Eggs Benedict for a pre-wedding breakfast in Chepstow, Monmouthshire

"That kettle doesn't seem to be working"
"I think someone has filled it too full" She pours some water out, switches it on. It works again.
"Wow - you're a genius!"
"...I'm a mother!"

Think of a fantasy breakfast you could have served up before you set off for your wedding. Eggs Benedict has to be right up there doesn't it?!
Home Farm bacon (or ham if you prefer) and poached eggs on toasted english muffins topped off with freshly made hollandaise (see hollandaise recipe here).

I served this on Saturday for a party before they set off to their wedding.

It's a while since I served 24 people on my own. Luckily I had some help from some of the guests when it came to plating up.

"Look at those yolks!"
"Look John - that's how you poach eggs!"

Using the best eggs helps of course:

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Jerk pork with curried nectarine relish and baps

Sacriliege or serious flavour?
Pig roasts have been so popular this year - more this year than ever before. This corporate party in Stanton, Gloucestershire however was only 16 but still wanted the pig roast experience. As a pig roast will feed 50 - 150 in the end we agreed smaller cuts of pork along with a couple of cajun spiced free range Madgetts Farm chickens. I was keen to try out the jerk pork again, and they liked the sound of it too.

Pork, as always, was Berkshire/ Gloucester Old Spot cross from Home Farm in Bredon's Norton. As it was a last minute booking they didn't have all the pork shoulder I needed - the pigs still needed a bit more hanging in the cold room. So it was a combination of 6 hour slow cooked shoulder and roasted loin. Nice combination!
Ever since Nigella had cooked gammon in coca cola I had meaning to try it. Cooking the jerk pork in coke seems to be quite a thing too. I took this recipe and adapted it, leaving the pork to mariande for a couple of days. And after 6 hours of cooking in pork stock, coke, lemon, ginger, garlic, onion, chilli, lime, herbs etc, I drained the liquid and reduced it to a glaze. This made a nice condiment to serve with the pork & baps or for smearing on the chicken they had brought and were just about to roast as I arrived with their delivery on the way to cooking abother dinner party. The loin roasted in about an hour and a half. I then gave them instructions on removing the skin to make crackling.

Curried nectarine relish

I had liked the look of this recipe when I found it a couple of months ago. I took the idea and just made my own - had lots of chutney making experience when young and one of my first jobs as a chef. Nectarines look better than peaches when I picked them up so I used those instead. Couldn't have been much fresher - barely had time to cool before it was on the road.

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Slow cooked belly pork with creamy lentils

Slow cooked belly pork is a long standing dish on the Benson family repertoire - which dates back to when I was a toddler. Back then we coated belly pork slices in flour, egg and dried sage and onion stuffing mix (I liked this because you could get your fingers messy) and layered them up with onions, potatoes and gammon stock and cooked it for as long as possible.

These days however, a more sophisticated slow cooked pork belly dish is a best seller on my bistro menu. We use a whole piece of Berkshire/ Gloucester Old Spot cross pork from Home Farm on Bredon Hill. Once I have trimmed off any excess fat/ sinew, cut the pork in half, then season it with salt, pepper and a little five spice, and roll it like the lamb saddle then tie it with string, and seal it in my old roasting tin:
After the pork, I add some onions and carrots (I like using Chantenay) so you get a good caramelisation colour and flavour, and then it is braised in cider, gammon stock and a little sage from my garden and cook it on 180°C for 5 hours or more (3 - 4 hours is OK if you're in a rush, but it really doesn't get as soft as 5 hours).

You can either cut it warm, or, as shown below, cold. If you want to pre-cook it the day before, you can re-heat it with a little stock in either the microwave or oven. If you like crackling you can trim off the rind from the pork and cut it into pieces and crisp it up under the grill.

Meanwhile the braising liquor is thickened up to make the accompanying sauce.

[shown before adding onions, carrots and sauce]

Green lentils are the lentil of choice for your creamy lentils - they are the variety that stay whole when cooked. These are cooked with onion, carrot, garlic and pancetta, chicken stock and a little cream for about 15 minutes till all the moisture has been absorbed. You can then add a couple of spoons of crème fraîche. These lentils have rapidly become my favourite dish.

Related posts:

Pork tenderloin in parma ham (ballottine)
Roast pork loin
Pork curry

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