BBQ Slow Roasted Pork & Pears in Pear Cider
There is nothing better than a BBQ slow roast served with a fresh salad during summer. It's the perfect way to entertain, serve something delicious to a crowd and essentially not end up stuck in the kitchen slaving over a meal. It's also the ultimate way to avoid heating up your kitchen.
A boned leg of pork or a shoulder are fantastic to roast in the BBQ, but be creative and use whatever cut of meat is on special and play with flavours, before popping your roast in the BBQ, setting the timer and sitting back with friends and a cool drink... or three.
Next time you have friends coming for dinner try this!
INGREDIENTS
2-3kg boned pork leg, with skin for crackle
Sea salt
Olive oil
Ground fennel
Chilli flakes
3-4 pears, halved
1 bottle of pear cider
METHOD
Preheat BBQ to 250-270 degrees and line a tray with baking paper.
1. Using a sharp knife, score the skin of the pork leg ensuring there is 1cm or less between score-lines. Dry the skin with a paper towel. Rub with olive oil and crack some salt over the skin. Massage in and then crack another small amount of salt over the top of the pork skin along with a sprinkling of ground fennel (or seeds) and chilli seeds.
2. Place the pear halves into the tray and put the pork, skin side up, on top of the pears. Pour the bottle of pear cider into the base of the tray.
3. Place the pork and pears into the preheated BBQ and roast at 250-270c for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 100-120c and slow roast for a few hours (2kg 2.5-3hrs) or till the juices run clear.
4. Remove and let rest for 15-20 minutes. Dust off excess salt.
5. After resting, slice pork and serve with crackling and roasted pears!
TIPS
It helps to baste the side of the pork every 30 minutes while cooking. Try not to wet the skin as this will reduce your ability to get a good crackling.
If the crackling hasn't formed properly, remove the skin from the pork leg (ensure the fat is cut off with/still attached to the skin) and continue to cook under a hot grill. WATCH THIS CLOSELY AS IT HEATS QUICKLY AND SPATTERS.
You can make a jus from the cider and pork juices. Ensure its not too salty first. If you plan on making a jus limit the amount of salt on the pork skin to avoid it falling into the liquid during the cooking process.
SERVING SUGGESTION
A BBQ roast is always best served with a fresh salad and crusty bread.
For our dinner I served the pork with sourdough, BBQ baked corn and a salad using nectarines as they were looking perfect in the grocery store.
To make the nectarine salad I simply tossed mixed leaves, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced red onion and nectarines with some pistachios and avocado. Being a light summer salad I also quickly mixed together some white balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, honey and dijon mustard together to drizzle over the salad.
You could create this or a similar salad using the most appealing fruit in your grocery store too! Nectarines, peaches, strawberries and mangoes are always beautiful with pork. Experiment and enjoy!
WINE SUGGESTION
I always think a BBQ is the perfect opportunity to break traditional wine rules and taste a few interesting wines with friends. We enjoyed our pork with two completely different wines and both were great. First we had a Redbank 2011 Garganega from the King Valley in Victoria, which was a bold white similar to a chardonnay, and was fantastic. The second wine was from Tempus Two in the Hunter Valley here in New South Wales. It was a Shiraz Grenache and was great with the pork too.
If you want more of a matching wine, I'd definitely suggest a white wine such as a chardonnay or pinot gris/grigio.
TABLESCAPES
You don't have a spend a fortune on creating a beautiful table setting. Choose 2-3 base colours, combine a few items from around your home and there you have it. I always have a roll of brown paper which I use when putting together my tablescapes. It is also my go-to wrapping paper! Having a few simple candles and minature vases helps too. I use these things in my home all the time and picked them up for a steal from dollar shops.
My gorgeous table runner was created by Fatto Col Amore by Wendy. I highly recommend the runners to anyone wanting a special something to create a beautiful space when putting together a table for a dinner party. They're also the perfect splash of colour to any home. I absolutely love mine which I picked up from the Bleu Blanc Rouge Festival in Sydney for Bastille Day back in July. The runner featured in this post are designed specially for outdoor use and wipe clean ~ genius!
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