Ingredients
| BACON HOCK (makes about 2 cups loosely packed preparation 10 minutes / cooking 3 hours 20 minutes) | |
| 1 bacon hock (about 650g) | |
| 2 large carrots, thickly sliced | |
| 1 onion, quartered | |
| 2 sticks celery, thickly sliced | |
| 1 small bunch parsley, stalks and leaves | |
| 1 bay leaf | |
| 3 sprigs thyme | |
| 1 teaspoon black peppercorns | |
| PICKLED CABBAGE | |
| 2 cups shredded cabbage (I used white and red) | |
| 1 carrot, shredded | |
| 1 red chilli, sliced (optional) | |
| 1 teaspoon salt | |
| 1 teaspoon sugar | |
| ¼ cup vinegar (use white wine, apple cider, rice or sherry vinegar) | |
| HASH BROWNS | |
| 400g waxy/boiling potatoes, washed, grated | |
| 2 tablespoons (40g) ’nduja | |
| ¼ teaspoon salt | |
| olive oil to fry | |
| shredded meat from 1 bacon hock | |
| 4 eggs, at room temperature | |
| soft green herbs such as basil, flat-leafed parsley, coriander, mint, chervil |
There are many ways to make hash browns, but this version is super simple. To get them crisp, have plenty of oil to fry them and lightly fork the potato into the pan so it’s not overcrowded and doesn’t steam. For the same reason, once cooked keep them in a warm oven on a rack, not on a plate. I like to cook bacon hock for this as it’s not as fatty as regular bacon and you have the bonus of a great stock left over to make soup. However, you can use any kind of bacon you like.
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Instructions
| 1. | BACON HOCK |
| 2. | Place the bacon hock in a saucepan large enough to hold it and cover with water. |
| 3. | Bring to the boil then remove from the heat and drain well. |
| 4. | Place the hock back in the saucepan and add the carrots, onion, celery, parsley stalks (reserve the leaves to serve), bay leaf, thyme and black peppercorns, and pour over enough water to just cover. |
| 5. | Bring to a simmer, cover and simmer gently for 3 hours until the meat is very tender. |
| 6. | Cool in the stock. |
| 7. | Remove the hock from the liquid and remove and discard the skin. |
| 8. | Pull the meat off the bones and discard as much fat and sinew as you can. |
| 9. | Shred the meat and store in the fridge for up to 3 days. |
| 10. | If you like, add the bone back into the stock and simmer for an hour to get a deeper flavour before cooling and freezing for later use. |
| 11. | PICKLED CABBAGE |
| 12. | Put the cabbage, carrot and chilli in a container with a well- fitting lid. |
| 13. | Sprinkle over the salt, sugar and vinegar, and close the lid. |
| 14. | Give everything a good shake and set aside for at least 30 minutes, shaking occasionally. |
| 15. | This will keep for 5 days in the fridge, getting more pickled. |
| 16. | HASH BROWNS |
| 17. | In a bowl, mix the grated potato, ’nduja and salt. |
| 18. | Heat a frying pan to medium-high heat. |
| 19. | Have a pot of water simmering to poach the eggs. |
| 20. | Add a good slug of oil to the pan and heat. |
| 21. | Using a fork, arrange quarter of the potato mix in a roughly 16cm circle. |
| 22. | Cook for 3-4 minutes each side until nice and golden, then keep warm on a rack in the oven. |
| 23. | Repeat with the remaining potato. |
| 24. | Add the shredded bacon hock to the pan and toss around to heat. |
| 25. | Poach the eggs. |
| 26. | Serve the hash browns topped with bacon, pickled cabbage, a poached egg and some herbs. |
Recipes & food styling Fiona Smith / Photography Aaron McLean Styling Fiona Smith & Aaron McLean