Velvet Magazine December 2016

Season’s Eatings
Both recipes courtesy of the Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Cookbooks
Food
The Anchor Inn
Dates in bacon with mustard
cream sauce
www.anchor-inn-restaurant.co.uk
Ingredients:
• 12 rashers smoked
streaky bacon
• 24 stoneless dates
For the sauce:
• Large knob unsalted
butter
• 1 clove garlic & 1 large
shallot,
finely chopped
• 150ml dry white wine
• 284ml carton
whipping cream
• 2 tsp grain mustard
• Salt and freshly ground
pepper
• Chopped parsley to
garnish (optional)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 230°c. Stretch
each rasher of bacon. This helps make
the bacon crispier when cooked. Cut
each rasher in half and roll one half
around each date. Refrigerate while
you make the sauce. Melt the butter
in a frying pan, add the garlic and
shallot and sweat for about 5 minutes
until soft. Add the wine, turn up the
heat and boil until the liquid is reduced
by a half. Strain the mixture through
a sieve and return to the pan. Add the
cream and mustard, bring to a rolling
boil and boil for 30 seconds. Divide
the mustard cream between four
10-12cm diameter gratin dishes. Add
six dates to each dish. Bake for 8-10
minutes until sauce is bubbling and
the bacon browning. Hot grill to crisp
the bacon.
The Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Cookbook, £14.95 each, www.mezepublishing.co.uk
Ingredients:
• A loin of pork (2.5kg)
• 2 tsp Aspall white wine
vinegar
• A bunch of fresh
thyme
• A few bay leaves
• Pink, white and black
peppercorns
• Maldon sea salt
For the apple ketchup:
• 400g cooking apples,
peeled and cored
• 1 whole vanilla pod
• 200g caster sugar
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 175ml Aspall white
wine vinegar
Method:
Preheat the oven to 220°C. Score
the pork skin with a sharp knife. Make
straight cuts just though the skin, in
the same direction you will be carving,
but be careful not to cut all the way
through the skin. Massage vinegar
into the skin, before rubbing in sea salt
and the leaves from the fresh thyme,
bay leaves and peppercorns. Roast for
25 minutes, before turning down the
temperature to 190°C and continue
cooking for a further 2.5 hours. Let
the pork rest for at least 40 minutes
before carving. To make the ketchup,
place sliced apples in a saucepan. Slice
the vanilla pod in half lengthways and
scrape out the seeds. Add to the pan
with the sugar, lemon juice and vinegar.
Bring to the boil for 10 minutes.
Once soft, strain the liquid into a
jug and place the apple mix into a blender. Begin blending until a thick
purée. Gradually add the reserved liquid until the mixture is smooth and
spreadable. Refrigerate before serving.
jimmy’s farm
Roast pork with crackling
and apple ketchup
www.jimmysfarm.com
Velvet Magazine | December 2016 25