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Sunday Recipes – Vancouver Island Pork Roast, Apple Compote, Blue Cheese Potato Gratin

February 21st, 2010 Write a Comment  Print This Post

Every Sunday we share a recipe from EBC president Eric Pateman.  Here’s a lovely Sunday dinner recipe from one of our Whisky Dinners.

Vancouver Island Pork Roast

Granny Smith Apple Compote & Blue Cheese Potato Gratin

SERVED WITH BENRIACH 21 YEAR OLD

Serves 8 

Pork

• 3 lb Sloping Hills Pork Roast, with Crackling (Lynn Valley Meats or Armando’s – Special Order)
• ¼ C Olive Oil (Edible BC)
• ¼ C Pomegranate Mustard (Edible BC)
• Salt & Pepper (Edible BC)

 Apple Compote

• 2 Large Granny Smith Apples, Peeled and Coarsely Chopped (Green Grocer)
• 2 Large Ambrosia Apples, Peeled and Coarsely Chopped (Green Grocer)
• 2 Tbsp Butter (Milk Man)
• ½ Sweet Onion, Finely Sliced (Green Grocer)
• ½ C Brown Sugar (The Grainry)
• ¼ C Raisins (The Grainry)
• Zest of One Orange, Plus Juice (Green Grocer)
• ¼ C Fresh Herbs, Finely Chopped Including Rosemary, Sage & Oregano (Green Grocer)

Gratin

• 2 lbs Russet Potatoes, Peeled and Sliced Thin on a Mandoline (Green Grocer)
• 2 lbs Sweet Onions, Caramelized (Green Grocer)
• 4 Tbsp Butter (Milk Man)
• ½  Liter Whipping Cream (Milk Man)
• 250 gr BC Blue Cheese (Oyama)
• Salt & Pepper, To Taste (Edible BC)

Method:

Pork

 If the fat (crackling) is not already scored, score it with a sharp knife and then rub the pork roast with the olive oil, mustard, salt & pepper.

Roast in a slow oven (220 degrees) until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 150 degrees and then remove from the oven and cover with foil to rest and keep warm.  This should take approx. 3 hours.

Compote

 While the pork is cooking, you can cook the compote.  Add all of the ingredients to a medium sized sauce pan and cook over medium heat until the apples are tender and the onion is soft.  Turn down the heat to low and keep warm.

 Gratin

While the pork and the compote are cooking you can assemble and bake the gratin in about an hour.  First, combine the whipping cream and blue cheese in a sauce pan and reduce over medium-low heat by half.  While the cream/cheese mixture is reducing, you can be caramelizing the onions in a frying pan on another burner.  The secret to caramelizing onions is a low heat for a long period of time.  Both of these things should take approx. 40 minutes to accomplish.

Once the cream is reduced and the onions are caramelized, you are ready to assemble the gratin (assuming you already peeled and sliced your potatoes).  To assemble the dish, butter a baking pan well on all side, and then start layering it with slices of potatoes, then onions, and then cream.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and then start again – potatoes, onions, cream, S&P, and so forth, until the pan is full.  Be sure to keep pushing the filling down so you get a nice tight filling in the pan.

Once you have everything in the pan, cover it with tin foil and back it in a 350 degree oven for one hour.  Remove the foil 45 minutes in to the cooking time to ensure the top gets nice and golden brown.  You can sprinkle the top with more blue cheese, or another type of cheese if you desire as well.

To Serve:

 Place a scoop of the gratin, along with a few slices of the pork on the plate and garnish with the apple compote and any pan juices from the roasted pork.  You could also make a cider gravy using the drippings from the pork roast if you desire.