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Pork Shank Casserole

 

Pork Shank Casserole

OK Pork Shanks aren't the most appealing looking cut of meat, let's be honest. But neither are Lamb Sharks and they command premium prices in restaurants. It's just a matter of cooking them slowly and infusing great flavours into the meat. We had two Sharks between us and probably had twice the quantity of  meat we would usually eat. We also had enough casserole for another meal each which is now loitering in the freezer for a rainy day!
 
Ingredients:-
 
Pork Sharks
1 Onion
2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
2 Carrots, cut into batons
¼ tube of Tomato Purée
A glug of Cider vinegar
½ tsp Chilli flakes
A spring of fresh Rosemary
¼ tsp toasted Cumin / Coriander seeds
¼ tsp Dill
¼ tsp Paprika
A tin of chopped Tomatoes
2 Bay leaves
1 pint of Stock
Oil
Salt & Pepper
 
Method:-
 
(1) Season the Pork with Salt & Pepper and on a medium heat seal the meat on all sides in a frying pan with a little oil.
(2) Remove the meat from the pan and add the Onions, Garlic and Carrots and cook gently for about 5 minutes.
(3) Stir in the Tomato purée and continue to cook until the vegetables are caramelized.
(4) Add the Vinegar and stir until the Vinegar has evaporated.
(5) Add the stock and bring to the boil.
(6) Reduce the heat an simmer for 5 minutes.
(7) Return the Pork to the pan and add the Chilli flakes, Rosemary, toasted Cumin / Coriander seeds, Dill, Paprika, Bay leaves, tinned Tomatoes and bring to the boil.
(8) Transfer to a casserole dish and cook at 170c for at least 2 hours. Alternatively transfer to a slow cooker and cook on high for about 4 hours.
(9) The meat should be very tender and almost falling off the bone
 
We served our with boiled Turmeric Rice and dressed with a little deep fried Cabbage to add some colour.
 

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Lacto – Fermented Green Walnuts

Pickled Green Walnuts are a bit of a Chefy thing and cost £5.95 for a 225g jar on-line. Pff! These cost us 39p and a bit of Salt….

Ingredients:-

Salt
Water
Green Walnuts
10% Acidity Spirit Vinegar

Method:-

(1) Make a 2% Brine. We used Himalayan Pink Salt because we had some. But any Salt will work as long as it doesn’t have Iodine salts as an anti-caking agent.
(2) Allow the brine to cool to room temperature.
(3) With a folk stab each Green Walnut several times. There are a great deal of Tannings in Green Walnuts and you are likely to have stained hands. Your skin will replace itself after about 3 weeks, but until then….. Or put some gloves on!
(4) In a clip top jar pack the Green Walnuts tightly and then add the Brine.
(5) There is some interesting chemistry about to occur which means that you will not need to worry about venting the brew. Leave unattended for 2 weeks. The colour changes are great fun if you have kids in the house however.
(6) Remove the now Green and Black Walnuts and allow to stand in the kitchen on kitchen paper overnight. They are still highly staining by the way.
(7) In the morning they will be uniformly Black.
(8) Add to jars and immerse in Spirit Vinegar.

Usually when Lacto – Fermenting I would leave the Pickle in it’s Brine for storage. These little chaps are slightly different and the intensity of flavour is sufficient after 2 weeks. They are very pungent and it is possible to “Over Egg” this gig, ending up with something that is simply overpowering.

 

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