Wade Murphy's Rack of Pork with Braised Red Cabbage and Pickled Apple from Today with Maura and Dáithí.

Ingredients

Serves 5/7
Cook Time: Approx 2 hr 20 mins


For the Rack of Pork:

  • 1x 5 bone Rack of Pork, about 2.5/3kg. Ask your butcher to make incisions into the rind about 2 to 3 cm apart and remove the chine bones.
  • 1 clove of garlic, finely sliced
  • Sprig of Thyme - leaves picked
  • 10-15 sage leaves
  • Rapeseed oil for rubbing into the skin
  • Boiling water
  • Sea salt

Braised Red Cabbage:

  • 1 head red cabbage
  • 3 juniper berries - crushed
  • 1 star anise
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 cooking apple - peeled, cored and diced
  • 70g butter
  • 30g brown sugar
  • 180mls red wine
  • 180mls port
  • 140mls red wine vinegar

Pickled Apple:

  • 2g fine sea salt
  • 2g caster sugar
  • 5mls lemon juice
  • 1 apple - cored and sliced

Method

For the Rack of Pork:

  1. Preheat the oven to 220oC. Calculate your cooking time by weighing the pork, allow 20 minutes per 450g of meat and then add 20 minutes extra.
  2. Place the pork on a wire rack. Carefully pour the boiling water over the skin. This will help you get amazing crisp crackling. It lifts the skin slightly away from the fat. Something like the method used for Peking Duck.
  3. Now place the pork in a roasting tin. Liberally push the garlic, thyme and sage leaves into the cuts in the rind. Rub the rapeseed oil into the skin and then sprinkle with the sea salt.
  4. Place the roasting tin into the preheated oven and roast for 20 to 25 mins. Although tempting, do not open the door during this period.
  5. Reduce the heat on the oven to 190oC and continue to roast for the calculated time.At the end, you should have a really juicy joint of meat with crisp flaky crackling.
  6. Remove the meat from the oven and allow to rest, covered, for at least 5-10 minutes. 

Braised Red Cabbage:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180oC. Tie the star anise and juniper berries in food-safe cloth.
  2. In an ovenproof pot melt the butter and add the red cabbage. Cook for about 4-5mins.
  3. Add the spices and sugar and cook for another 5-6mins.
  4. Add the liquids and cover with a lid. Place in the preheated oven and cook for 2 to 2.5 hours.
  5. Stir every 30mins to ensure the cabbage cooks evenly. Remove from the oven and keep until ready to serve.

Pickled Apple:

  1. Mix all the ingredients apart from the apple in a bowl. Once combined add the apple. Ideally, place in a ziplock bag and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
  2. If you don't have a ziplock bag, place in a small container and cover completely with cling film. As before place in the fridge and leave at least 3 hours.

To Serve:

  1. Once the Pork Rack is cooked and rested, the cabbage is cooked and the apples have had enough pickling time.
  2. Place the cabbage on the heat and heat thoroughly. Remove the cover from the pork and carve into desired sized chops.
  3. Place a spoonful of the cabbage into the centre of each plate, put a thick slice of pork on top of the cabbage and garnish with slices of the pickled apple.
  4. If you want you could serve this with some baked potato or starch of your choice
Wade Murphy Today Show Pork Rack
Wade Murphy's Rack of Pork with Braised Red Cabbage and Pickled Apple