Roast leg of pork with perfect crackling and ambrosia

Method

• step 1

  Start the day before. boil the kettle and put the pork in a clean sink. pour boiling water over the skin to scald it. drain and leave to dry for at least 10 minutes. Put the pork in a large dish. mix together the vinegar, 2 tbsp vegetable oil, the lemon juice and salt, pour over the pork and rub all over. put in the fridge overnight, uncovered, so the skin has a chance to dry out.

• step 2

  The next day, heat the oven to 150c/fan 130c/gas 2. Put the potatoes in your roasting tin (they will act as a trivet for the pork). Sit the pork on top and pour half a cup of water in the bottom of the tin. Cover the whole tin with foil and cook in the oven for 3 hours.

• step 3

  Remove the foil and increase the temperature to 220c/fan 200c/gas 6. Cook for a further hour, or until the skin has crackled properly.

• step 4

  To make the apple sauce, put the apples, a large knob of butter and 100ml water in a pan. Cover and cook on a gentle heat for 15-20 minutes until the apples have collapsed into a sauce.

• step 5

  Take the pork from the oven and leave to rest for 30 minutes. Take the potatoes from the pan and discard (or keep them to eat later with a fried egg and some chopped chilli).

• step 6

  To make the gravy, put the roasting tin over a medium heat and spoon away most of the fat. Add 1 tbsp flour and stir well taking up all the bits in the pan and the fat. Gradually add the stock or water and increase the heat to bring to a simmer, stirring all the time. simmer for 10 minutes and season if it needs it. Serve the pork with the gravy and apple sauce.