Jellied Ham

My grandma used to have us screaming from the kitchen when she made this using a whole pig's head. I kid myself I can remember back to my childhood and what it tasted like though in reality, I'm sure I never was brave enough to even try it. She had enough natural gelatine from the head to make her 'jelly meat' set very firmly but I add a few extra leaves to make sure I get a good wobble. Following her lead, I set it in a bowl and scoop it out rather than in a classic terrine which is turned out and carefully sliced but you can do that, if you prefer.

Serves 4
1.5kg unsmoked gammon knuckle
1 celery stalk, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
1 onion, sliced
few parsley stalks
few peppercorns/star anise/cloves/whatever whole spices you like
sprig of rosemary/thyme/bay leaf
4 sheets of leaf gelatine
5 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp capers
2 bunches of parsley, finely chopped

Place the gammon and the flavourings in a large pan, cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 2 - 21/2 hours until the meat is fully cooked through, skimming the surface from time to time to help keep the stock clear.

Strain through a colander into a large bowl. Set the gammon on a board and leave to cool. Line a fine sieve with some muslin and pour through the stock. If it's a little cloudy, rinse out the muslin and pass it through again. Pour 750 ml into a pan (use the remainder of the stock and bit of the gammon for a classic pea soup) and bring to the boil then turn off the heat, stir in the vinegar and leave to cool a little.

Soak the gelatine in cold water for 5 minutes.

Cut the fat away from the gammon then tear or chop the meat into small pieces. Place in a serving bowl with the capers and parsley.

Squeeze the water out of the gelatine and stir into the hot but not boiling stock. Once dissolved, pour over the ham. Mix gently together, leave to cool then cover and chill overnight. Serve with stacks of hot, buttered toast.

Portuguese Pork And Clams

We eat here a lot and one or other of us always orders the pork and clams. This is my home-made attempt at it and it's not bad but not quite as good as theirs. But they are from Portugal and I am from Derby, so what can you expect?

Serves 4
500g pork fillet, diced
1 smallish glass of rose or white wine
2 garlic cloves, halved
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
500g live clams
large bunch of parsley, chopped

In a large non-reactive bowl, mix together the pork, wine, halved garlic cloves and paprika. Mix well together, cover and chill for 2 - 8 hours. Drain the pork, keeping the marinating liquid, and pat dry with kitchen paper.

Heat the oil in a saute pan and cook the pork over a high heat until nicely browned and cooked through. Remove with slotted spoon. Add the onion and chopped garlic to the pan and cook for a few minutes until softened.

Return the pork to the pan, add the marinade (ditch the halved garlic cloves) and bring to a simmer. Scatter over the clams, cover and cook for a few minutes until all the shells have opened, Stir through the parsley and serve swiftly.

Delicious Barbecued Pork

Another hot day, another chance to light the barbie - my oven's gone a bit luke-wam all of a sudden and the whoosh of the fan is a quiet whisper. I only discovered this when I was baking a Red Velvet birthday cake for Rob the other day so it ended up more of a fudge cake than light-as-air but he'd necked so much Prosecco by the time I wheeled it out, covered in sprinkles, no-one knew the difference. Anyway, for now, the barbecue's the only way I can cook a big chunk of meat till I get the man from Stoves round to check my thermostat. Choose a thick piece with ribs still attached (I'm talking about the pork now, not the man from Stoves) - I got mine from Moens in Clapham and it was a lovely piece but Christ it was pricy - slightly over twice as much as the same cut from William Rose.

Serves 4
1.5k thick belly pork
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 plump garlic cloves
leaves from 2 large rosemary sprigs
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp sea salt
1 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil

1 Steam the pork for 45 minutes - I've got a steam oven that I'm mad about (use it every day for Miss Baby's purees) but you can do it on a rack in a roasting tin of water covered in foil.

2 Place the fennel seeds, garlic, rosemary, oregano, salt and lemon rind in a mini food processor and whizz until finally chopped. Add enough oil to make a paste.

3 Dry the pork with kitchen paper, it should be completely cooked through. Rub it all over with the paste and leave for a couple of hours in a cool place. Barbecue for 40 minutes until it's warmed right through and has a good crackling. Leave to 5 minutes to rest before slicing and squeezing with a little lemon juice.

Toad In The Hole

Had your barbecue lit much this month? Nope, us neither. Here's a nice warming supper dish for you.

Wrap the sausages in streaky bacon first if you've got some.

Serves 3
splash of olive oil
6 fat and herby pork sausages
100g plain flour
bit of English mustard powder or 1 tbsp wholegrain
1 egg
150ml milk
150ml water

Preheat the oven to 200C / Gas 6. Place the sausages and oil in a small ovenproof dish - metal is probably best as it will rise more easily and not stick to the sides. Roast for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the flour and mustard in a bowl with a bit of salt and pepper and make a well in the centre. Crack in the egg then gradually beat and in the liquid to make a smoothish batter.

Pour round the hot sausages and bake for 30 - 40 miutes until cirps and golden brown. Serve sizzling.

Crispy Pork

Someone sent me a YouTube link of myself cooking crispy pork in 2002. I am shocked at what a young, care-free person I looked like, just six years ago.
Here's the recipe, it hasn't changed much in six years.

Cowboy Dinner

We eat a lot of pork and a lot of beans in Landcroft House. Probably because I keep a bag of dried beans in the cupboard and some ribs in the freezer at all times and I get fed up of going shopping. When the fridge is empty and I can’t face a trawl round Sainsbury’s, this is often what turns up on the table for tea.

Serves 4
300g dried black (or other) beans, soaked overnight
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 red chillies finely chopped
500g pork ribs
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 kallo organic stock cube
few fresh herb sprigs, eg rosemary, thyme, oregano
1 tbsp vinegar, any will do

Drain the beans and place in pan with cold water. Bring to the boil and bubble rapidly for 15 minutes.

Meanwhille, heat the oil in flameproof casserole and cook the onion garlic and chillies for 10 minutes until softened and golden. Preheat the oven to 140C.

Drain the beans and add to the pan along with the ribs and paprika. Cover with water, add the stock cube and herbs, cover with a lid. Place in the oven for as many hours as you can, but at least 3. Season with salt, pepper and vinegar. I serve with greens on the side.

A Good Grilling

Pork's not good for grilling or barbecuing as it dries out and turns tough in the time it takes to cook. I think it's best boiled or steamed first. Simmer some pieces of pork-on -the-bone (ribs, chops, bone-in -belly-pork) in a pan of boiling water for 8 - 10 minutes until cooked through. Drain well and dry with kitchen paper. Mix together some honey, soy sauce, chilli oil, chilli sauce and a splash of vinegar. Add the hot pork and leave to marinate for as long as you want. Grill (or barbecue) for a few minutes until dark and shiny.
I'm sorry there's no picture of the grilled pork - we'd eaten it all by the time I'd remembered to get my camera out.

Crispy Belly Pork

I think Wing Tai in Pecks is a great shop. I love Oriental food of every description and this grocer imports and stocks Vietnamese, Chinese and a bit of Japanese. Best of all, just after midday, they stack the glass cabinet next to the till with whole Peking ducks and £5 trays of crispy belly pork. You have to get there at the right time or it's gone. Today, by accident, I got there at the right time. The last thing we need in this house is more fatty pork and I only went in for a bundle of bok choi, and I'm already making salmon for tea, but as you can see, I bought it anyway :(

Roast pork ho fun in soup

Lunch in Cafe Noodle

Chicken and chorizo rice

I know we’re not meant to prick sausages anymore but I nearly always do, especially fresh chorizo. I want all the lovely smokey juices to come out and mingle with the rest of the ingredients. For lunch today, I pricked the sausages Robert came home with yesterday and sat them in a big tin with six skin-on and bone-in chicken thighs and a few chunks of fresh tomato and roasted them for 25 minutes. While that was going on, I boiled the kettle and made up some chicken stock with a Kallo organic cube and a couple of teaspoons of smoked paprika. I tipped a couple of mugs full of basmati rice into the pan and then poured in enough stock to come about 1 – 2 cm above the rice then put it back in for about half an hour until the rice was fluffed. A quick squeeze of lemon juice and it was ready to eat.