Lechon al Horno (Oven Roasted Pork)

I was gonna title it lechon de horno but when I tried to google it,

From lechon de horno

there was not such a (Spanish) phrase. Lechon al horno was the phrase that appeared, and the recipes I saw were all in Spanish. Anyway, this is not a typical lechon because I used a smoked instead of plain pork. Around this time of the year, we usually prepare our freezers for storing our meats. As I posted about earlier, I froze my chickens. Yesterday, I packed and froze some pork, and tomorrow I will have beef. These are supplies for the next year's meat consumption.

My previous supplies of pork and chicken ran out before I had replenishment. But last month my SIL was cleaning out her freezer and gave me lots of pork ham and shoulder, all smoked.

From lechon de horno

I recently picked one that I originally intended to cook a la New England boiled dinner style, but after cooking it for 2-1/2 hours, I decided to grant my hubby's wish to have seafood that night. So I prepared this lechon the next day. There was so much skin and fat on this one (compared to, let's say, the shoulder), that I did not proceed having it as NEbd, and since photos of lechon kept popping into my head, finally I decided to roast the parboiled pork. I looked up instructions on how to prepare this. Since my pork was already boiled (with my usual spices of garlic, peppercorns, bay leaf and coarse kosher salt), I just proceeded with the rest of the preparation to the baking part. I did let the pork drip excess juices, even wiped the skin with paper towel and let it sit on a cookie rack for at least 3 hours out in the garage (40 deg F). Remembering how my brother-in-law in Canada (my sister's hubby) told me how he would roast a pig's head (which he got free from the butcher), I then set the rack to the lowest level and started the heat at highest temp. I sprayed the skin with oil and sprinkled garlic salt generously and roasted the pork for 15 minutes before lowering the temp down to 350 deg F to bake

a closer look (meat appears red because it is ham/cured)

for additional hours (I lost track! I was instructing my son to start preparing the table, and he asked, "Are you working tonight, Ma? It's only 3:30." Ooops! So I just kinda continued and continued, rotating the pan and brushing it's own oil onto the skin once in a while until I was satisfied that it was crunchy and that it was finally supper time. I probably roasted it for about 3 hours total, but since this was parboiled already, I could have cooked it for about an hour or so only, or when the skin is crunchy all around.)

I prepared gravy using a Knorr mix for pork gravy, and served this lechon with peas, and mashed potatoes/rice. I loved the crunchy skin and the different flavor, it being smoked. However, I could feel my arteries constricting after several cuts of skin even if I removed the fat underneath. I did have some more the next day for lunch and this time I used my favorite dip of vinegar with garlic, which tended to neutralize the effects of the fat.

My husband prefers the New England Boiled Dinner style. But when I told him I was getting sick of preparing pork hams this way, he offered a compromise and suggested we split them into NEbd or lechon. Fine with me!

UPDATE as of 12-21-08:
I prepared this yesterday using a rotisserie. It turned out much better!