Donnie Brasco!

So this is nothing to do with the person or the movie but everything to do with a 19lb ham we had in the freezer! 

Aromatic Shoulder of Pork 'Donnie Brasco"  by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall from The River Cottage Meat Book, cooked by Michael!

1 Shoulder of pork on the bone (we used a whole Berkshire ham)

5 Large cloves of garlic

5cm piece of fresh ginger

2 teaspoons of dried chili

2 teaspoons of ground ginger

1 tablespoon of brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon of flaky salt (we used sea salt)

1 tablespoon of sunflower oil

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

THE FIVE SPICE MIX

2 star anise

2 teaspoons of fennel seed

1/2 cinnamon stock

4 cloves

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

Score the rind/fat of the pork with a Stanley knife in parallel lines about 1cm apart, to a depth of 1/1-1cm.

Grate the garlic and fresh ginger into a small bowl and mix to a paste with the chili flakes, ground ginger, brown sugar, salt, oil and soy sauce.  Pound the 5 spices in a pestle and mortar (or grind in a coffee grinder) and mix 1 tablespoonful into the paste (any left over will keep in an airtight jar; you could make larger quantities, if you like and store).

Place the pork, skin side up, on a rack above a large roasting tin.  With your fingertips, rub just over half the spice paste into the scored rind of the pork.  Place the joint in the centre of a very hot oven (450F) for 30 minutes.  The remove from the oven and, using oven gloves or a thick dry cloth, carefully turn the joint over to expose the underside.  Using a knife or wooden spoon this time (the meat will be very hot), smear the remainder of the paste over the underside of the meat (now facing uppermost).  Pour a glass of water into the roasting tin, turn down to 200F and replace the joint.  Leave for anything from 16-24 hours (we cooked ours for 24hours), turning it skin side up again, and basting with the fat and juices in the tin, about half way through.  About 45 minutes before you want to eat, whack up the heat to 450F again to crisp the crackling/fat.

To serve with simple starch, such as noodles, plain buttered macaroni, boiled rice or even mashed potatoes.

Have to say it was delicious, and the smell in the house for the 24hours it was cooking was amazing!