My Jersey Bean Crock
Ask the butcher to save you any bones from cutting you the belly pork into two pieces, and to remove the skin.
Servings: 4 people
Equipment
- Jersey Bean Crock or Casserole Dish
Ingredients
For the Bean Crock
- 500 gr Pork Belly skin off
- 1 small Pig’s Trotter
- 250 gr dried Butter Beans
- 250 gr dried Haricot Beans
- 1 large White Onion peeled and very finely diced
- 2 large Carrots peeled and cut into small chunks
- 2 Sticks of Celery washed and very finely diced
- 2 ltrs good quality Chicken Stock
- 2 cloves Garlic peeled and crushed
- 20 gr Flat leaf parsley washed, dried and finely chopped
- 2 Bay leaves
- 1 small bunch Thyme
- 2 tlbs Beef dripping
- 50 gr Jersey Butter
- Jersey Sea Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper
To Serve
- Freshly baked crusty Bread
- Jersey Butter
- A little extra freshly chopped Parsley
Instructions
- Soak the dried beans, overnight, in the fridge. Change the water at least twice.
- Preheat oven to 275 F / 140 °C / Gas Mark 1.
- Gently heat the dripping in your crock or casserole dish. If you don’t have a crock or casserole use a large heavy-bottomed pan. Add the onion, celery and carrot, celery.
- Cook over a gentle heat, stirring regularly, but do not colour. When the vegetables are soft remove with a slotted spoon and put to one side.
- Turn up the heat, add a little more dripping if required, and add the belly pork. Colour on all sides before adding the pig’s trotter together with the garlic, bay leaves and thyme.
- Add the chicken stock and gently bring to the boil. Put on the lid and place in the oven for two and a half hours.
- Carefully remove from the oven and allow to cool. Remove the belly pork and put to one side. Remove the trotter and strain the stock.
- Drain the beans and place in the crock or casserole dish and add the vegetables and stock and add enough water to cover the beans by about two centimetres. Season generously.
- Bring back to the boil, replace the lid and put back in the oven.
- Cook the beans in the crock for about an hour and a half or until tender.
- Whilst the beans are cooing remove as much meat as possible from the pig’s trotter. Add to the beans with the parsley and the butter to enrich the sauce.
- Add a little freshly boiled water if the crock looks a little dry and return to the oven for another fifteen minutes.
- Put the pork belly on a tray and return to oven at the same time.
- Spoon the bean mix into large shallow bowls and top with sliced pork belly and freshly chopped parsley. Serve with freshly baked crusty bread and Jersey butter.
