← All recipes

Mexican crisp pressed pork with prunes, sherry vinegar and cauliflower cream

This Mexican crisp pressed pork with prunes, sherry vinegar and cauliflower cream recipe uses Rapeseed Oil, Celery Roughly Chopped, and Lemon Juice. Scale it up or down for the number of people at the table.

Illustrative photo

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp
• 2 stick
• 1 tsp

Method (preview)

1. 1

   For the prunes, heat the vinegar in 300ml/11fl oz water then pour over prunes with the sherry. Leave to soak overnight.

2. 2

   For the persillade, blend together the breadcrumbs and parsley until fine textured, add the crushed garlic, lemon zest and salt and mix through.

3. 3

   Heat the oil in a large heavy based pan.

4. 4

   Add the onions, carrots, celery, leeks, garlic and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, until caramelized all over.

5. 5

   Add the white wine and Madeira to the pan and scrape the cooked bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.

6. 6

   Simmer until reduced in volume by half.

7. 7

   Add the stock, cardamom, star anise, orange zest, apple purée and tomato juice.

8. 8

   Bring to the boil, add the pork shoulder and belly, return to the boil then cover and place in the oven for 3-4 hours.

9. 9

   When tender and cooked through, remove from the oven and allow to cool down slightly.

10. 10

    While the meat is still warm, remove it from the cooking liquor and pull the meat into small strands using your hands or two forks.

11. 11

    Roll out two large layers of cling film onto a clean work surface.

12. 12

    Place the cooked, seasoned meat in a line, approximately 5cm/2in deep, 4cm/1¾in high and 15cm/6in long, leaving a space at each end.

13. 13

    Remove the cling film and brush the meat with beaten egg all the way around the rounded sides of the roll, but not the flat ends, then roll in panko breadcrumbs, keeping the flat ends clear of crumbs.

14. 14

    Heat a frying pan until medium hot, add a little olive oil and colour the breadcrumbed side of the pork until golden-brown all around.

15. 15

    Remove from the oven and spread a thin layer of mustard over the top flat surface and sprinkle quite generously with the prepared persillade, then return to the oven for a further five minutes.

16. 16

    For the cauliflower couscous, mix everything together and add salt to taste.

17. 17

    For the cauliflower cream, heat the cauliflower, milk and salt in a saucepan until simmering and cook for 12-15 minutes.

18. 18

    When cooked and softened, remove the cauliflower from the milk but reserve the milk.

19. 19

    To serve, heat the cauliflower purée through until hot, and spread across base of serving plates, then sprinkle the cauliflower couscous onto the purée.

20. 20

    Sit the pork in the centre of the plate on top of the cauliflower. Place three prune halves on each plate around the pork.

21. 21

    Garnish with baby herbs, cress and pork scratchings and pour some sauce around the outside.