Pork Roullade with Prunes

Pork Roullade with Prunes

My mom loved this kind of pork roulade called rullesteg (rolled roast) in Danish. It might have been the prunes that made it special for her. And I have to agree with her, the prunes gives this roast a sweetness that pairs well with the pork and the saltiness.

Don't get me started about the gravy. Danes are a meat, potato and brown gravy kinda people. The sauce or gravy should be spooned over the potatoes and not just used as a small amount of dipping sauce. The sauce from a roast like this makes the most fantastic sauce. All the flavors from the roast is concentrated in the cooking liquid, making the sauce to die for.  I normally only make a sauce like this at christmas when we have roasted duck or/and Danish pork roast, but this roast calle for the traditional brown sauce. 

Ingredients:

• 1½ kg (3 lbs) pork belly, no skin
• 200 g pitted prunes
• salt & pepper
• butter and olive oil for the searing
• 4-500 ml (2 cups) water

Directions:

Cut off any large chunks of fat, but don't make it too lean. Trim the ends so they are straight.   Lay the pork belly flat on a cutting board and sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides. Place the prunes on the pork belly along one of the sides. Roll the pork belly into a tight sausage keeping the prunes in the center. Use cooking twine to tie the meat up all the way.

Heat butter and oil in a pot, and sear the roast on all sides. Add the water, turn heat to low and let to simmer for about 90 minutes, turning a few times during the cooking process.  

Remove the roast from the pan, and let rest on a cutting board, before slicing.

Extra: Make a sauce from the cooking liquid, by adding cream (or whole milk) to the pan, and bring it to a boil. Thicken the sauce with a thick mixture of water and all-purpose flour. Add browning (kulør) to get the brown color. Season with salt, pepper and sugar.

Serve the roast sliced thin with boiled potatoes and some kind of vegetables.

Enjoy!

Porchetta on the BBQ

Porchetta - just of the BBQ

I made porchetta before I started with this blog, but I knew I had to make again and again and again. Like a Danish pork roast aka flæskesteg, the porchetta has the crackling pork skin aka flæskesvær, that makes this dish so perfect. The crispy and salty skin goes perfect with the soft juicy pork seasoned with all kinds of goodness. 

If you can get hold of a meaty pork belly and make the porchetta it might be the best BBQ meal you've ever had. But if the pork belly is mostly fat, it won't be that great. Well, you still have excellent  cracklings.

This time I was lucky to find a nice piece of pork belly in my local Whole Foods Market. It was so meaty, with only thin lines of fat between the meat. This called for a porchetta, even though it would mean a late dinner for us.

Ingredients:

• 5-6 pounds (2½-3 kg) Pork belly with skin on

• ½ cup (1 dl) breadcrumbs, fresh and finely chopped

• 1 cup chopped parsley

• 1 large onion, chopped

Spice rub:

• 2 lemons, zest of

• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 tablespoon whole black pepper, cracked

• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, toasted and cracked

• 4 bay leaves

• 2 sprigs rosemary

• salt - quite a lot

Equipment:

• Grill Rotisserie

Directions:

Let the pork belly sit at room temperature for 2 hours.

Make a spice blend from lemon zest, garlic, rosemary, toasted fennel seeds, bay leaves, salt and pepper.

Try to roll up the pork belly, and remove the part of the skin, that will be rolled up inside the porchetta. If you don’t do that, you’ll have a chewy rubbery piece of skin inside your porchetta. 

Place the pork belle skin-side down on your kitchen counter. Spread the spice rub, onions, parsley and breadcrumbs. 

Roll up the pork belly tight, and tie the roast crosswise at 1-inch (2½ cm) intervals with butcher's string. 

Porchetta

Insert the grill rotisserie, spear into the center of the roast. Rub the porchetta with olive oil and a good amount of salt. Let the porchette roast for 2-4 hours until the skin is chrisp and dark golden brown, and the center temperature is about 140℉ (60℃). Use indirect heat.

Let the Porchetta rest for about 20 minutes before serving.

Slice the porchetta and serve in a hamburger bun and/or with a good salad.

Enjoy!

The Danish version:

Porchetta on the BBQ

Ingredienser:

• 2½-3 kg svineslag

• 1 dl hakket daggammelt lyst brød uden skorpe

• 2 dl hakket persille

• 1 stor løg, hakket

Krydderiblanding:

• 2 citroner, skallen fra

• 3-4 fed hvidløg, pressede

• 1 spsk hel sort peber, meget groft kværnet

• 1 tsk fennikel frø, tørristede og groft kværnede

• 4 laurbærblade

• 2 kviste rosemarin

• salt - Ret meget

Udstyr:

• Roterende grillspyd

Fremgangsmåde:

Lad svineslaget ligge et par timer på køkkenbordet, så det opnår stuetemperatur.

Bland ingredienserne til krydderiblandingen.

Rul svineslaget og fjern den del af  sværen som vil være rullet ind i porchettaen. Denne del af sværen vil blive sej og gummiagtig, hvis den steger med. 

Læg svineslaget med sværen nedad og spred krydderiblandingen, løg, persille og brød på kødet. 

Rul svineslaget stramt op som en stor rullepølse og snør den stramt, med ca. 2½ cm imellem snorene.

Spid stegen med det store grilspyd, og sæt den på grillen og motoren. Smør porchettaen ind med olie og en del salt. Steg porchettaen i ca. 2 timer indtil sværen er brun og sprød, og kødet har en center temperatur på ca 60℃. Brug indirekte varme.

Lad Porchettaen hvile i ca. 20 minutter inden serveringen.

Skær porchettaen og server den i en burgerbolle og/eller med en god salat.

Velbekomme!