Mish; Two methods come to mind for a crown roast prepared in the oven. But first, think of pork, the texture and flavor. It is savory, but with a hint of sweetness. The grain is less stringy than is beef, and more tender when prepared properly. It naturally lends itself to slow, moist cooking methods, though quick cooking, as is accomplished on a grill, works well if the meat is prepared properly beforehand. Salt and pepper are great companions and work just fine for seasoning the meat, though fruits, especially those with both sweet and sour componants, such as rasins, peaches, plums, apples, pineapple, etc. marry wonderfully with the pork as well. What does all of this lead too. It leads to creativity.
The recpe you posted will give you a fine tasting piece of meat, but it will dry out just a bit. I would at the very least, brine the roast a bit, to add more liquid to the muscle tissue. And I wouldn't use time as an accurate way of determining when the meat is done. That chore is best handled by a meat thermometer.
Here's the first method I would choose. First, when you puchase the tenderloin with the ribs still attached, it will generally come with extra muscle tissue and little bone medallions attached to the larger muscle. You must remove this until you have nothing left but the tenderloin and the ribs. Next, french the bones, that is, cut the meat from between, them, all the way down to the tenderloin. Rub the meat with cooking oil and season with salt and pepper.
Stand the roast so that the bones stick straight up and curl it to form the "crown" with the bones curving outward, away from the center. Tie into shape with butcher's string. I found when I did mine, that I had to trim the meat ends to make them come together in an amost seamless fashion. Remember, this dish is at least half about presentation. Put the foil hats on the bone ends. Place the roast in a shallow pan that is large enough to hold the roast.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. While the oven is heating, prepare the stuffing. You can use a bread stuffing similar to poultry stuffing, or use a combination of cooked wild and brown rice, mixed with herbs or fruit, or even make a vegetable stir-fry to place in the center. It's really up to you. You can stuff it with anything you like. And coloful veggies really have a way of decorating a meal.
When the oven is hot, place a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, to the center. Place the roast into the oven, cook for ten minutes, then reduce to 350. Simply roast until the meat thermometer reads 140 degrees. Remove and place the stuffing between the bones. REturn to the oven and roast until the meat thermometer reads 155 degrees F. REmove and let rest for 15 mintues.
At this point, I placed my roast on a bed of flowering kale, with roasted peppers garnishing the platter. I used one each, red, green, and orange bell pepper. I also had mandarin oranges skattered about on the kale.
The second method will provid the most tender result, but is trickier by far, not the cooking part, but the presentation.
Preapare the roast as in the above method, but place in a large roasting pot, with 2 inches of water and cover with a lid. Place in a 275 degree oven and roast for four hours. Remove the lid and increase the temperature to 400 degrees. Cook until the meat is beautifully browned.
Place the meat onto a suitable platter and stuff with rice or riced potatoes. Make gravy from the meat drippings and pour over the stuffing, letting it drizzle sown the roast sides.
The last technique will give you melt-in-your-mouth tenderness, and retain great moisture content. But it will be difficult to transfer the meat to the platter. I guess that you could leave the meat in the roasting pan, siphon off the jucies with a turkey baster and make gravy in a seperate pan. That would work, but wouldn't be as elegant.
In either case, your family, or guests will be duly impressed with both the presentation, and quality of the meal.
Personally, I like to marinate my pork in fruit juice of some kind, or make a dry rub for it. But that's jsut me. The above recipes will make you a hero in your house, garunteed. You'll look like this -
Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North