It's not really about the apple sauce

It's about the crackling, of course! The thing is, roast pork is not an actual recipe in the Edmonds book - in fact, it's barely mentioned, even amongst the general meat-cooking information. On the other hand, I did have to make apple sauce (p185), which gave me all the excuse I needed when I saw some small pork roasts on special the other day.


So really, I didn't have to do anything Edmonds until my pork and veges had been roasting for about an hour and a half. At this point, I peeled and chopped some apples (they were supposed to be cooking apples, but I just used the ones I had) and set them to simmer with a little water, butter and lemon juice.

I'd also decided I needed some non-roasted veges, so I thought I'd have a go at sweet and sour red cabbage (p166). I chopped up some red cabbage, grated another apple, and put them in a pan. After cooking this for a few minutes, I added vinegar, brown sugar and seasoning,  then let it simmer for about 20 minutes.


Meanwhile, my apples had gone soft and pulpy. I mashed them up a bit and then beat the sauce with a spoon to make it smooth. I'd taken my roast out and started serving it up while I put the crackling briefly under the grill to make it extra crispy.

I can tell you this much: it's a very bad idea to make a pork roast just for yourself. Why? Because you don't have to share the crackling with anyone (and yes, there is such a thing as too much crackling)! But I'm supposed to be talking about the apple sauce, which was sweet, fruity and entirely worth the minimal effort involved in making it.

The sweet and sour red cabbage was a bit of an oddity. I didn't dislike it, but I didn't think it was particularly wonderful either. A full 25 minutes' cooking time makes for fairly soft, sloppy cabbage, and I prefer it with a bit of crunch. The sweet and sour flavour wasn't particularly successful either. It was edible, and not disgusting, but that's about the highest praise I can give it.

In short: thumbs-up to the apple sauce; don't bother with the cabbage, and if you're making a pork roast, be sure to share it with someone!