Sheila’s Crown roast of Pork with Fennel-Apple Stuffing & Cider-Bourbon Sauce

Serves ten to fourteen

Read entire recipe’s before starting….handy hint from Sheila

Follow steps 1 though 5

FOR THE SAUCE

1 quart apple cider

2 cups bourbon

2 cups low-salt chicken broth

½ cup sour cream

1 Tbs. cider vinegar; more to taste

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE STUFFING

1 lb Tuscan bread (or similar crusty artisan-style bread), cut into ½ inch cubes (8 to 9 cups)

8 oz bacon (8 to 10 slices) cut crosswise into ½ inch wide strips

2 ½ oz (5 Tbs.) unsalted butter

2 medium-small yellow onions cut into small dice (about 2 cups)

1 medium fennel bulb, cut into medium dice (about 3 cups)

1 tsp kosher salt: more to taste

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper: more to taste

4 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into ½ inch pieces

(About 4 cups)

2 Tbs. bourbon

2 Tbs. apple cider

2 Tbs. chopped fresh marjoram

2 Tbs. chopped fresh sage

2 tsp. fennel seeds, lightly chopped or pulsed in a spice grinder

½ tsp. ground allspice

2 to 2 ½ cups low –salt chicken broth

FOR THE ROAST

16-rib crown roast of pork (81/2 to 9 ½ lb.), chine bone removed and bones

frenched; Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

HOW TO BUY A CROWN ROAST OF PORK

Butchers can cut a crown roast of pork in more than one way so

DO: Ask the butcher to remove the chine bone

(part of the back bone) in order to bend the roast into the crown.

But do not cut into the meat of the roast. A roast trimmed like this will stay juicy and look pretty, which is important.

Also just ask the butcher to bone the chine bone out and bend the roast and tie for you.

DON’T: Buy a roast with the chine bone still attached. The chine which runs perpendicular to the ribs makes

carving the roast difficult.

1. MAKE THE SAUCE REDUCTION

Put the cider, bourbon and the chicken broth in a 3 to 4 quart saucepan (preferably 8-inches-wide) and bring

to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to maintain a very brisk simmer and cook until the

sauce has reduced to 1 ¼ cups, about 1 hour. Set aside until the roast is cooked.

(Remember this step can be made to the point and refrigerated up to 2 days ahead.)

2. MAKE THE STUFFING BASE

Start two days ahead dry out bread over night

Then make stuffing and refrigerate up to 12 hours

Put the bread on a rimmed baking sheet and let it sit out to dry overnight.

Cook the bacon in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally and until just crisp, 5 to 6 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a large mixing bowl. Pour off and discard all but about 1 Tbs. of the bacon fat. Add 3 Tbs. of the butter to the skillet and melt over medium heat. Add the onions, fennel, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until just softened and lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the bacon.

Melt the remaining 2 Tbs. butter in the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the apples and cook, tossing or stirring occasionally, until nicely browned on a few sides but still firm, 4 to 6 minutes. Mix the bourbon with the apple cider and 3 Tbs. water; carefully add it to the pan, scraping with a wooden spoon to loosen the brown bits stuck to the pan. Cook until the deglazing liquid has reduced and coats the apples, about 1 minute. Add the apples to the bowl. Add the marjoram, sage, fennel seeds, and allspice and stir to combine. The stuffing base can be prepared to this point and refrigerated up to 12 hours)

3. STUFF AND COOK THE ROAST

Let the roast sit out at room temperature for 1 hour. If the stuffing base was refrigerated, let it sit at room temperature also.

Position a rack in the bottom third of the over and heat the oven to 500 ◦F. Season the roast all over with salt and pepper. Put the roast on an oiled flat rack set in a roasting pan or heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet. Cover the bones tightly with aluminum foil. Roast the port for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir the dried bread into the stuffing base, pour 2 cups of the chicken broth over the mixture and stir to combine. If the bread immediately sucks up the liquid, add the remaining ½ cup broth. The bread should be moist but not soggy season to taste with salt and pepper.

Take the roast out of the oven and reduce the over temperature to 325◦ Remove the foil from the bones and loosely fill the center of the roast with stuffing. Mounding it half way up to the top of the bones (don’t worry if the roast doesn’t hold very much stuffing: just put in as much as you can). Cover the bones and stuffing tightly with aluminum foil. Set a timer for 1 hour and return the roast to the over. Wrap the remaining stuffing in a double layer of aluminum foil and se aside.

When the timer goes off, put the wrapped stuffing seam side up in the over next to the roast. Set the timer for 30 minutes.

When the timer goes off, remove the foil from the roast and open the package of stuffing so the top can crisp up. Set the timer for 15 minutes. When it goes off, start checking for doneness: Insert an instant-read thermometer into the meat between two bones without hitting the bones. The roast is done when the thermometer reads 155F. Check the temperature in two or there places. The total roasting time will be 2 1/ to 3 hours.

Slide a wide spatula under the roast to keep the stuffing in a transfer to a carving board or serving platter. Tent the roast loosely with foil and let rest for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, continue to bake the package of stuffing until the top is crisp and then turn off the oven. Leave the stuffing in the oven until ready to serve.

4 FINISH THE SAUCE

Shortly before serving, reheat the sauce in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove the sauce from the heat and whisk in the sour cream and vinegar. Season the sauce to taste with salt pepper, and additional vinegar. Transfer the sauce and additional stuffing to serving bowls.

5 PLATE AND SERVE

Remove the strings from the roast. At the table, carve the roast into chops by cutting between the ribs into the stuffing. Serve the sauce and additional stuffing on the side.