A FEAST FOR FATHER’S DAY!

Fresh South African pork is not only delicious, healthy and safe to eat, it’s also affordable and versatile.

WINTER PORK PIE Makes 1 large pie

The secret to succulent pork is a low cooking temperature and patience while the dish bakes or stews slowly over a long period. This will also ensure that the meat stays tender and juicy. This pie is well worth the wait!

• 250g fatty bacon, chopped • 1.5kg leg of pork, cubed (or topside goulash) • about 125ml flour • about 30ml oil • 4 plump leeks, chopped • 6 small carrots, peeled and chopped • 30ml tomato paste • 250ml beer (cider or lager) • 1 bunch parsley, chopped • 2 bay leaves • 4 sprigs thyme • 1 tin butter beans • 1 tin haricot beans • 250ml cream • about 500g puff pastry • eggwash

1 Preheat the oven to 160°C. Fry the bacon in a pan until crispy. Remove and reserve the rendered fat. Roll the pork cubes in flour and fry in the reserved fat in batches until golden brown. Season well with salt and pepper. Only add oil if necessary. Remove and set aside with the bacon.

2 Fry the leeks and carrots for a few minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and fry for a few more minutes to caramelise. Add the beer and herbs to deglaze the pan. Stir in the beans and cream and heat through. Pour over the meat in an ovenproof dish that you will be using to serve the pie and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover with a lid or foil and bake for about 2 hours.

3 Remove the filling from the oven and increase the temperature to 200°C. Cut out heart shapes in the puff pastry with a cookie cutter and cover the top of the filling with the hearts in concentric circles (starting at the outer edge). Brush continuously with the eggwash to ‘glue’ the pastry together; leave a gap or two in the centre for the steam to escape. Bake the pie for 30 minutes, reduce the temperature to 180°C and bake for another 15 minutes or until done.

PORK SHOULDER ROAST WITH ORANGE, FENNEL AND CHILLI Serves 6

Choose a boneless cut of roast meat – this will ensure that the meat cooks evenly and is easy to carve.

• 2kg deboned pork shoulder, skin neatly trimmed off (keep for crackling) • 1 onion, sliced • 1 orange, sliced • 3 bay leaves • about 15ml sea salt flakes • 5ml coarse pepper

MARINADE • 1 orange • 1 lemon • 2cm fresh ginger, peeled • 2 cloves garlic, peeled • 1 small red onion, peeled • about 15ml sweet soy sauce • 15ml aromatic sesame oil • 1 chilli, chopped • 10ml fennel seeds

1 Start with the marinade Squeeze the juice from the orange and lemon. Add the rest of the ingredients and process with a stick blender.

2 Tie the meat with kitchen string to form a neat shape with the fat on the outside and pour the marinade over it in a glass bowl. Rub well, cover and marinate for at least 2 hours (preferably overnight) in the refrigerator.

3 Into the oven Remove the meat from the refrigerator and let it reach room temperature; meanwhile, preheat the oven to 160°C. Place the meat on a wire rack in a roasting pan with the other onion, orange slices and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper and pour the marinade and about 250ml boiling water into the pan. Cover and roast for 3 hours.

4 Remove the meat from the oven, baste with the pan juices and roast uncovered for about 20 minutes to brown the fat. Let the meat rest before carving into thin slices.

Tip Use your electric carving knife to carve thin slices – this will help with portion control, while a lovely rich gravy means you can stretch your budget even further. Roasted pumpkin with fresh pea shoots, roast potatoes and green beans are delicious accompaniments. Gravy Make a mouth-watering gravy by smearing about 1kg meaty pork bones with 60ml tomato paste and grilling them with a variety of hearty vegetables such as leeks, onions, carrots and celery in an ovenproof dish until well caramelised. Add a dash of white wine, beer or cider to deglaze the pan. Put everything in a large pot then add

parsley, bay leaves, a few peppercorns and about 2L of stock. Bring to the boil and then simmer over low heat for at least 1 hour or until fragrant. Pour through a sieve into a smaller pot and add a generous splash of cream and any pan juices from your roast; this will ensure that you get all the rich flavours of your marinade in the gravy. Reduce until thick and glossy, or thicken with a little flour.