Pork Belly Roast

Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 2½ hours


1.5kg pork belly
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 red onions, halved
2 carrots, peeled and halved lengthways
2 sticks of celery, halved
1 bulb of garlic, skin on, broken into cloves
A small bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked
600ml water or vegetable stock

1. Preheat your oven to full whack, it needs to be at least 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7.

2. Place your pork on a clean work surface, skin-side upwards. Get yourself a small, sharp knife and make scores about a centimetre apart through the skin into the fat, but not so deep that you cut into the meat.

3. Rub salt right into all the scores you’ve just made, pulling the skin apart a little if you have to. Brush any excess salt off the surface of the skin and turn it over. Season the underside of the meat with a little more salt and a little black pepper. Place your pork, skin side-up, in a roasting tray big enough to hold the pork and the vegetables, and place in the hot oven.

4. Roast for about half an hour until the skin of the pork has started to puff up and you can see it turning into crackling. Turn the heat down to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 and roast for another hour. Take out of the oven and baste with the fat in the bottom of the tray.

5. Carefully lift the pork up and transfer to a chopping board. Add all the veg, garlic and thyme to the tray and stir them into the fat. Place the pork on top of everything and pop the tray back in the oven. Roast for another hour. By this time the meat should be meltingly soft and tender. Carefully move the meat to a serving dish, cover with tin foil and leave to rest while you make your gravy.

6. Spoon away any fat in the tray, then add the water or stock and place the tray on the hob. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to scrape up all those lovely sticky tasty bits on the bottom of the tray. When you’ve got a nice, dark gravy, pour it through a sieve into a bowl or gravy boat, using your spoon to really push all the goodness of the veg through the sieve. Add a little more salt and pepper if it needs it.

7. Serve the pork with the crackling, gravy, some creamy mashed potato, nice fresh greens and a dollop of English mustard.

Thai Pork Burgers

Serves 4
Ready in 30 minutes

500g minced pork
Thai curry paste
Fresh coriander
1 tablespoon sunflower oil

1. Put 500g minced pork in a food processor with 1 tablespoon good-quality green Thai curry paste. Add a small bunch of fresh coriander (including stalks), and some salt and pepper. Whizz briefly to combine. Divide the mixture into 4 and shape into burgers. Cover and chill for 20 minutes.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon sunflower oil in a large, non-stick frying pan and add the burgers. Cook for 4-5 minutes each side, until cooked through. Serve in buns with sliced tomatoes and lettuce.

Pork Schnitzel with Curry Sauce

Preparation time: 25 minutes
Total cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves 4

Difficulty: Medium

1 tablespoon oil
1 onion, cut into thin wedges
2 large carrots, cut into 2cm cubes
1 large potato, cut into 2cm cubes
60g (2oz) Japanese curry paste block, broken into small pieces
Flour, for coating
4 x 120g (4oz) pork schnitzels, pounded to 4mm thickness
2 eggs, lightly beaten
150g (5oz) Japanese breadcrumbs (panko)
Oil, for deep frying
Pickled ginger, pickled daikon, umeboshi (baby pickled plums), crisp fried onions, to garnish.

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the onion, carrot and potato, and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, or until starting to brown. Add 2 cups (500ml/16 fl oz) water and the curry paste, and stir until the curry paste dissolves and the sauce becomes a smooth consistency. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are cooked through. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

2. Season the flour well with salt and pepper. Dip each schnitzel into the flour, shake off any excess and dip into the beaten egg, allowing any excess to drip off. Coat with the Japanese breadcrumbs by pressing each side of the schnitzel firmly into the crumbs on a plate.

3. Fill a deep heavy-based saucepan one-third full of oil and heat to 180°C (350°F) or until a cube of bread dropped into the oil browns in 15 seconds. Cook the schnitzels, one at a time, turning once or twice, for 5 minutes, or until golden brown all over and cooked through. Drain on crumpled paper towels.

4. Slice each schnitzel into 5-6 pieces and arrange, keeping the original shape, over cooked rice. Ladle some of the curry sauce over the schnitzels. Garnish with fried onions and serve with the pickles on the side.

Nutrition per serving
Protein 38g; Fat 22g; Carbohydrate 40g; Dietary Fibre 5g; Cholesterol 150mg; 2145kJ (513kcal)

Note:
Japanese curry is available from Asian grocers as a block or powder.