Rub your pork

It seems impossible for either one of us to follow a recipe. Usually we get inspired by something we taste, see or read about or it is the contents of the fridge and vegetable basket that is the trigger. Recently T mentioned that he had read a recipe in Politiken with pork roast and fennel seeds that brought water to his mouth, and so with that as the base we set out to try it. And we really aimed to follow the recipe but a bit of other ingredients went in. We got a piece of organic pork neck with rinds. Rubbed it thoroughly with salt and crushed fennel seeds and let it sit for an hour.
Apples, carrots, parsnip, red onions, garlic, fennel, thyme and s/p along with a generous pour of champagne (an open bottle a couple of days old. How come such bottles magically appear out of thin air?) was put as the base in an ovenproof dish with the roast on top. It all went in the oven at 180-200°C for a good hour – but mind the rinds. The point is to get them crisp and puffy but they easily burn – or even worse – just ends up soft and bland. If they do not puff turn on the grill shortly. Watch out. Burned rind doesn't do much for the dish.
It came out of the oven smelling and tasting just delicious. 9/10. The liqorice-like taste of the fennel seeds suited both the pork, but also the beet crops very well – and in particular with the sweetness of the apples. We had set out and bought a piece of roast that would be sufficient for three in case Fine would be home for dinner. Fine didn't eat dinner with us on this occasion, but nevertheless there was nothing left!
With it we had a bottle of Castaño Colleccion 2004 from Yecla. Even if it was rather good, particularly K likes it, 8/10, it was not the best of matches with the pork, so we have to settle for a 7/10 there.