Taste the Eleventh Century

What would young Prince Edmund and the rest of the royal family have eaten at the funeral dinner in London? Baked Apples and Roasted Pork Shoulder were likely on the table.

Baked Apples with Candied Ginger & Toasted Pecans

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 4 large, fresh baking apples (Rome, Golden Delicious, or Jonagold)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans
• 2 Tbsps finely chopped crystallized ginger
• 1 Tbsp butter
• A pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup apple cider (or water if you don’t have cider)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Wash your apples then remove their cores to about 1/2 inch above the bottom of the apple. You should have a hole roughly an inch wide that does not go all the way through the apple.
2. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, salt, and pecans. Place the apples in a small baking pan – one small enough to keep all the apples upright but not so small that they’re crowded. Stuff each apple with the filling mixture and top with a small pat of butter.
3. Add the cider (or water) to the baking dish and bake the apples for 30-40 minutes, taking them out several times to baste them with the cider in the
4. bottom of the dish, until they are tender, but not mushy. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy making and savoring this delicious treat! Check out the original full recipe here.

Roast Pork Shoulder

Prep: 20 mins Cook: 3 hrs 30 mins Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 2kg pork shoulder joint
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1½ tsp fine sea salt
• 1 large onion, sliced

Directions

Step 1:

1. Heat the oven to 240C/220C fan/gas 9.
2. Remove any packaging from the pork, retain the string, and pat dry with kitchen paper – you want the skin to be as dry as possible.
3. Score deep cuts into the skin in a diamond pattern using a sharp knife (you want to cut into the fat). If the skin is already scored, make sure each cut is dry and can be easily opened.
4. Rub the oil into the skin, rubbing it well into each cut, then sprinkle the salt over in an even layer, rubbing this into the cuts, too.

Step 2:

1. Scatter the onion slices over the base of a large roasting tin and sit the pork joint on top.
2. Roast for 20-30 mins, or until the skin starts to blister and bubble. Put the kettle on to boil.

Step 3:

1. Pour half a kettle of boiling water around the joint to cover the base of the tin, ensuring it doesn’t drip onto the skin.
2. Reduce the oven temperature to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Roast for another 2 hrs 30 mins, or until the meat under the skin is very tender when pressed. There’s a lot of fat in pork shoulder, so cooking at a low temperature this way ensures the meat doesn’t dry out – if needed, it can cook for up to 3 hrs.

Step 4:

1. Turn the oven back up to 220C/200C fan/gas 7 and continue to roast the pork for 20-25 mins until the skin is very crisp and has started to harden – it should feel brittle when tapped with a knife. If needed, cook for 10 mins more to achieve this.
2. Remove the pork from the oven and rest for 20 mins in the tin, loosely covering with foil.
3. Remove the crackling in large pieces, then break into smaller chunks.
4. Carve the meat and serve alongside the crackling and your favorite sides.

Enjoy making and savoring this delicious roast pork shoulder! Here’s the full source of the recipe.