Make your holidays more spectacular with this mustard-glazed spiced rack of pork with cranberries, orange, and fresh rosemary slow-roasted to perfection.
I’m teaming up with Swift Meats featuring their amazing Rack of Pork. As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting partnerships with brands I trust and believe in.
‘Tis The Season
When I was thinking about how I wanted to end 2024, I knew I wanted to go a bit more elevated. Christmas time holds such a near and dear place in my heart, as it does for many of you. It’s about celebrating not only the season but those we love and cherish.
Watch The Video!
Make sure to watch the video folks!
Some may paint, some may sing, and some may do crafts. Me, I create with food. So when I saw this Rack of Pork at my local Costco I knew exactly what I wanted to create with it for the holidays.
Grab Your Ingredients
This recipe is pretty straightforward forward but if you’re stuck on the Frenching part, you can always ask your butcher to do it for you. I’ll explain what that is in a second. But first, you need to know what to buy to make this.
- Swift Meats Rack of Pork – if you look at mine, it’s already Frenched
- Mustards
- Fruits & Veggies – celery, garlic, oranges/clementines, jalapenos, and fresh cranberries
- Seasonings – salt, pepper, and Chupacabra Ribnoxious BBQ seasoning (or your favorite BBQ pork seasoning)
- Rosemary
- Brown Sugar
“Frenching The Rib Roast”
Swift Meats Rack of Pork comes already Frenched. Essentially that’s where the meat/membrane is removed between the bones.
What I did with mine was use the heel of a boning knife to scrape down the bones a bit more. It’s not necessary to do this though. It’s purely for aesthetics.
I then scored the fat to help the seasoning get into the meat more. After that, I took butcher’s twine and tied the twine between each rib, cinching the meat closer together. Be sure to cut the excess twine off.
Rub, Glaze, & Bake
- In a large-rimmed baking pan (I used my Focaccia Pan), place the celery sticks in a row along with the orange/clementines halves and chopped jalapeno. Pat the pork dry and place the pork on top of the veggies. You want to make sure it’s not touching the bottom of the pan.
- Sprinkle on the Chupacabra Ribnoxious BBQ seasoning all over the rack of pork making sure it’s on all sides. Set aside and allow the seasoning to soak into the meat for 20 minutes.
- In a bowl, whisk together the Dijon, whole grain mustard, olive oil, garlic, brown sugar, fresh rosemary, salt, pepper, orange zest and juice. Using gloved hands (it’s easier to spread it on), slowly pour the mustard glaze over top of the meat while spreading it in with your gloved hand. Be sure to get it all over. Also, try to avoid getting it on the bones.
- Bake low and slow for 2-3 hours or until it reaches 135F. Remove it from the oven, and turn the heat up to 500F. While it’s getting to temp, place the cranberries on top of the meat by the bones. Pile them up.
- Pop it back into the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes or until it reaches 145/150F.
- Remove it from the oven, tent for 20 minutes then slice!
Talk About A Showstopper!
Truly y’all I wish you were in my studio when I pulled this out of the oven. This truly was GORGEOUS! Like it was one of those foods where you took 3-5 glances at it. I couldn’t help but smile to be honest.
Regal And Elegant
This is so when I wish we had smellovision. The smell from this rack of pork was truly magical! You could smell the smokiness of the BBQ seasoning, the sweetness of the cranberries and oranges, and those fresh notes of rosemary.
New Christmas Tradition
So I always host a friend’s holiday dinner whether it’s turkey, ham, or lasagna. This is definitely on the menu. I mean it HAS to be! Again I know I’m gushing over how beautiful it is but let me tell you about the flavor profile.
That is what sold me AND Mr. Fantabulous! It’s so simple to put together yet the flavor profile is so complex and deep. It’s almost sensual in a sense.
The Perfect Slice
What I love about this dish is slicing it table-side. When you arrive at the table with a platter like this and a big carving knife, folks stop talking about give you their full focus.
When I made that first slice and held it up by the bone you could just see the juices dripping down. I swear you could hear my guests lick their lips in anticipation.
What To Serve With Rack Of Pork
So with this dish, you want to add dishes that highlight the pork or “augment” the flavors.
- Cranberry Relish – it’s honestly the perfect condiment for this
- Creamy Mashed Potatoes – now to kick it up a notch, add rosemary to your mashed potatoes
- Broccoli Pecandine – the browned butter and toasted pecans are such a great accent flavor to this dish
Recipe Substitutions and Additions
I’m going to be completely honest here guys – I wouldn’t change a single thing. Honestly, it’s so incredible as-is. However, I do have some suggestions if you can’t find the rack of pork.
- Rack of Pork – If you can’t find one, you can use a Swift Meats Pork Loin (not tenderloin). You’ll want to bake it at 325F for about 25 minutes per pound. Do not cut the fat cap off.
- Cranberries – do not use dried ones in this recipe, use fresh only.
- Herbs – sage and thyme also work
Ultimate Roasted Orange Cranberry Rosemary Rack of Pork
Make your holidays more spectacular with this mustard-glazed spiced rack of pork with cranberries, orange, and fresh rosemary slow-roasted to perfection.
- Prep Time: 25 mintues
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3.5 hours
- Category: holiday meals, pork, fancy dinner, dinner party, rack of pork
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: holiday meals, pork, fancy dinner, dinner party, rack of pork
Ingredients
- 5–6 pound Swift Meats Rack of Pork (~8 bones)
- 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
- 2 Tablespoons Whole whole-grain mustard
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- Zest from 1 medium orange (or 3 clementines)
- 4 Tablespoons orange juice (juice from one medium orange or 2 clementines)
- 3 Tablespoons Chupacabra Ribnoxious BBQ seasoning
- 5–6 stalks of celery
- 1 whole jalapeno, sliced into rounds
- 3 whole clementines (you can use the 3 you zested earlier)
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
Instructions
French The Pork Bones
- Either have your butcher do it or do it yourself with a boning knife. If the bones aren’t exposed, you want to take a boning knife and slice straight down beside the rib bone, then slice sideways until you reach the next rib bone. Mine was partially Frenched. I just needed to clean up the bones. To do that I used the heel of a boning knife going down each rip bone essentially ‘scraping’ the bone clean. It’s not necessary to do this as it’s only done for aesthetics.
- Next, take some butcher’s twine and tie the twine between each rib, cinching the meat closer together. Make sure to cut off any excess twine.
- Preheat the oven to 250F, and rack in the middle.
Prep The Rack of Pork
- In a large rimmed baking pan (I used my Emile Henry Focaccia Bread Pan), place the celery sticks in a row along with the orange/clementines halves and chopped jalapeno. Pat the pork dry and place the pork on top of the veggies. You want to make sure it’s not touching the bottom of the pan.
- Sprinkle on the Chupacabra Ribnoxious BBQ seasoning all over the rack of pork making sure it’s on all sides. Set aside and allow the seasoning to soak into the meat for 20 minutes.
- In a bowl, whisk together the Dijon, whole grain mustard, olive oil, garlic, brown sugar, fresh rosemary, salt, pepper, orange zest and juice. Using gloved hands (it’s easier to spread it on), slowly pour the mustard glaze over top of the meat while spreading it in with your gloved hand. Be sure to get it all over.
Bake
- Insert a MEATER thermometer into the meat. Place the pork into the oven and bake for 2-3 hours or until the internal temp reaches 135F. Remove from the oven and increase the heat to 500F.
- While the oven is coming to temp, carefully put the cranberries on top of the pork where the bones meet the meat. It’s ok if a few fall off into the pan but you want the majority of the cranberries on top of the meat so they can burst their juices into the meat.
- Pop the pan back into the oven and cook for 12-15 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 145-150F. I like 150F for this cut of meat but 145 is OK as well.
- Remove it from the oven, tent loosely with foil for 15 minutes.
- Uncover, carefully remove the butcher’s twine, and slice between each rib bone to serve.
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