Crown Roast of Pork With Fig/Cranberry Stuffing

Get ready to makes your family and guests drop their jaws when you show them what they are about to consume. Get friendly with your local butcher, asking him to be sure to French the ribs and tie together. The roast should be no smaller than 12 – 16 ribs.

The dressing is perfect but should be cooked separately for two reasons: one is the roast would take much longer to cook and two; the stuffing and roast would suffer.

Read through first then plan the rest of it. Perhaps potato gratin served with roasted cauliflower and for a wine: serve a semi-dry Riesling. Wow

1 crown roast of pork
1 tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
1 tbsp. fresh tarragon, chopped
1 tbsp. fennel seeds, crushed
1 tbsp. cracked black pepper
1 tbsp. cracked coriander seeds

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Stand the roast on a rack in a roasting pan. Combine the spices and rub all over the roast. Bake for 30 minutes then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and roast for 1 1/2 – 2 hours or until a meat thermometer reaches 160F.

Stuffing

2 tbsp. butter
1 cup chopped onions
6 cups cubed bread
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup dried figs, chopped
2 tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
2 tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 tsp. grated orange rind (zest)
1/2 cup chicken stock (maybe 1/4 cup more)
beaten egg

Melt the butter in a large skillet and add the onion and saute until softened (2 minutes). Add the bread and remove from heat. Pour into a large bowl and stir in the rest of the ingredients.

Grease a 6 cup heatproof bowl and pack in the stuffing mixture, cover with greased tin foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake a further 15 minutes or until the stuffing is browned.

Slice the roast into chops and serve with some of the dressing. Add the side dishes and serve with a chilled glass of wine. For those who do not consume alcohol, there are non-alcoholic wines (white, blush and red) available. The only person who will know the difference is you and who cares anyway? Yum!