6 hour slow roast shoulder of pork with dauphinoise potatoes - comfort food personified

6 hour slow roast shoulder of pork

Every lazy weekend deserves a lazy roast dinner – this week 6 hour slow roast shoulder of pork with dauphinoise potatoes and green beans. This is possibly the ultimate lazy roast, a beginner’s roast if you will. The reason it makes such a good beginners roast is due to the fact that there are only 3 components to get right and I can vouch that the slow cooking method is very forgiving with the timings. This was particularly helpful when I ended up having an impromptu mid afternoon nap. Ma bad. Again.

I am aware that a roast dinner isn’t very seasonal for Saturday in mid June but when the weather is behaving like a day in mid January (dreich and cold but with none of the excitement of a yet to come Christmas) it seemed appropriate. We ended up huddled around the open fire with the Saturday papers and in that moment I wanted to eat dauphinoise potatoes more than any other food in the whole world. Oh creamy, carby, garlicky wonderfulness…

One good looking piece of meat

One dauphinoise looking a little burnt

6 hour roast pork - the final product

6 hour slow roast shoulder of pork with dauphinoise potatoes and green beans

6 hour slow roast shoulder of pork

Serves 4 plus leftovers

Oven 200 degrees celsius

1.5kg – 2kg shoulder of pork (skin scored)

1dsp sea salt

Pour boiling water over the pork skin, and then pat dry with kitchen towel.

This helps to open up the scores, which makes for wonderful crackling.

Rub salt into the scores.

Pop in the oven for 30 minutes until the skin has all browned and puffed up.

Put a double layer of tinfoil over the top of the roast and then turn the oven down to 160 degrees.

Cook for 5 and half hours.

It does help it if you baste it with the rendered fat every so often, maybe every hour or so.

Depending how fatty your joint is you may want to take the crackling off the joint about 30 minutes before the end of cooking; roasting it separately fatty side up allows it to get really crispy.

When it is ready the pork should be able to be pulled apart, all succulent and lovely.

No need to rest this joint, which is just as well as it hard to resist.

Dauphinoise potatoes

serves 4-6

700g floury potatoes, peeled and cut into slices 2-3mm think (get yer ruler out - jokes)

400-500g of double cream

4 cloves of garlic, grated or finely chopped

2 bay leaves
a few strokes of nutmeg

a couple of pinches of sea salt

good pinch of black pepper

Arrange the potatoes in an ovenproof dish

Mix all the other ingredients in a mixing jug and pour over the potatoes.

Cook in the oven at about 160 degrees celsius for 1hr and 15 minutes.

Mine were in for an hour and a half a got a little burnt.

Check the potatoes after 15 minutes, if the oven is too hot the cream can split, adjust the temperature as necessary.

After an hour check it isn't looking too burnt, it may need a tinfoil hat.

Enjoy.