It's really worth seeking out pork from a heritage breed for this recipe from Robert Weland that's especially good in the fall. But don't miss out on trying it just because you can't find it. It will work well with a regular supermarket roast.
Serves eight

For the pork:
1 rack of Berkshire or regular pork (skin on if possible)
3 tablespoons fennel seeds
3 dried chilies
2 tablespoons sage leaves
2 tablespoons rosemary leaves
Olive oil and sea salt for rubbing
8 brown Seckel or Bosc pears, halved

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. If pork rack has fat, score it through every inch, then turn the rack 90 degrees and score it again every inch, to produce squares. Then place the rack skin-side down into 2 inches of boiling water for 20 minutes, to “render” or loosen the fat.  Do this even if there is no skin on the rack. Remove from water.
 
Dry roast the fennel, chilies, salt and rosemary in a small pan till fragrant, then reduce to powder in a food processor or coffee bean mill. Rub the pork with this all over and place it on a wire rack and roast in the oven 25 minutes.

Reduce heat to 390 degrees and add the pears, cut side down, to the bottom of the pan and roast 10 to 12 minutes or till pork skin is crispy and pears are tender.

For the sweet potatoes:
24 fingerling (finger-sized) sweet potatoes, scrubbed and sliced lengthwise, or 2 large, peeled and chopped into 12 chunks each
2 tablespoons fresh thyme or 1 tablespoon dry
1 tablespoon black peppercorns, roughly crushed
3 bay leaves, torn
kosher salt
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons sweet butter

Toss the sweet potatoes with the thyme, peppercorns, bay leaves and olive oil to coat. Layer a baking pan with kosher salt, set the potatoes on top, cover with foil and roast in a 350-degree oven till tender, about 30 minutes.

With fingerlings, scoop out the flesh, mash with the butter, season with salt and pepper to taste and stuff back into potato shells. With regular sweet potatoes, turn in the butter to coat, and season.

To serve, slice the rack and place one pork chop per person on a warmed plate, with one pear cut in half and three pieces of sweet potato.

This recipe works with regular pork, but Berkshire pork can be bought off the internet at
http://secure.abfoodsusa.com/ABCommerce/products, the ordering site for Snake River Farms.
Fingerling sweet potatoes can be found at farmers markets and sometimes at central branches of Whole Foods.

This recipe first appeared in the NorthWest Current. Photo Bill Petros/The Current. 

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