Category Archives: Pork

Swedish Meatballs with Creamy Gravy

Beef, Pork

Ingredients (serves 4 people)

For the meatballs:

  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 500-600g mince (beef, pork or a mix of both)
  • 75g breadcrumbs
  • 1 egg
  • 50ml milk or single cream
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
  • Salt and pepper

For the sauce:

  • 25g butter
  • 25g plain flour
  • 100ml white wine
  • 500ml beef stock
  • 100ml double cream
  • 2tsp soy sauce
  • 1tsp dijon mustard

Serve with creamy mash and lingonberry jam or redcurrant jelly

Method

  • Preheat oven to 200C/180C Fan
  • Add all the meatball ingredients to a large bowl or mixer and mix until combined.
  • Roll meatballs about the size of golf balls
  • Heat 1tbsp and 2tsp olive oil in a large pan on a medium heat and fry off the meatballs until browned.
  • Transfer to place on a baking tray. Cook for around 15-20 mins until cooked through
  • Once the balls are in the oven, get your mash going. Peel and boil your potatoes – 15mins should do it.
  • Now for the sauce. Add the butter to a large frying pan (make sure it will hold the meatballs later) and once it melts, add the flour. Mix together to make a roux and stir for a few minutes.
  • Add the white wine and whisk vigorously until it’s all incorporated.
  • Gradually add the beef stock, mixing along the way to avoid lumps.
  • Let the sauce thicken up on a low heat and then add the cream, soy sauce, dijon mustart, and salt and pepper to taste.
  • Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer for 5-10mins while you mash up your potatoes.

Slow Roast Pork Belly with Gravy

Mains, Pork

Ingredients

  • Sea salt
  • Olive oil
  • 1-1.5kg pork belly
  • 1tbsp fennel seeds
  • 1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs, sliced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and bashed
  • 2-3 star anise
  • 4-5 cardamom pods
  • 3 bay leaves (ideally fresh)
  • 1 medium/large carrot, roughly chopped
  • 325ml white wine
  • 500-750ml chicken stock (depending on the size of your pan

Method

  • Preheat your oven to 180C (160C Fan – I never cook this on Fan because it doesn’t go crispy).
  • Score the skin of the pork diagonally both ways to create a diamond pattern. Don’t go too far through.
  • Rub the skin all over with sea salt. Be generous with this, get it in the cracks and really rub it in. This will help form a nice crispy crackling.
  • Heat some oil in a large roasting tray on the hob and add the fennel bulb and 3 garlic cloves. Cook for a few minutes to release the flavours.
  • Add half the fennel seeds, star anise and cardamom pods and cook for another few minutes
  • Add the bay leaves
  • Push these to one side and add the pork skin side down to the pan. Cook for at least 5mins to turn it golden brown
  • Turn the pork over, season the skin again with a bit of salt and sprinkle the remaining fennel seeds on top.
  • Pour in the wine around the pork, being careful not to get the skin wet and scrape the flavour from the bottom of the pan. Let the wine bubble to reduce and cook away the alcohol.
  • In the mean time add the carrot around the pork – this will add a nice sweetness to the gravy.
  • Add the chicken stock to come up to the fat layer just under the skin and bring it to a boil. It’s important to get it boiling before it goes in the oven.
  • Cook in the oven for 2.5 hours.
  • Remove the pork and set it aside to rest.
  • In the mean time, add the vegetables and juices from the tray to the hob on a medium heat, add a little flour until it starts to thicken up. If it’s too thick, add a splash of water or wine. You can get creative by adding a dash of cranberry sauce or some gravy granules, more wine etc. Just keep tasting it until you love it 🙂

Authentic Bologna Bolognese

Beef, Mains, Pasta and Rice, Pork

Gennaro Contaldo’s recipe, goes perfectly with my fresh pasta

Ingredients

  • 250g beef mince
  • 250g pork mince
  • 1 sprig of rosemary
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 stick of celery
  • 150ml red wine
  • 2tbsp puree
  • 900ml-1ltr beef stock

Method

  • Heat 2-3tbsp olive oil in a high sided frying pan on a medium-high heat.
  • Add the mince, season with salt and pepper, and use a whisk to break it all up. It will stick to the pan at first but it will come off as it cooks.
  • Cook for 5mins, then add the rosemary sprig
  • Cook until the liquid has evaporated and the meat is brown and golden
  • Add the wine and let it bubble away for a minute
  • Add the vegetables and stir, then add the puree. Let this cook for 2-3mins.
  • Add the beef stock and stir.
  • Turn down to a low simmer and cook for around 90mins or until it’s thickened up.
  • Serve with your choice of pasta 🙂

Sweet Glazed Gammon

Christmas, Mains, Pork

Serves: 4 people
Prep time: 15mins
Cooking time: 2hrs 30mins

Chef’s Tip: Delicious when served with log stem broccoli and my Perfect Roast Potatoes

Ingredients for the Meat

  • 1.3-5kg Gammon joint (unsmoked or smoked, it’s your preference)
  • 1 large or two small carrots
  • 1 onion or 1 leek
  • 2 sticks of celery
  • Handful of peppercorns
  • 4 bay leaves
  • Choose your Glaze (simply multiply the measurements up or down if you need more/less)

Honey Glaze

  • 65ml water
  • 65ml orange juice (smooth)
  • 65ml honey
  • 65g muscovado sugar (soft brown sugar)

Treacle Glaze

  • 65g light muscovado sugar
  • 65ml treacle
  • 65ml golden syrup
  • 65ml water

Method

  • Place the gammon in a large pan of cold water that just covers the joint. Roughly chop the veg, and add along with peppercorns and bay leaves and bring to the boil. Then reduce the heat to a low simmer and cover for the cooking time for your joint. (25min per 500g, plus 20min).
  • Periodically skim the froth off the top if necessary.
  • Remove the meat pan from the heat and let it stand for 20-30mins to absorb the flavours
  • Preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas Mark 4
  • At this point, you can make your glaze. Simply add all of the ingredients to a pan and bring to a fast simmer/almost boil. Simmer it until the glaze resting time is up.
  • Take the meat out of the pan and place it in a roasting dish with a little bit of the liquid to stop it from sticking.
  • If your gammon join has skin and a fat layer on it, use a knife to remove it.
  • Brush glaze all over the joint and then pour two thirds of the rest all over it (save some for serving).
  • Cook in the oven for 30mins, re-brushing with the glaze every 10mins.
  • You might want to cook it for a bit longer if the glaze isn’t quite sticky enough 🙂