I hadn't intended, when I started to think about the menu for this dinner, of going particularly porky - it just happened that way. Perhaps because Hannah is allergic to seafood? Home-made pork scratchings as amuse-gueule, dinky scotch eggs made with quail eggs (plus an extra one in a tarragon & lemon mayo); and, for the main course, pot-roasted gammon, thinly sliced, and served with a creamed mustard and parsley sauce. Our pud, as far as I'm aware, contained no pork-products - the three little piggies simply gorged themselves on the Chocolate Banoffee Pie that Hannah had made and brought with. Dee-licious!
It was all a bit of a rush because we were going to the "Sunset Dawn" Music & Poetry event at Fort Perch Rock - although I only live 150 yards away, we were the last to arrive!
The scratchings are made by simply roasting the gammon rind in a hot oven, every now and then decanting the liquid fat which is excellent to fry with.
The recipe for the scotch eggs is one I developed about 10 years ago when I was supplying a butcher's in West Kirby with full-sized ones. Price-wise I could never compete with a factory-made product, but taste-wise - I have been told - there is NO comparison.
NB: Measurements are approximate because I was working to roughly a tenth of my original. 250g of sausagemeat, 30g of puréed/very finely chopped onion, 50g of mixed breadcrumbs and plain flour for binding; half a tsp of salt, an pinch of pepper, a scant tsp of mixed herbs and a little beaten egg to moisten. Mix well. Boil a dozen quail eggs for about 10 minutes and refresh under cold water. Dredge the eggs in a tray of flour, take a golf-ball-sized handful of the meat mixture and roll it well between your hands before squashing it flat into a thin patty, wrap the egg in it and roll well again to seal the join. I always have a bowl of luke-warm water to moisten my hands and prevent sticking. Repeat until all the eggs are covered. Dip each in a tray of beaten egg (hen's!!), shake off the excess and then roll in a tray of 50/50 breadcrumbs and plain flour seasoned with a pinch of S+P.
Deep-fry in hot oil (180) until a light golden colour and then transfer to a preheated hot oven and bake, on a tray, for 10 minutes. I served mine with a supermarket own-brand mayo, mixed the previous day to infuse, with a dash of lemon juice and a good shake of dried tarragon. Hannah tells me she had dreams about it!
The ham came from Birkenhead Market as what are known as "Gammon Corners", weighing about 1.2Kg for £5.30 - I love bargains! Half was chilled and cut for bacon (18 thick rashers) and the remainder - rind still on at this point - was pot-roasted in a closed casserole dish with about 150ml of water. Cooking time on med-high was about an hour and a half - which roughly complies with the old "20 minutes per pound and 20 minutes extra" guide.
Leave to cool covered and then strip off the rind to make pork scratchings. Slice the meat when cold - to re-heat for service I still use the old, pre-microwave, banqueting method of dunking the meat for a minute or two in a shallow pan of lightly-salted, fast-boiling water.
The sauce is simplicity itself: finely chop a good handful of curly parsley, simmer in the water the ham was cooked in for about 25 minutes and then add double cream to taste. Keep just below boiling point and stir in a tsp of made english mustard.
I had intended doing new-crop carrots as one of the vegetables but remembered at the prep stage that one of my guests is not a lover of them; the white beetroot - which is actually pink - was a palpable hit, though.
Skinned with a potato peeler, I could have boiled it but I find that microwaving in a closed casserole dish produces the same effect as steaming. The vegetable stays firm all the way through.
Scrubbed Jersey Royals, with garlic courgettes and fresh peas, completed the main course.
And so to pud!....... It was delicious.
Hannah did tell me what was in it - crushed hobnobs, banana, chocolate, butter and cream, conny-onny milk, more butter and cream, sprinkled with drinking chocolate and crushed nuts (I think). And did I say: it was delicious!
