Pork & gammon
Pork escalopes and braised celery
Braising celery is a bit of a revelation. It turns a functional workaday vegetable into the star of the show. The fennel adds a little nose of aniseed but nothing too confrontational. The clean taste of lemon and the grassy notes of parsley keeps this well rooted in the summer. The pork is lean and fast cooking; you don't want too much fat cutting into the dish.
Ingredients
- 3 celery sticks
- 1 fennel bulb
- olive oil
- 500g new potatoes
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 100ml white wine
- 400ml of hot chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 lemon
- handful of chopped parsley
- 4 pork escalopes
- 25g butter
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Put a kettle on to boil. Wash the celery and cut into 2cm lengths. Trim the stalks away from the fennel and cut the bulb into quarters. Trim away any tough-looking root core and slice each quarter into 3 evenly sized wedges.
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Step 2
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a saucepan or casserole. Cook the celery and fennel over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
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Step 3
Meanwhile, scrub and wash the potatoes. Cut the small ones in half, and the larger ones
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Step 4
into quarters.
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Step 5
Add the potatoes to the saucepan and cook gently for 5 more minutes. The veg should take on a bit of colour. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
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Step 6
Tip in the wine and allow it to reduce by half, scraping and dislodging any bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the stock, bay leaf and a pinch of salt and pepper, if it needs it.
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Step 7
Bring to a simmer and cook, loosely covered, for about 25 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and the liquid has reduced by at least half.
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Step 8
When cooked, stir the mustard into the potatoes. Finish with a squeeze of lemon and the chopped parsley. Make sure the salt and pepper levels are good. Keep the veg warm while you cook your pork.
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Step 9
Season the pork on both sides. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a frying pan. Fry the pork for 1 minute on each side, until well coloured, adding the butter for the last 20 seconds. Let the pork rest for a few mins while you spoon the veg into shallow bowls. Serve the pork on top, drizzled with the buttery juices.