Roast Pork shoulder cooked from frozen

So a few days ago i decided to finally cook my Pork shoulder, which has been sitting in my freezer for ages. I bought it a while ago for cheap. Students who live in houses or halls will know that fridge space is always limited and someone is always putting stuff on your shelf! Personally, i love freezing everything and a firm believer that almost everything can be frozen and heated from frozen despite what the packaging says. I stick to the rule to unless specified, adding 50 percent of the cooking time on if cooking from frozen. E.g. a meal normally taking 20 minutes i'l put in for 30. If it's meat though you should always check if it's cooked all of the way through, in particular chicken and pork. When juices run completely clear then it's cooked. Also you may want to put foil over whatever your cooking from frozen so it doesn't burn on the inside before the middle is cooked. I don't like defrosting stuff in the microwave as it can start to cook it, but i always forget to take things out of the freezer to naturally defrost in the day!


Luckily the cooking time for this pork was shown on the packaging, as a lot of the time for meat it isn't. It said at 200 'C, 35mins per 450g plus an extra 30 minutes. My shoulder was around 740 g (can't remember exactly as i've thrown the packaging away) but it worked out with the extra 50 percent cooking time 2 hours 15 minutes.


So, on to the cooking. Put the frozen joint in the oven loosely covered in foil for an hour. Then take it out and season the meat. I used sage and oregano and also rubbed salt and a tiny bit of oil into the already scored fat on the top to make it into really tasty crispy crackling. If any juice has come out of the meat spoon the juice back over it. Pour some red wine and balsamic vinegar if you have it.


In the last 45 minutes of cooking take off the foil. I then cut up a peeled apple and an onion into small (but not to small) pieces. The juices will take on the flavour of the onion and the apple will soften and dissolve into the juice. Yummy.


So after the 45 minutes you should end up with a sizzling amazing joint with crispy crackling on the top. If you want you crackling 'break your teeth' crispy then you might want to take the foil off a bit sooner. I like the very top layer to be crispy but underneath a bit softer.


Put the pork on a plate or board and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Carve it into nice slices if you want to make it look pretty or separate the crackling and cut into small pieces. I carved some for my dinner then cut the rest up to make into pork and stuffing baguettes to eat the next day. Went to V festival last year and lived on them all weekend as they were so good! The crackling i cut up into strips to snack on in front on the  tv. :)


The juices in the pan you can make into a sauce, or a gravy. Add a little boiling water and scrape up the bits that will have stuck to the bottom of the pan. For a gravy simply add a tablespoon of gravy granules and a bit of flour if you want it thicker. For a nice sauce add some red wine vinegar and balsamic and a teaspoon of sugar. Serve with some form of potatoes (e.g. roast, chips etc) and vegetables.


I was going to cook some dauphinoise potatoes (my mum's just informed me it's named after a French prince). I had a bit of cream left from making the oreo cheesecake, however the only potatoes in the house were mouldy. Bad times. Hopefully i'l make them soon and post the recipe on here. 


I'm back at home now so the next post will have a picture, i promise!


Bon Appetit,


Melon xxx