“We respect what our farming hero Salatin calls ‘the pigness of the pig’, and our animals are free to roam, root, and wallow as they would in the wild. We think it’s unconscionable to choose meat from an animal that has lived its life in pain and misery so it could end up on our plates, and if the ethics of the matter don’t win you over, the flavour will.”
-Tammi Jonai, ethicurean farmer, Jonai Farms
Kipfler potatoes are added to this braised pork near the end of cooking time, for a full and hearty one-dish meal.
Cook Time: 3 hours
Ingredients:
1 ethically-raised pork loin roast, bone in, about 2kg
Salt and pepper
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium cabbage
1/2 cup Daylesford Medium Cider
1 tablespoon Des O’Toole Honey honey
1 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dried leaf thyme
2 pounds kipfler potatoes or red potatoes cut in 1 1/2-inch chunks
Preparation:
Melt butter in a large braising pan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Brown onions lightly then brown the pork roast on all sides. Add the chopped garlic. Remove outer leaves from the cabbage then cut into 6 to 8 wedges. Arrange cabbage around the pork roast.
Heat oven to 325°.
In a cup, combine the apple cider, honey, and vinegar; stir in the dried leaf thyme. Pour over the pork and cabbage. Cover the pan and transfer to the oven. Bake for 2 hours. Scrub the kipfler potatoes and add them to the pork and cabbage. Cover and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour longer. Pork should register about 160° on an instant read thermometer.
Enjoy with a glass of Birthday Villa Gewürztraminer
A note about pork: If you check out any of the Australian free-range pork producers listed on Tammi Jonas: Food Ethics, you’ll find far superior flavours to intensively-farmed pork. Hopefully as the number of pastured-pig farmers increases around Australia and the rest of the world we can all enjoy ethical, quality pork that has travelled few miles so that we also decrease our carbon footprints, all while supporting local farmers – everybody wins!
