A trip to the Burren revealed lots of great places to eat, and a winning recipe for ham hock terrine, writes DOMINI KEMP
EARLIER THIS YEAR, I finally made it to the Burren for the first time. I felt like a crazed tourist, oooing and aahing at the breathtaking views, and was delighted to find plenty of gorgeous places to eat. The Tea Rooms in Ballyvaughan is perfect for soup, gourmet sambos and a lovely display of cakes and cookies, complete with outdoor garden and plant-filled conservatory. It’s hard not to fall in love with this place.
Further down the road in Lisdoonvarna is the Wild Honey Inn, which I would heartily recommend for something to eat and a reasonably priced room. Chef Aidan McGrath manages to get such flavour out of everything. I had the ham hock terrine, which was, hands down, the nicest one I’ve ever had. It was moist, unctuous, not too “hammy” and went really well with his accompaniments of celeriac remoulade and salsa verde. When I left, I asked for the recipe, which I was sure would be forgotten about. However, McGrath sent it to me.
The secret – I think – is that he takes some of the fat from the cooked ham hock and mixes it with some English mustard, so the shards of ham hock are cushioned by well-seasoned fat. When you are making this, you might have a reasonable reluctance to let excess fat end up in the terrine. It’s a bit like restaurant mashed potatoes: you can’t make them taste as good at home because you would be horrified at the amount of butter and cream it takes. But, conscious of how good his terrine tasted, I let myself add a bit more fat to the mixture than I would normally do when I’m cooking at home.
Anyway, this terrine is an absolute winner. Capers, cornichons, parsley, shallots and English mustard all play their bit in transforming this keenly-priced meat into something light, with lots of good flavour. It set well and I found that three ham hocks filled my 22cmx12cm loaf tin and produced enough for about eight slices.
Don’t be put off by thinking this dish is too restaurantey for you to make at home. It really is very simple. We devoured it with big slices of toast and celeriac remoulade.
The salsa verde is delicious with just about everything. We made a double batch as it is a lovely condiment with the other recipe here, for roast shoulder of lamb. Again, this is one of my favourite things to cook when I have a crowd to feed and want something Sunday-ish to eat. The key is very slow roasting (after an initial blast in the oven), which is my favourite way of cooking lamb.
Boiled spuds and a few peas makes this complete, with a big spoonful of the salsa verde, which helps keep this roast meat summery.
Wild Honey ham hock terrine
Serves 8-10
3 ham hocks
1 onion
2 sticks celery
2 carrots, peeled and chopped in half
A few cloves
Two bay leaves
A few sprigs of thyme
Pinch of mace
Curly parsley (stalks on)
1 leaf gelatine
Filling
2 large shallots, very finely chopped
10 small gherkins (cornichons), finely chopped
1 tbsp capers
1-2 tsp English mustard
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Put the ham hocks in a large saucepan along with the other ingredients (except the gelatine). Don’t fret if you don’t have things such as the mace or cloves, and bring it up to the boil. Gently simmer, skimming away impurities that bubble up like grey foaming scum, with a large metal spoon. Keep it on a very gentle simmer or those impurities will never have time to settle.
The ham hocks will probably be cooked after two and a half hours. But I left mine for nearly four hours (because I forgot about it) with a lid three-quarters of the way on and topped it up with water every now and then. Basically the ham hocks can take plenty of cooking.
Remove them from the water and leave them in a bowl to cool down slightly. Let the ham stock reduce down by about half. You will need 300ml of this reduced stock to make your terrine.
When the ham hocks are cool enough to handle, discard the thick skin and some of the fat. But keep some fat and mix it with two teaspoons of English mustard. Slide the meat off the bone and put it in a bowl. Measure out 300ml of the reduced stock and allow it to cool slightly. Soak the gelatine leaf in some tepid water until it’s soft and jelly-like.
Mix the filling ingredients with the shards of ham hock and the fat that has been mixed with the mustard. Season with some black pepper. Drop the soft leaf of gelatine into the warm stock and stir until it dissolves.
Mix the terrine filling carefully – you don’t want to break it up too much. Taste it and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Remember, it will lose some flavour once it has chilled down, so don’t be afraid to ramp-up the seasoning.
Line the loaf tin with two layers of cling film and then spoon in the ham hock, but don’t press it down. Lightly pat or smooth it down. Then pour in the reduced stock. As long as you haven’t pressed down the meat, the stock will find the base and slowly fill the voids in the loaf tin. Cover with the overhanging cling film and when it has cooled down to room temperature (about 30 minutes), and chill overnight in the fridge.
To serve, use the cling film to pull the terrine out of its cosy bed and slice it (a bread knife works best). Serve with toast and the following accompaniments.
Celeriac remoulade
2 celeriac, peeled and very finely sliced into strips
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
Juice of 2 lemons
4 heaped tbsp mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
When the celeriac is sliced, toss it with the lemon juice, which will help to “cold cook” it and prevent discolouration. Leave it to marinate for about 15 minutes. Mix with the rest of the ingredients and adjust the seasoning as necessary. This is fine made a day in advance.
Salsa verde
This makes loads, but it will last for a few days in the fridge.
1 bunch basil
1 bunch mint
2 bunches flat leaf parsley
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp capers
2 tbsp gherkins
200ml olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Good pinch caster sugar
Salt and pepper
Whizz all of the ingredients in a food processor, slowly adding the oil. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Sometimes, this needs a bit more sugar to help balance the flavours.
Roast shoulder of lamb
This is a great dish when you want to feed eight or so guests and are not sure what time you’ll be eating. This can sit around for an hour or so and as long as it remains wrapped up, it will stay moist and sticky.
2 shoulders of lamb
Drizzle of olive oil
Salt (preferably Maldon)
Black pepper
Half a bottle of white wine
Handful of any fresh herbs: oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 heads garlic
Drizzle of honey
Preheat an oven to 200 degrees/gas mark six, or higher. Place the lamb shoulder, fatty skin side up, in a large roasting tin. Smear with olive oil and season generously with salt. Roast on a high heat for about 25 minutes until some good caramelisation is taking place. Then turn down the oven to about 140 degrees/gas mark one and take the lamb out. Add the wine, the herbs and spices and peeled whole cloves of garlic. Wrap the roasting tin very securely with tin foil to seal it as much a possible.
Cook for another two to three hours, occasionally basting and checking to see that the roasting pan still has wine in it. If not, then you need to improve your tin foil roof.
What I tend to do though, is give it two to 2.5 hours of slow cooking, then I give them a final blast at about 160 degrees/gas mark three, without the foil lid and with a drizzle of honey over the lamb. The lamb should be a lovely dark brown and literally melting away. I also like to smear the very soft garlic cloves on to the skin, before the final blast.
Once you master this, it will become a firm favourite. To carve, think about portioning each shoulder into rectangles, rather than slices.
