Printed On A Chutney Jar: Pork Belly with a Star Anise & Plum Sauce, Garlic Potato Croquettes &Parmesan Creamed Spinach

My dad turned 64 on 4th July and I cooked him a birthday meal to celebrate. After much deliberation I decided on a menu made up of dishes that I'd never cooked before: Pork belly with a star anise plum sauce, garlic potato croquettes and Parmesan crusted creamed spinach followed by 'Slut-red' Raspberry Chardonnay Jellies. I was a little intimidated by the huge list of ingredients and cooking processes for all the dishes but I took it one step at a time and everything somehow came together as planned.

After an afternoon in the kitchen, I was proud to present the birthday meal I'd slaved over and everyone loved it - it just goes to show that in the kitchen it's worth taking a risk sometimes.

This blog entry will cover the main course portion of the meal which served 4.

We'll start with the Pork Belly with Star Anise and Plum Sauce:

Ingredients

1kg of pork belly (I used a slab but you can use thick strips of belly too)

1 tbsp fennel seeds

1 tbsp coriander seeds

1 star anise

2 tbsp light soy sauce

For the sauce:

3 ripe plums (stoned and quartered)

1 small cinnamon stick

1 star anise

1 tsp grated root ginger

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

4 tbsp soft brown sugar

Marinading the pork belly, the spice mixture and the herb crust just before it went in the oven

Method

Preheat the oven to 240°C/Fan assisted 220°C/Gas Mark 9, score in a cross cut pattern on the skin of the belly, this is crucial if you want to end up with the most amazing crackling.

Rub the soy sauce into the skin and the meat. My grandmother always recommends putting a little water on the skin side of the pork belly (I did this before rubbing in the soy sauce) and this apparently makes for an even better crackling!

In a pestle and mortar, lightly crush the fennel seeds, coriander seeds and star anise. Rub the crushed herbs into the skin of the pork, reserve 1 tsp to be used in the sauce.

Place the pork on a rack inside a roasting tray, roast in the oven for 25 minutes. Turn the heat down to 160°C Fan 140°C/Gas mark 3, pour 1 cup of water into the roasting tray while the meat remains on the rack, roast for a further 1 hour. Top up with water throughout.

The sauce ingredients, cooking the sauce and the pork's ready to come out of the oven!

While the pork is cooking, prepare the sauce. In a small saucepan, heat some oil and slowly fry the grated ginger until it changes to a very light golden colour (around 1-2 minutes). Add the cinnamon stick, star anise, plums, red wine vinegar, 1 tsp of herb mix set aside earlier and brown sugar. Give it a good mix in the pan, cover and lower the heat. Cook for around 20 minutes or until the sauce is slightly sticky and syrupy. Mash the plums with the back of a spoon if it is not completely broken up during cooking, this will release more juice and increase the volume for generous portions when served.

And it's done!

Next, the garlic potato croquettes:

Ingredients

1.2kg floury potatoes (such as Maris Piper), cut into 5cm chunks

150g unsalted butter

2 medium free-range egg yolks

150g wild garlic leaves, finely chopped (I didn't have leaves so I just crushed a whole bulb of garlic!)

3 medium free-range eggs, whisked with 1 tbsp milk and a pinch of salt to make an egg wash

Breadcrumbs to coat

Vegetable oil to fry

Method

Rinse the potato cubes in cold water, then put in a pan of salted cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes until tender. Drain and leave to dry for 5 minutes.

Put the potatoes in a pan on a medium heat. Add the butter, mash until smooth, then add the egg yolks and wild garlic (or crushed garlic cloves). Season well, cool, then chill for 1 hour.

Making the mash

After the mash has chilled, shape with your hands into barrel-shaped croquettes. Dip into the egg, roll in the breadcrumbs, then chill until ready to cook. If you're wanting to prep and cook these croquettes in one go, let them chill for at least half an hour to allow them to hold together better when frying. The longer you can chill them, the better.

Making the croquettes

Heat a good amount of oil (5-6cm deep) in a pan to 180°C (a cube of bread dropped in should brown in 30 seconds) and deep-fry the croquettes for 2-3 minutes until golden. If not serving right away, leave to cool, then reheat in a hot oven for 10 minutes. I should note at this point that the croquettes could probably be frozen after cooling and defrosted and reheated at a later date.

And finally Nigel Slater's Parmesan creamed spinach:

Ingredients

1kg spinach (fresh is essential - remove tough stalks and ropey leaves)

300ml milk

A small onion

A bay leaf

A couple of cloves

50g butter

50g plain flour

50ml double cream

Salt and pepper

Nutmeg

The ingredients for the sauce

Make a white sauce by warming 300ml of milk in a pan with a bay leaf, a small onion and a couple of cloves. Just before it boils, remove from the heat and leave to infuse. Melt 50g of butter in a saucepan, stir in 50g flour and mix to a thin paste.

Remove the onion, bay leaf and cloves from the now infused milk and whisk it into the butter/flour mixture. Keep stirring over a low heat until the sauce thickens. Stir in 50ml of double cream and season with salt, black pepper and nutmeg.

Making the white sauce

Wash 1kg of spinach then steam until tender. This should only take a few minutes. Wring out any water, roughly chop, then stir into the cream sauce. Keep stirring until the sauce takes on a green colour, check the seasoning and serve.

Pour the creamed spinach into a shallow dish and scatter the top with a layer of grated Parmesan before baking in a moderate oven to make a spinach gratin. Cook until golden - this should take 7 to 8 minutes.