SLOW-ROASTED BONE-IN PORK RIB ROAST

SLOW-ROASTED BONE-IN PORK RIB ROAST image

Categories Pork

Yield 6-8 Servings

Number Of Ingredients 17

Ingredients

1 (4- to 5-pound) center-cut bone-in pork rib roast, chine bone removed
2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
SAUCE make 1 3/4 c
Sauce -- makes about 1 3/4 cups
2 cups tawny port
1 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
4 sprigs fresh thyme, plus 2 tsps minced
2 shallots, minced
1/4 cup heavy cream
16 tbsps unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Butter sauces, like any mixture of fat and water, don't always stay emulsified. That's because the butter is temperature sensitive: If the sauce gets too hot (above 135), the butter will "break" and the butterfat will leak out. If it gets too cold (below 85), the butterfat solidifies and forms crystals that clump together and separate when the sauce is reheated.
The key to foolproofing a butter sauce is thus stabilizing the butterfat so that it doesn't separate. We do this by whisking in the butter a little bit at a time, which keeps the temperature of the sauce relatively stable. Even more important, we also add cream. Cream contains a relatively high proportion of casein proteins that surround and stabilize the butterfat droplets so that they don't separate from the emulsion. Cream is such an effective stabilizer that our sauce can be made ahead, chilled, and gently reheated before serving.

Steps:

1. Remove roast from bones, running knife down length of bones and following contours as closely as possible. Reserve bones. Combine sugar and salt in small bowl. Pat roast dry. If necessary, trim thick spots of surface fat layer to about 1/4" thickness. Cut slits, spaced 1" apart and in crosshatch pattern, in surface fat layer, being careful not to cut into meat. Rub roast evenly with sugar mixture. Wrap roast and ribs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hrs or up to 24 hrs. 2. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 250. Sprinkle roast evenly with pepper. Place roast back on ribs so bones fit where they were cut; tie roast to bones with lengths of kitchen twine between ribs. Transfer roast, fat side up, to wire rack set in a sheet pan. Roast until meat registers 145 degrees, 3 to 4 hrs. 3. Remove roast from oven (leave roast on sheet), tent loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest for 30 minutes. 4. Meanwhile combine port and cherries in bowl and microwave til steaming, 1 to 2 min. Cover and let stand until cherries are plump, about 10 min. Strain port through fine-mesh strainer into med saucepan, reserving cherries. 5. Add vinegar, thyme sprigs, and shallots to port and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-high and reduce mixture until it measures 3/4 c, 14 to 16 min. Add cream and reduce again to 3/4 c, about 5 min. Discard thyme sprigs. Off heat, whisk in butter, few pieces at a time, til fully incorporated. Stir in cherries, minced thyme, salt, and pepper. Cover pan and hold, off heat, until serving. Or, let sauce cool completely and refrigerate for up to two days, reheating over medium heat until warm. 6. Adjust oven rack 8" from broiler element and heat broiler. Return roast to oven and broil until top of roast is well browned and crispy, 2 to 6 min. 7. Transfer roast to carving board; cut twine and remove meat from ribs. Slice meat into 3/4 inch thick slices and serve, passing sauce separately