We had one of our best roast lunches for a while today. What was the secret? Probably a good dose of time. We had friends coming round to join us and, in the planning stage, we thought they would be round about 1pm but this morning we found out it would be more like 1:30pm. I’d already put the pork joint in for a low, slow cook before we set off for church and everything else was prepped. What the extra time meant was not having to rush and having plenty of time to cook things well.

How did we avoid overcooking things? The main issue was the pork joint. I’d already cut the fat off the top and seasoned it last night. When I put it in the over, it was in a covered tin, on a “trivet” of onions and tomatoes and with a good amount of cheap sherry and water. At 120°C, the meat itself was mainly being steamed but could have been in for a lot longer before any risk of burning. When we got home it was already cooked but the high liquid volume meant it wasn’t in danger of drying out. I took it out of the oven and left it covered in the hot liquid to hold the temperature in a food safe zone while the crackling layer went back in on a tray at a higher temperature, alongside roast potatoes and, later, carrots and parsnips.

The joint itself did go back for a bit, once I’d drained the liquid and vegetables to make gravy, but only for about 15 minutes to brown a bit on the top before a further 15 minutes or so for resting under a cover. The meat was succulent, the crackling was crispy, the roast veg were just right and even the sprouts (prepared with a cross slit in the bottom of each and microwaved) held up their end.

So, for a good roast, slowly does it.