Pork Rib Roast

Want a show-stopping centerpiece roast to feed a holiday dinner crowd? Crown roast is the answer.

Okay, here we go. Either we have you hooked at “Ultimate Cheater Pulled Pork” or this book is headed straight for the library’s used book sale. We know that. You know that. So, let’s drop the chitchat and make some cheater barbecue. In short, you drop a pork butt into the slow cooker, add dry rub and bottled smoke, close the cover, go away for a while, pull or chop the meat and pile it on a bun, add sauce, get out the pickles, open a beer. BOOM! That’s barbecue, baby. Can you feel it? That’s Ultimate Cheater Pulled Pork.

Forgo the old-school crown roast by arranging two pork rib roasts with the bones crisscrossed like a military honor-guard salute. Ask your butcher to french the bones by removing excess fat and muscle for a more elegant presentation.

Roasting the pork at a low temperature in a spiced salt mixture amps up the flavor of the meat and makes it extra-tender. After cooking the pork, the rack of bones is cut off and used to hold the roast for easy carving.

Apples turn sweet as they roast alongside pork loin flavored with herbs and maple syrup. Brine the roast one day ahead.

Peppadews, small peppers from South Africa, add a briny-sweet note. Look for them in jars or in the deli section of some supermarkets and at specialty foods stores. You can order them from igourmet.com or amazon.com.

The pork and figs need to marinate overnight, so be sure to begin one day ahead.

With today's leaner pork, the traditional crown roast technique (which requires cutting between each rib chop to form the "crown") tends to produce overcooked meat before the bone end is done. So instead, ask the butcher to french the bones of two rib racks and present them back-to-back.

This succulent cut, made from two pork loins bound together, makes a princely vessel for spicy corn bread poblano stuffing. To prevent your pork from cooking unevenly, cook the stuffing separately, and fill the crown just before serving.

The pork is prepared for roasting like a prime rib of beef; you can follow the method here or have your butcher do it for you. For best results, start brining the pork five days before you plan to roast it.

A simply spectacular main-course. Ask the butcher to grind any pork trimmings to use in the stuffing. Either hard cider or Pinot Noir would be delicious alongside.

At the restaurant, this dish is served with cilantro mashed potatoes. The pork has to marinate overnight, so begin preparing the recipe a day ahead.

The Potato Gratin with Cream and Fresh Herbs is a nice accompaniment to this main course. And for the wine, consider serving a flavorful red, such as a Pinot Noir from Oregon.

Roasted pork loin, which is commonly served on special occasions in Denmark, is here richly flavored with cardamom, juniper berries and currant jelly. Ask the butcher to cut into the chine bone of the rib roast to make it easier to carve. Note that the pork needs to marinate at least 12 hours before roasting, so plan accordingly. Uncork a fruity Merlot to go with it.