Bringing the farm to the comfort of the city obviously calls for a culinary celebration. Put away your sievettes and micro-blow torches, roll-up your sleeves and be prepared to get your hands dirty - this is rugged food, from the farm to the fork without as much as a rogue preservative in sight. And who better to sort the pots from the pans than master Food Stylist on our Agricool shoot, Victoria Granof...
Roast Pork, Porchetta Style
For our shoot we used a baby pig, about 3 months old. Suckling pig is generally no more than 6 weeks old and still on a diet of only its mother’s milk. After that, it begins to eat grass and nuts and takes on a more complex but still delicate flavour.
Roasted the Italian way, a fresh ham (shoulder of pork, uncured, not smoked) is just as succulent.
2 kg. Fresh pork shoulder or ham, bone in and skin on A good splash of olive oil 8 cloves of roughly chopped, peeled garlic One good handful of fresh herbs (sage, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, wild fennel in any combination) 2 tbsp. salt 2 tsp. Freshly ground pepper 2 cups dry white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc 2 bay leaves
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (gas mark 4)
With a sharp knife, score the skin of the pork in a cross hatch pattern approx. ½” (1cm) deep. Then make deep slits in the underside of the pork meat about 3” (6cm) apart. In a food processor or (preferably) by hand and using the same sharp knife, make a paste out of the olive oil, garlic, herbs and seasoning. Rub the herb paste into the slits and onto the surface of the meat. Splash a couple tablespoonsfuls olive oil into the bottom of a heavy roasting pan and place the roast in it, skin side up. Toss in the bay leaves and pour the wine into the pan. Roast the pork, uncovered, for 5-6 hours, basting with the pan juices every half hour or so. Peeled, quartered potatoes roasted for the last hour in the pan juices will be the best you have ever tasted.
Chicken Broth
The difference between broth and stock is its ratio of flesh to bone, and hence its gelatin content. If your decoction is destined for reduction as a binding agent in soups or sauces, then stock is what you are after (more bones). If a chickeny, noodley restorative brew is your goal, make broth. To my taste, a good chicken broth may also contain a beef shank bone, a tomato or two, and a few pieces of parmigiano rind. Whatever you do, don’t ever let your stock or broth boil or it will become cloudy. Be patient and simmer.
1 fat old stewing hen, approximately 2 kg., plucked and drawn, scrubbed clean (especially the feet) 2 large yellow onions, skin on and quartered 2 medium carrots, peeled and broken in half 1 medium celery root (celeriac), peeled and quartered 1 parsley root, peeled and broken in half (or a small handful parsley stems) A good sprig of thyme and a bay leaf wrapped in cheesecloth with the parsley stems Sea salt and a few black peppercorns 1 young chicken, plucked, drawn and split in half
Place everything but the young chick in a large pot and cover with an abundance of cold water. Bring up to the boil, skim the foam and turn the heat down to a simmer. Simmer, uncovered, for 3 hours. Remove the hen and give her a decent burial, then add the chicken to the pot. Simmer an additional hour while you cook some plain white rice or fine egg noodles in a separate pot. Strain the broth, correct seasoning and discard the spent vegetables or feed them to your pig. Pull the meat from the bones and return it to the broth. Pour over the rice or noodles in bowls to serve. A few flecks of chopped flat leaf parsley suit this nicely.
Egg Custard
½ pt. (30ml.) full fat milk 1 egg 2 yolks 4 heaped Tablespoonfuls caster sugar A few drops vanilla essence A grating of fresh nutmeg
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C, gas mark 2)
Place 4 ovenproof baking cups (ramekins) in a deep baking pan just large enough to contain them.
Whisk egg, yolks, sugar and vanilla to combine. In a small saucepan, bring the milk up to a boil and slowly whisk into egg mixture. Strain through a fine sieve into the baking cups. Fill the baking pan with boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the cups and bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until just set. Do not overbake or the mixture will boil, creating that unappetizingly bubbly texture so often found in carelessly baked custards.
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