Ham hock with potato and egg salad
A joint of ham is very slowly cooked in stock to produce a really tender piece of meat.
Ingredients
For the ham hock
- 2kg/4lb 8oz ham hock
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 head of celery, chopped
- 1 head of garlic, chopped
- 1 leek, trimmed and chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- bunch of fresh thyme, roughly chopped
- 1.5 litres/2¾ pints chicken stock
- 150ml/5fl oz white wine
- 150ml/5fl oz white wine vinegar
- 5 banana shallots, peeled and chopped
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- handful of watercress, to garnish
For the potato and egg salad
- 500g/1lb 2oz baby potatoes, peeled
- 3 tbsp snipped fresh chives
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 celery sticks, thinly sliced
- 4 free-range hard-boiled eggs (leave slightly runny on the inside), quartered
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp crème fraîche
Method
Put the ham hock, carrots, onion, celery, garlic, leek, bay leaves, thyme and stock in a large casserole and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid and cook for 2 hours over a gentle heat, or until the meat is tender. Leave the meat to cool in the stock.
Once cooled, remove the meat and discard the skin and fat. Shred the meat into generous slices.
Strain the stock through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan and place back over a low heat. Simmer until reduced.
Bring the wine and vinegar to the boil in a small saucepan and add the shallots. Contine to cook until the liquid is reduced to a syrup. Pour the wine syrup and stock reduction back into the casserole and then add the meat. Stir in the parsley. Chill in the fridge for 1–2 hours, or until set.
For the potato and egg salad, bring a saucepan of water to the boil and cook the potatoes for 12–15 minutes, or until tender. Leave to cool and then place the potatoes in a large bowl with the chives, onion, celery, eggs, oil, vinegar and crème fraîche. Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.
Garnish the ham with the watercress and serve with the potato and egg salad.
