns, cook it like my mom did, it’s your digestive track and you know best, for me it’s all about the flavour.

While it’s all about the flavour, I not sure I would repeat this recipe, it was a success and it was loved by all, I would stop at the french cut and not bother to tie the roast I’m not a big fan of stuffing and like my meat with a nice crust. I rather cook my loin whole and on the grill. A fast sear and a slow dry roast with a hint of smoke.

I can get some very nice results with the presentation directly on the plate. The days of little paper hats on the ribs, presenting the whole roast and rushing  back into the kitchen to cut it is long gone in my opinion.  




The family loved this project; there was no complaints, no snide comments, and no request for cheese curds. The family was unusually silent about dinner that night, and even asked for seconds, there was not a scrap of food left except one roasted onion and that was gone before dishes were done. Hmmm silence is golden. Oh and the blue cheese stuffing, spot on, there was no apple sauce on our table that night.
 
Crown Roast is just a little too kitsch for me, but if that’s where you what to go, it is truly king.


Cheers from the Big Dog