Roast Leg of Pork

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            FOOD FUNNY
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Here's another from Rosemary Zwick, our food humor correspondent
in South Africa:

A waitress became violently ill while at the restaurant when she
was serving a customer his fish dinner and was rushed by
ambulance to the emergency room. In typical hospital fashion,
she was placed on an examining table and then all but ignored
for the next half-hour. Finally, she noticed a doctor out in the hall
and yelled, "Please help me!"

"Sorry," he replied, "it's not my table."

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            TODAY'S RECIPE
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Roasting a whole leg of pork, otherwise known as "fresh ham," is
something that every cook should do at least once. If you never
have, you'll be surprised not only by how easy it is, but also by
how delicious the results are.

Roast Leg of Pork

For the rub:
10-15 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 Tbs (60 ml) dried sage
2 Tbs (30 ml) dried rosemary
3 Tbs (45 ml) salt
2 Tbs (30 ml) freshly ground pepper

A 15-20 lb (7-9 Kg) whole leg of pork, with or without
the bone, with or without the skin

Combine all the ingredients for the rub in a small bowl. If you
remove the skin, trim away the excess fat. If you leave the skin
on, puncture it all over - literally hundreds of times - with the tip
of a knife or skewer and then make gashes through the skin in
a criss-cross manner with a sharp knife. Rub the spice mixture
over any exposed meat, including in the gashes, but not on the
skin. If you had the bone removed, rub the mixture over the meat
on the inside. Place the roast skin side (or fat side) up in a
roasting pan and bake in a preheated 450F (230C) oven for 20
minutes. Lower the heat to 325F (165C) cook for about 3 hours
before you begin checking the temperature with an instant-read
thermometer. Do not baste the roast. Remove the roast from the
oven when the temperature in the thickest part of the leg reaches
145F (63C) - the temperature will continue to rise after you remove
it. Total cooking time will probably be about 4 1/2 hours. Cover
the roast loosely with foil and let rest for at least 45 minutes, or
up to 1 1/2 hours. To serve, remove the skin if you cooked it and
cut into small pieces. Carve the roast into thick slices and serve
with pan gravy if desired. Serves 12 to 18.
Received on Fri Dec 1 08:32:25 2006