
East meets West dry-cured gammon joint with parsley sauce
Ingredients
for the gammon
1.5kg dry cured gammon joint
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped, seeds removed
80g ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil
80g dark soy sauce
100g light soy sauce
100g maple syrup
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tsp dried red pepper flakes
for the roast potatoes
900g Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and cut in half
3 tbsps duck fat
30g unsalted butter, roughly chopped
2 tsps Chinese five-spice
sea salt & black pepper
for the parsley sauce
200ml pork stock
350ml milk
40g unsalted butter
40g plain flour
60g finely chopped parsley
60ml double cream
1 lime juice and zest
sea salt & black pepper
for the green beans
200g French beans, topped and tailed
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 red chilli, thinly sliced, seeds removed
1 tsp sesame seeds
Method
To cook the gammon, prepare the marinade by lightly frying the chopped garlic, chilli and ginger in a pan with a little oil. Mix with the soy sauces, maple syrup, cracked black pepper and red pepper flakes. For best results place the gammon in a vacuum sealed bag with the marinade and leave for 24 hours; alternately marinade the joint in a sealed container and baste or turn the meat several times in the 24-hour marinating period. Once marinated pre-heat an oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 and empty the gammon and its marinade into a non-stick baking dish and cover with tin foil. Bake for 60 minutes, basting every 20 minutes. After 60 minutes remove from the oven, turn the oven up to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7, remove the tin foil, baste in the cooking liquor again then return to the oven for 15 minutes to colour the outside of the gammon. When cooked remove from the oven and test the temperature with your food meat thermometer to make sure the thickest part of the meat has reached 72°C. Let the meat rest for 15 minutes before serving.
To roast the potatoes, pre-heat an oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Place the potatoes, duck fat, butter, Chinese five-spice in a high-sided baking tray and season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Mix the potatoes to completely cover in the fat and spices and place in the oven. Cook for 60 minutes, turning the potatoes over every 20 minutes until they are crisp and golden brown.
To make the parsley sauce, mix the stock and milk together in a saucepan and place on the heat to warm up, but do not boil. In another saucepan melt the butter and add the flour. Cook the flour and butter mixture for 90 seconds to remove the raw flour taste, then slowly add the hot milk and stock mixture, whisking to make the sauce smooth with no lumps. When all the milk and stock mixture is added bring to a simmer for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and add the finely chopped parsley, cream, lime zest and juice and season to taste with salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
To cook the green beans, fill a medium-sized pan with water and bring to the boil on a high heat. Place the beans in the boiling water and cook for 90 seconds. Drain the beans through a sieve. Heat a frying pan on a high heat, add the sesame oil, chilli and green beans and lightly fry
for another 90 seconds. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and remove from the heat and serve.
To serve, carve gammon slices and serve with the five-spice roasted potatoes, chilli and sesame green beans, and plenty of parsley sauce.