Slow roast shoulder of pork recipe This is a true festive moment when the table is laid, candles are glittering, excited merry folk are waiting to feast their eyes upon your hard day's work. Well not that hard, as it's all been slowly cooking away while you get on with your preparations. The beauty of slow cooking is in the lovely giving nature of the meat. The shoulder meat will be soft and it will just collapse and the crackling can be broken up. The vegetables cook away, supping up all the juices and fat. 1 bulb of garlic, peeled, whole 1kg of shallots, peeled, whole 1 sprig of fresh bay leaf 1 sprig of thyme 2kg of red potatoes, cut into 2cm thick pieces cross ways 1 bottle white wine ½ litre of water Preheat the oven to 300F /150C/Gas 2. An hour before cooking rub salt into the skin. Salt and pepper the underside of the meat. In a baking dish large enough to hold your pork, scatter the vegetables, leaving the potatoes until last. Place the potatoes on top of the fennel. Place the seasoned shoulder on top of the vegetables, pour in the liquids, so the meat will steam a little as well as roast. Pop the dish in the oven and roast for four hours, checking occasionally. If the skin seems to be browning too quickly, turn it down to 250F/120C or cover with tin foil. For the last hour make sure the meat has no covering. If the crackling has not crackled, turn the oven up to 360F/180C for the last 30 mins. Carefully put the shoulder to the side and then decant all the vegetables to a platter. Skim off the excess fat in the dish into a jug to be used at another time. Carve the meat up as best you can into hunks on to a platter, heat the remaining juices, then pour over the shoulder.