Rack of Pork with Red-Eye Gravy

This makes for the perfect alternative Christmas dinner, a large French-trimmed rack of pork loin on the bone, brined in coffee to keep it incredibly moist and succulent, served with my take on a red-eye gravy with all the trimmings!

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Ingredients

2.5kg French trimmed rack of pork, skin removed
1-litre Americano black coffee, chilled
Few sprigs rosemary
2 bulbs garlic
1 lemon
1 cup salt
1 cup sugar
1 large onion, sliced

Red-Eye Gravy:

250ml American black coffee + shot
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tbsp butter
1 scant tbsp maple syrup

Step 1

Pre-heat oven to 200FAN/220ᵒC/Gas 7.

Step 2

Start with the brine, pour the chilled black coffee into a pot large enough to just hold the rack of pork and stir in the sugar, salt, a few sprigs of rosemary, half lemon sliced and a bulb of garlic slightly crushed. Place the rack of pork into the brine and leave in the brine for a couple of hours, if leaving longer, store in the fridge (you’ll need to remove the pork from the brine 30 minutes before you plan to cook it, to dry it and bring to room temperature).

Step 3

When you’re ready to cook the pork, scatter the sliced onions over the base of a high-sided roasting tin and cut a bulb of garlic in half and drop in the tin along with a few more sprigs of rosemary and rest the pork on top. Pat the fat of the pork dry with a paper towel, score the fat with a sharp knife and season generously with salt and pepper.

Step 4

Place the roasting tin in the oven, uncovered for 2 hours, remove from the oven and decant the pork onto a plate and rest for 20 minutes (resting is vital). While the pork is resting make the gravy.

Step 5

Stir the flour into the roasting tray, top with the 1 cup Americano plus a shot of espresso and the butter and fully incorporate. Pass through a sieve into a saucepan, add a pinch of maple syrup and heat until glossy and slightly thickened.

Step 6

Carve the pork, one chop per person and serve with all the usual Christmas trimmings and red-eye gravy!