A Winter Birthday Dinner Menu

Crown Pork Roast

with Apple, Orange, and Pecan Stuffing,

Roasted Vegetables

and Mustard Cream Sauce

From Put Pork on Your Fork
Yield: Serves 14
Cooking Time: 2-3 hours (or more, see note)
Preparation Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients
1 single loin crown roast of Pork, about 6 lb
2 tbsp Herbes de Provence
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper (optional)
Vegetables:
Potatoes, peeled and quartered (I didn't have time to peel mine)
Sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered
Parsnips, peeled halved
Carrots, peeled and halved
Asparagus
Rutabaga, peeled and cut into eights
Coat vegetables with olive oil and sprinkle with salt before roasting.

Cooking Instructions
ROAST
Pre-heat oven to 450° F (230°C). Cover exposed rib bones with foil, and stuff a ball of foil into the central cavity of roast.
In a small bowl, combine Herbes de Provence, oil, salt and pepper. Rub mixture evenly over roast.
Place roast in oven, bone tips up, and roast for about 30 minutes, or until roast starts to brown.
Reduce heat to 325° F (160°C), and place prepared stuffing in same oven. At this point, any vegetables that you may wish to roast with the pork: potatoes, carrots, parsnips, etc. Continue roasting for a further 90 minutes, or until an internal temperature of 155°F is reached.
Note: It takes much longer than this! Especially if your oven is loaded up with vegetables and stuffing. We were in a hurry so I reduced the heat to 400 degrees. Even then it took about 3 hours total until the roast was done. When the meat reaches a temperature of about 150 degrees (taken on the outside), remove the foil from the cavity and insert the thermometer in the pork inside the crown roast. Cook until that meat reaches 155 degrees. It will take hours at 325 degrees.
Tent loosely with foil and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
Carve using the ribs as a guide, and serve with Apple, Orange, and Pecan Stuffing. The stuffing can be placed in the middle of the roast to serve.
Some tips: Ask your butcher at your grocery store to cut and tie the crown roast for you. You will always get a better piece of meat when you do this. They will usually put the fancy foil tips on for you. Crown pork roasts are usually on sale around Christmas.


Mustard Cream Sauce
From Ontario Pork
Makes 1 1/2 cup

1/2 cup dry red wine (125 ml)
1/2 cup 35% cream (125ml)
1/2 cup Dijon mustard (125 ml)
1/2 cup beef or chicken bouillon stock (125 ml)
Salt and pepper to taste

Add wine to roasting pan while roast is "resting."  Bring to boil, scraping up all the brown bits.  Stain into a small saucepan and add cream, mustard and stock.  Whisking periodically, bring to a boil and reduce to 1 1/2 cups; season with salt and pepper to taste.