By: ThisJewCanQue In partnership with Colman’s Original English Mustard
With the winter holidays upon us, now is the perfect time to create some amazing, show-stopping meals that are sure to be memorable to your family and friends, and delicious in your stomachs. For us, the holidays mean the opportunity to spend time with family we don’t see that often, and to impress them with our cooking creativity using the grill. Given that we use our outdoor grills for nearly all of our cooking, doing the same over the holidays is important to us. Many people think that cooking on the grill is reserved to burgers and brats between the months of May and September. But what we have found, despite living in Colorado where we could feasibly get snow 12 months of the year, cooking outdoors on the grill produces amazing results with truly unique twists. Plus, you’re not dirtying your kitchen as much as cooking indoors, and your food is guaranteed to be imbued with wood-fired flavor.
For this early family meal, we created an impressive whole rack of pork. We started with the waygu of pork—Kurobuta pork—and took it up a notch with the amazing flavor of Colman’s mustard. Not only is Colman’s mustard a throwback to our grandparents—who always had Colman’s powdered mustard in the cupboard—but it was the perfect ingredient to create a delicious crust on this impressive rack of pork. If you wanted, you could score the pork roast and tie it into a crown, but we left it as-is, and found that the presentation was just as impressive. Essentially, a pork roast is equivalent to a Prime Rib—so a perfect showstopper for a holiday meal.
Colman’s mustard is the perfect condiment for this recipe, because its unique blend of brown and white mustard packs a spicy punch with that bright, traditional mustard color. You can find Colman’s mustard in your local grocery store in a variety of forms—the traditional powdered mustard in the iconic, bright-yellow tin, prepared mustard in a glass jar, or squeezy mustard which packs the memorable punch in an easy-to use bottle. We used the mustard in two forms in this recipe, and recommend you do the same.
As with any large piece of pork, a flavorful seasoning is going to be important to impart flavor in your cook. The vinegar in mustard helps to tenderize the meat as it imparts flavor. Mustard is made by mixing ground mustard seeds with a liquid. What happens in the creation of mustard is that the oils within the mustard seed are released when the seed is crushed, and our reaction to the spicy nature of mustard is a result of the enzymes in those mustard oils. Colman’s Original English Mustard is particularly pungent, and really packs a punch when used in an application like this. A big piece of pork requires lots of flavors, and Colman’s mustard is the perfect solution for this.
We began by patting dry the pork roast, and pulling the silver skin membrane from the back side of the ribs. In a bowl, we combined lots of Colman’s prepared mustard, a splash of fresh apple cider, and lots of fresh chopped herbs to create a loose paste. Take a taste to be sure it has adequate mustard-y punch!
Then, spread the mustard paste evenly all across the pork roast (top and bottom) and ensure all the surfaces are coated well. You’ll want to be sure there is a nice layer of mustard on the top of the roast, as that makes the delicious final crust.
We put the roast in our Traeger pellet grill set at 250* and cooked slowly until the internal temperature is about 15* from finished. While you may be using the mustard you remember your grandparents using, don’t cook your pork like your grandparents did. Pork is delicious and safe to eat with a finished internal temperature of 145*. After the roast hit 130*, I pulled it and loosely tented it while I cranked up the heat on the grill to 450*. Then back it goes for about 10 more minutes to hit ideal internal temp and create a beautifully browned crust. A short rest, slicing and it’s ready to be served.
For this recipe, we created a bed of autumn staples in a pan that sat just below the roast on the grill. This gave us the perfect start to our cranberry pan sauce, which we served with the roast. Another generous helping of Colman’s mustard made the sauce spicy, creamy and delicious. And we served some more mustard on the side, for people to add to their heart’s desire.
Truly, this will become a memorable holiday meal, that takes an old family-favorite ingredient and gives it a modern spin.
Holiday Pork Roast with Colman’s Mustard Crust and Colman’s-cranberry pan sauce
Ingredients:
Whole rack of pork (about 6lbs)
2 jars Colman’s Original English Mustard (prepared)
½ cup finely chopped herbs- rosemary, thyme, parsley, sage
½ cup fresh apple cider, divided
2 yellow onions, cut in quarters
2 crisp apples, cut in quarters
2 cups fresh cranberries
2 celery stalks, cut into large pieces
Handful of additional whole herbs for the roasting pan
½ cup chicken broth
1 tin Colman’s Original English Mustard powder
1 tbsp corn starch
3 tbsp cold water
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
To prepare the rack of pork, begin by removing the membrane from the ribs. I like to use a small piece of paper towel to get a grip and then pull it off.
Make the Colman’s Mustard paste to season the meat. In a bowl, combine 2 jars of Colman’s prepared mustard, ¼ cup of apple cider, the chopped herbs and a touch of salt. Stir together until ingredients are well mixed. You will have a loose paste.
Apply the paste all over the rack of pork. I like to let it sit on the pork for about 15 minutes to let the flavors work into the meat. Ensure the top of the roast has a visible, thick layer of mustard paste.
In a grill-safe roasting pan, place celery, apples, onions, cranberries, whole herbs, remaining apple juice and chicken broth. Distribute evenly. Place roasting rack above autumn ingredients and place pork roast on rack.
Preheat your grill to 250* and place roasting pan in the grill once heated. Cook the roast in the grill until internal temperature reaches about 130*. For my 6lb roast, it took about 2.5 hours.
Pull roasting pan from grill when the roast reaches 130*. Move pork to a platter and loosely tent with foil. Meanwhile, turn up temperature in grill to 450*. Once heated, return roast to the grill and sear for 10-15 minutes until internal temperature is nearly 145* and a good crust has browned. Return to platter and tent to rest for about 15-20 minutes.
Using a sieve, pour ingredients and juices from the bottom of the roasting pan into a small saucepan. Push sieve contents with the back of a spoon to release all juices. Set sieve aside and reserve contents. Bring pan juices to a boil on the stove. In a small bowl, combine 2 tbsp powdered Coleman’s Mustard and 2tbsp cold water to create a paste. Whisk mustard into pan juices, mixing well. Using same bowl, combine 1tbsp cornstarch with 1tbsp cold water, mix well, and whisk into pan sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon a few reserved cranberries from the sieve into the sauce, and transfer to a serving dish.
Slice pork roast into individual chops between ribs. Serve promptly with mashed potatoes, a green vegetable and cranberry-mustard pan sauce.
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