麻豆社

Ingredients 听

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• 4 small unsmoked ham hocks or knuckles, about 800g each, soaked overnight in the cold water to remove any excess salt
• 1 onion, peeled & roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled & roughly chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 cloves
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 120g dried yellow split peas, soaked overnight in cold water
• A generous knob butter
• Salt & freshly ground white pepper

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For the mustard sauce 听

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• 30g butter
• 2 large shallots, peeled & finely chopped
• 20g plain flour
• 1 tbsp Tewkesbury mustard, or more to taste
• 300ml ham cooking liquor
• 2 tbsp double cream
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley

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Method

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Drain the ham hocks, rinse in cold water & put them into a large cooking pot with the onion, carrots, bay leaf, cloves & peppercorns. Add enough cold water to cover generously & bring to the boil. Skim any skum from the surface & simmer gently, covered, for 1 hour.

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Drain the split peas, tie them loosely in a piece of muslin & add to the cooking pot. Top up with more water if necessary. Continue to simmer for another hour, then lift out the bag of peas & check that they have turned into a chunky pur茅e by pressing the bag between your fingers. Also check the hocks, the meat should be tender& coming away from the bone. If either the meat or the peas aren鈥檛 quite ready, simmer for a little longer.

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To make the sauce, melt the butter in a heavy based pan & add the shallots. Cook gently over a low heat for a few minutes until soft. Add the flour & mustard & cook, stirring, for a minute, then gradually add 300ml of the ham cooking liquor, stirring with a whisk to avoid any lumps. Bring to the boil & season with a little salt & pepper.

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Simmer the sauce for about 20 minutes, stirring every so often. It should be quite thick by now, if not, simmer a little longer. Stir in the cream & parsley. Taste & adjust the seasoning if necessary & add a little more mustard if you think it鈥檚 needed. Simmer for another minute or so, keep warm.

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Once the ham hocks are cool enough to handle, lift them out of the pan, reserving the liquor, & cut off the outer layer of fat with a knife. Carefully remove the smaller bone by twisting & pulling it out, leaving the large bone attached. (If the hocks area bit large you can cut off some of the meat at this stage for a salad, soup or sandwiches if you like.)

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To serve, reheat the ham hocks in the reserved cooking liquor. Meanwhile, reheat the pease pudding with the butter, adding a little water if it seems too thick. Season with pepper to taste & a little salt if needed.

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Drain the ham hocks & place in warmed deep plates with a portion of pease pudding. Spoon the mustard sauce over the meat & serve.

Ingredients 听

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• 4 firm pears
• 500ml Perry
• A small cinnamon stick
• A thumb of ginger, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 175g muscovado sugar
• 25g butter
• 100g stem ginger, finely chopped
• 2 level tbsp golden syrup
• 60ml single cream

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Method

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Peel the pears, leaving the stalks intact & cut a small slither off the base of each one so that they will stand upright.

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Put the Perry, cinnamon, ginger & caster sugar into a heavy based saucepan & add the pears. Lay a piece of greaseproof paper over the fruit. Bring to a simmer & poach gently for about 30 minutes until the pears are soft & tender, but still holding their shape.

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Lift out the poached pears with a slotted spoon & set aside on a plate.

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(You can reduce the cooking liquor down by two-thirds & add it to the ginger butterscotch if you fancy.)

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For the butterscotch. Put the muscovado, butter, ginger & syrup in a small heavy based saucepan & bring to the boil, stirring occasionally, add the cream at the last second before serving.

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Serve the warm pears coated in the warm ginger butterscotch sauce.