The Roast Pork Dinner That Became An Event

There are roast dinners.

And then there are the roast dinners where, somewhere along the way, you realise you’ve accidentally turned Sunday tea into a full-blown fucking production.

This was one of those.

It started with a beautiful piece of pork and one very simple objective:

Make a really good roast dinner.

Easy enough, right?

Well… yes.

Except we decided we wanted proper crackling. Proper roast potatoes. Roasted oregano carrots. Broccoli. Stuffing. Gravy.

And then, because apparently we weren’t doing enough already, we decided a giant Yorkshire pudding was absolutely necessary.

Naturally.

Ally was at work so Cush was left unsupervised in the kitchen. Cush likes this, Ally doesn’t. There was also a football match on TV, some cans of lager and then later a thunderstorm to watch. Mere complications in the grand design of life although Cush thinks that drunk football cooking is the new normal.

The Pork

The pork went into the oven first, because the crackling was the star of the show and we weren’t prepared to compromise.

The skin was scored, seasoned and given the heat it needed to blister and puff into that glorious, brittle, salty crackling that makes the rest of the meal almost irrelevant.

And fucking hell, did it deliver.

By the time it came out, the crackling wasn’t merely good.

It was the sort of crackling that deserves its own television programme.

We genuinely considered serving it separately.

We probably should have.

The Roasties

The potatoes were peeled and parboiled until the edges were just beginning to soften.

There was a brief flirtation with the idea of adding beef stock to the potato water.

We ditched that.

Instead, we concentrated on getting them properly roughed up after draining, letting them steam dry before they hit the roasting dish.

Hot fat.

Rough potatoes.

Into the oven.

And from there, they slowly transformed into the golden, crispy little bastards they were always destined to become.

The Stuffing

Then came a slight plot twist.

The stuffing wasn’t originally part of the master plan.

But Paxo entered the chat.

And you know what?

Sometimes you don’t need to reinvent the wheel.

Good stuffing, seasoned properly and cooked alongside everything else, is exactly what a roast dinner needs.

We actually chose not to bake the whole thing separately, instead bringing it into the roast as part of the overall meal.

No regrets.

Oregano Roasted Carrots

The carrots got a very simple treatment because they didn’t need much.

Chunky pieces, oil, seasoning and a generous sprinkling of oregano.

Then into the oven until they were tender, caramelised around the edges and carrying that lovely roasted sweetness.

Nothing complicated.

Just really good carrots.

And Then There Was The Yorkshire

Now, this is where things got silly.

Not individual Yorkshire puddings.

Not four little Yorkies.

No.

One giant fucking Yorkshire pudding.

The batter went into a seriously hot dish and, for a while, we basically stood there watching it like expectant parents.

And then it happened.

It rose.

And rose.

And fucking ROSE.

By the time it came out, we’d created something somewhere between a Yorkshire pudding and a small piece of architecture. Just a note – that Yorkshire Pudding doesn’t actually have bricks…it was just the reflection from the oven door!

Crispy golden edges.

A beautifully risen wall.

A soft, airy centre.

And enough room inside to potentially park a small vehicle.

Exactly what we wanted. Except with bricks.

The Final Seven Minutes

At this point, the kitchen had become mission control.

The potatoes were bronzed.

The carrots were roasting.

The Yorkshire was standing proud.

The broccoli was waiting for its turn.

And the pork went back in for the final blast.

Because we’d already come this far, and there was absolutely no way we were serving anything less than perfect crackling.

Then came the wait.

Seven minutes.

Seven very long minutes.

And finally…

Dinner.

The Finished Plate

Proper roast pork.

That ridiculous crackling.

Crispy roast potatoes.

Oregano roasted carrots.

Steamed broccoli.

Stuffing.

Rich gravy.

And a giant Yorkshire pudding sitting there like it owned the fucking place.

Was it worth the faff?

Absolutely.

Would we do it again?

Obviously.

Because this is basically the entire philosophy behind So We Did This.

We’re not chefs.

We’re just two people who like eating really good food, who occasionally have an idea that sounds brilliant, throw a load of stuff in the kitchen and see what happens.

Sometimes it goes slightly sideways. And it did today! in a moment of sheer madness, Cush put that beautiful crackling in the covered tin with the pork to heat back through. Result: it ruined it. Don’t do this. Like, ever.

Sometimes it goes spectacularly right.

And sometimes…

you accidentally make a Yorkshire pudding big enough to live in.

That’s what happened today.

And we’re absolutely fucking happy with it.

Proper Roast Pork Dinner

What we used

For the pork

• Pork roasting joint with skin on
• Salt
• Oil
• Black pepper

For the roast potatoes

• Potatoes
• Oil or roasting fat
• Salt
• Black pepper

For the carrots

• Carrots
• Olive oil
• Dried oregano
• Salt
• Black pepper

For the rest

• Paxo stuffing
• Broccoli
• Yorkshire pudding batter
• Gravy

The basic game plan

1. Get the pork going first, giving the skin plenty of time to render and blister into proper crackling.
2. Parboil the potatoes, drain well and leave them to steam dry.
3. Rough the potatoes up before roasting them in hot fat until deeply golden and crispy.
4. Prepare the carrots with oil, seasoning and oregano and roast until caramelised and tender.
5. Make the stuffing and cook according to the packet instructions — because sometimes packet stuffing is absolutely fine.
6. Get the Yorkshire dish properly hot before adding the batter. Don’t keep opening the oven door while it’s rising.
7. Steam the broccoli right at the end so it stays bright, tender and doesn’t turn into green mush.
8. Give the pork its final blast before serving to make absolutely sure that crackling is shatteringly crisp.
9. Rest the pork, then carve.
10. Assemble the plate, drown it in gravy and immediately claim the best bit of crackling.

The important bit

Don’t rush a roast dinner.

This one took planning, timing, a power nap, several oven inspections, one abandoned beef-stock idea, an unexpected Paxo intervention and a Yorkshire pudding that threatened to take over the kitchen.

But that’s the fun of it.

We’ll write the recipe up properly soon, but we’re currently on the sofa trying to digest all of that food. Thanks for reading!

So We Did This. ❤️