Pulled Pork, Polenta Chips, Baked Beans and Coleslaw

Thank goodness the sun has reappeared, thank goodness the rain has stopped... It has been quite depressing, rain every single day, for weeks on end. Rain, rain and more rain. I have a broken umbrella that makes me a bit cross every time I have to use it, I've ruined some of my shoes and been drenched on more than one occasion. It puts you off going anywhere or doing anything. I've been craving a holiday in the sun, lying on a beach, swimming in the sea... But suddenly it's all ok. The sun is out! It is warm! Today I wore ballet pumps for the first time in weeks, we sat in the garden all day and lit the BBQ! The weather forecast has little pictures of suns, far into the future, it actually feels like spring, summer even, and it is such a welcome arrival...

Whilst hiding from the rain last week I have been writing about sharing food for my column in Appetite magazine. Big or small plates in the middle of the table whether at home or in a restaurant bring about a lovely happy convivial sharing atmosphere. I love inviting people to my house for food, putting plates full of tasty fare on the table and everyone diving in...

So in the name of research I rang some friends and decided to cook a 9 hour shoulder of pulled pork that I found in the amazing 'Joe Beef' book. This book is definitely one of my favourite new finds, it includes a fois gras breakfast sandwich, potted eggs with truffle and a smorgasbord… What's not to love. The menu took a bit of time to decide, it is a bit of a new direction, but in the end I decided on pulled pork, baked beans, coleslaw, polenta chips and BBQ sauce... Trashy, yet delicious...

The baked beans are an odd mix of ingredients, but totally delicious. They were a recipe for some lentils in the Joe Beef book, but I wanted baked beans, so adapted it to suit. Chop and fry some pancetta and an onion and fry until golden and soft, then add a minced clove of garlic. Next add half a cup of water, ¼ cup of ketchup, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil, 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons of English mustard, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 1 bay leaf, some salt and 2 tins of haricot beans. Then bake in the oven at 180°C or simmer on the top for 45 minutes, with a lid on. Check on it and stir now and again, adding a bit more water if needs be. This is all a bit out of my comfort zone, but totally delicious.

The creamy coleslaw was a mix of shredded white cabbage, red cabbage, grated carrot, thinly sliced onion and some grated kohlrabi which the kind man from North East Organic Growers gave me at Spring Graze. I left it all to sit for an hour in a colander with a sprinkling of salt, to get rid of the excess water. Then mixed it together with half mayonnaise, half yoghurt, chopped parsley, a squeeze of lemon and some whole grain mustard.

The main event was a 2kg shoulder joint of pork heavily smeared in English mustard, sugar, paprika, salt and pepper, a cup of water in the bottom of the tin and cooked at 130°C for 9 whole hours. I like recipes that you can say in one sentence. Put some foil over it after 5 hours and make sure it always has some liquid in the bottom of the tray... The house smelt amazing...

The joint of meat was so soft when I took it out you could press your finger into it and it oozed sticky lush juices. I was excited all day to get it out of the oven! The skin was blackened and crispy but still delicious and the meat couldn’t have been softer. A pile of soft, sweet delicious pork falling apart with some crispy polenta chips, creamy crunchy coleslaw and sweet smoky baked beans was just totally delicious, a bit of tangy BBQ sauce on the side. Everyone had a lovely time digging into big bowls of soft delicious pork, and I've started looking into flights to Montreal, because the sooner I visit the Joe Beef restaurant the better...

Green Bean and Chickpea Herb Salad

I'm having a salad week. Especially salads that are easy; so when I get back from Ikea and town shopping hell there isn't further stress inside the house. I am also fearing the perpetual state of festive fullness that is fast approaching, I'm preparing with a light salady week as best I can... Christmas eating can be somewhat overwhelming, it's best to be prepared...

Start by boiling about 150g of green beans in some salted water until they are cooked but still have a bit of bite. Then simply chop half a red onion and add to a bowl with a drained and rinsed can of chickpeas. Add a handful of parsley and a handful of coriander both roughly chopped. Then heat a splash of olive oil in a pan and add a chopped clove of garlic, when it is hot toss the drained green beans in the garlic oil and fry for a few minutes.

Finally dress the chickpea mixture with a splash of extra virgin olive oil, a splash of balsamic vinegar and some salt and pepper, mix everything up and add the warm green beans and their garlicky oil. Serve as a light lunch with salad leaves or as a side dish. The warm garlicky beans with creamy chickpeas, herbs and tangy onions were delicious as I slowly calmed down from my Christmas shopping ordeal...

Cassoulet

This is the first cassoulet I have ever made, and apart from the fact that it was totally delicious, it also produced meals for about three days. I love a few left overs for lunch the next day, or a meal that turns into something else, or gives you stock or fat to flavour your next meal, it feels good to reuse everything... It saves money, reduces waste and I like the idea of using every scrap possible of a duck or a piece of meat, to really put the little fellas to good purpose...

A cassoulet is a stew of sorts, a rich slow cooked French casserole, with roast or confit duck, sausages, bacon, lovely stock full of herbs and tomatoes and lots of white beans, all topped with crispy, golden baked breadcrumbs. So there was the first cassoulet evening, in all it's splendour, with rich duck and crispy breadcrumbs and a bottle of young French red wine. Then the remains travelled all the way to the Lake District to be heated through with new sausages, fresh bread for dipping and crispy green salad. Finally some came home with us again and made a lovely beany soupy lunch. A well travelled cassoulet indeed...

In the French peasant origins of the dish they used to deglaze the pot from the previous cassoulet as a base for the next one, and so on and so on, which led to stories of one original cassoulet being extended for years and years, mine just lasted a weekend... It is a dish to be made in quantity really, this will feed four or more people, just add more duck if you have more people...

I started with a pot of duck stock made from the bones of the Roast Duck with Chestnut, Chorizo and Cabbage... and with Elizabeth David... I've been carrying her book around with me lately. Sometimes to work so I can look up recipes at lunchtime, over to the Lakes to read in depth the bits I haven’t gone through before, looking for new and interesting methods and recipes. I am aware that this is not normal behaviour, constantly travelling around with recipe books... and I have had a few funny looks as people get into my car to find little book collections in the foot-well, but hey...

Start with a pan for the stock, you will need a larger pan for the whole cassoulet which will go in the oven, but start with the stock pan on the hob and heat a large splash of olive oil in it. Add two thinly sliced large onions and cook until they are soft, about ten minutes, then add some chopped smoked streaky bacon, about 6 slices cut into smaller pieces, and continue to cook until it is all golden and sticky.

Pour in the stock, I used about 500ml of duck stock, you can use chicken stock, add two tomatoes chopped into pieces, four crushed cloves of garlic, salt and pepper, some sprigs of parsley, thyme and a bay leaf and bring to a slow simmer. Leave it to simmer away for about 20 minutes. I think this is the tastiest stock I have ever made by the way... I kept on having sneaky spoonfuls all the way through...

Most cassoulet's use confit duck legs, but Elizabeth does say that to use fresh duck or goose if confit isn’t an option, which it wasn't, but it will need to be half roasted. So while the stock was simmering I put a whole duck in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 220°C. Then took it out to rest and cool enough to cut up.

You will need a big oven proof type pot for the cassoulet. Rub the inside of it all over with raw garlic to begin with. Then add about 6 good quality raw pork sausages cut in half, I also added about 4 teaspoons of duck fat from a previous roasting... You could substitute with lard or dripping... Then the duck, cut into pieces. My knives are really not very effective so we got as far as cutting it in half, it would be much better into quarters or sixths as it was really pretty difficult to eat a bowl of stew with half a duck sitting in it!

Pour two tins of drained haricot beans over the top of all of the meat and then pour the stock and all its contents over the top of everything. Bring this all to the boil on the hob and then sprinkle a few handfuls of white bread crumbs over the top. I used a stale sour dough wizzed up in the food processor until it was a fine crumb.

Then place the whole cassoulet in a low oven, about 160°C, for an hour. The stock will soak into the meat and the beans and a lovely golden crust will form over the top. Delicious... Just serve it as it is, it doesn’t need any help at all. It is rich and meaty with beautifully flavoured stock and beans, it is one of my favourite things I have cooked, really lovely... I am going to get to grips with some confit soon and make it again with confit duck legs...

I found a little tip in Elizabeth David's soup section that advised heating up the left over beans and stock and pounding them through a sieve, reheating this purée with a little milk and adding pieces of cooked sausage. It is just as good reheated in its stew form with new cooked sausages, or as a simple beans stew with crusty bread. It's just good all round really...

Roast French Beans, Cherry Tomatoes and Black Olives

I have received word from the allotment people that I have made good progress over the last year, it is however succeeded with encouragement to push on over the next year and get on top of the whole plot. So they spotted the bits full of towering weeds then. Damn.

I am currently inundated with courgettes, French beans and runner beans. The corn has actual husks, the Turks Turbans are about the size of golf balls and the cabbages look like they might just make it. There are flowers everywhere, sunflowers, nasturtiums creeping all over the place and fading sweet peas. I planted a dwarf sunflower that has loads of stems on each plant, there are so many that I have even picked a big bunch for the house. So there are plenty of things growing, just alongside so many weeds that I have trouble keeping on top of it all...

I'm planning on making Courgette and Lemon Jam and also a Spiced Courgette and Apple Pickle, that you will be able to buy on my stall at Autumn Graze on the 2nd October at Northumberland Tennis Club. Shameless plug... and I have to use up all the courgettes somehow...

And for the bag fulls of French beans this is a tasty little vegetable side dish I cooked up, it's great with a roast Sunday lunch. Simply roast French beans, cherry tomatoes and black olives together in a roasting tray with olive oil, salt and pepper. That's it. It takes about 25 minutes at 180°C. The beans soak up all the tomato juices and olive flavours, it's really delicious. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar before serving.

Butter Bean and Rosemary Hummus

We wandered up the hill in the sunshine to The Cumberland Arms for lunch this Friday. It was really beautiful and hot, which seems hard to imagine as I now watch the monsoon type rain chucking it down outside. I just had a simple ham and goats cheese sandwich, but it came with a lovely feta, olive and pea shoot salad which I thoroughly enjoyed sat in the sun on the terrace looking over the Ouseburn. It was a lovely start to the weekend... A weekend that has been packed with cooking. Four hour Braised Shoulder of Lamb, leftover lamb and pea patties, butter bean hummus, Home-made Salami...

We were invited for drinks on The Terrace, a little known Jesmond drinks spot... So we sat in the sunshine again with fizzy wine, flowers and friends while the lamb braised at home... I took a simple little hummus with me for us to snack on while we chatted in the sun. A butter bean and rosemary houmous that takes two minutes to make and is delicious.

Simply add a drained can of butter beans to the bowl of your blender, then add a large sprig of rosemary, just the leaves. Add a large pinch of salt and black pepper, the juice of half a lemon, a handful of lightly toasted sesame seeds and a large glug of extra virgin olive oil. You will need more oil than you think to get a loose paste. Then just blend until it is really smooth. It makes a much milder hummus than others packed with garlic and tahini, it is smooth and creamy with a lovely rosemary perfume.

Flageolet bean and cumin hummus

I've been busy planting this week. Sweetcorn and french beans are on the window sills waiting to appear. Tomatoes and cucumbers are in grow bags in the garden and at the allotment we have planted a lawn and put in some strawberries, chives, salad, rocket and cauliflowers. Actually making sure they all survive and produce food is making me a bit nervous, as it is already quite a long list of things of things to keep alive. I've been reading and researching each plant trying to learn all of the gardening tricks... It may take some time...

This was a quick little snack I rustled up to keep energy levels up for a few hours on the allotment. If you have never made your own hummus you should certainly try, it is much nicer than a tub from the supermarket and you can adjust it to suit your own tastes. I have made traditional hummus with chickpeas, tahini, garlic and lemon, but you can substitute the chickpeas for different beans and add different spices to make many different variations. For this version I used flageolet beans and toasted cumin seeds.

You will need a food processor and it will only take about 2 minutes. Toast 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds in a dry pan and when they are lightly browned add them to a pestle and mortar and crush them to a rough powder. Add to the food processor a drained tin of flageolet beans, a large glug of olive oil, some salt and pepper, a chopped clove of garlic, the toasted cumin seeds and the juice of half a lemon.

Blitz everything for a few minutes until smooth and serve with some toasted pitta breads and a drizzle of olive oil. It is creamy, spicy with garlic and toasty warm cumin. An alternative version I have also made, which was equally delicious, was with butter beans and a handful of bruised rosemary... lovely.