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Smoked pork tomahawkS with weSt indian SalSa verde, grilled Sweet potato SteakS and criSpy pork bonbonS

From Hang Fire Southern Kitchen

Here’s what Sam and Shauna say about their recipe: “Pork ‘tomahawks’ are the ribeyes of the pork world, with an extra-long bone and a handle to munch them on – they not only taste wonderful, but they look pretty awesome too. Your butcher will happily prepare this cut for you. You can either make this recipe by smoking on a BBQ or cooking in the oven at home, but in our opinion you can’t beat the flavour from the fiery charcoals! We love to pair this delicious cut with our riff on a salsa verde, with a fragrant Scotch bonnet heat, sweetness from the pineapple and zestiness from fresh lime juice.”

Ingredients

1 rack of pork tomahawks (6-8 bones) 3 tbsp jerk seasoning

3 tbsp oil (vegetable or sunflower) 3 large sweet potatoes

250g pork mince

1 bunch of spring onions, finely chopped 1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp ginger, minced

2 tbsp jerk seasoning

2 tbsp Creole seasoning a handful of parsley, finely chopped 1 tbsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper

150g panko breadcrumbs

Egg wash (3 eggs, 100ml milk, whisked) Plain flour

1 litre vegetable oil, for shallow frying

½ a bunch each of fresh parsley, fresh thyme leaves and fresh coriander, roughly chopped 1 large garlic clove, roughly chopped

50ml olive oil

100g fresh pineapple (or chunks from a tin) 4 limes, juice and zest

1 Scotch bonnet chilli, cut in half and deseeded 5cm thumb of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped 1 tbsp sea salt

3 tbsp Canadian maple syrup

200ml crème fraiche

1 lime, zest and juice

1 tsp fine sea salt

1 tsp Canadian maple syrup

Method

Coat the pork tomahawk rack in the oil and cover all over with the jerk seasoning. Place in a baking pan.

If smoking on the BBQ, fire up your smoker for indirect heat using cherry wood for the smoke flavour. Stabilise the temperature at 110°C and smoke the pork rack until it reaches an internal temperature of 60°C, which will take about two hours, then let the rack rest on a warm plate for 20 minutes. If cooking in the oven, preheat the oven to 170°C/160°C fan/Gas 4. Cook for around an hour or until the pork rack reaches an internal temperature of 60°C, then let the rack rest on a warm plate for 20 minutes.

While the rack is cooking, mix all the bonbon ingredients together thoroughly by hand and shape into small meatballs. “Pané” the bonbons (meaning to dip them in flour, then egg, then panko) and set aside until you’ve coated the whole batch.

Make the salsa verde by pulsing the ingredients in a blender or mixer until well mixed. Pour this into a bowl, cover and set aside or keep in the fridge until you need it. You can also whip up a quick, zesty crème fraiche dip to accompany the bonbons specifically. Just mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Once the rack is cooked, cut it into individual steaks by slicing down between the bones. You can finish the steaks either directly over BBQ coals or in a very hot griddle pan. The cook time will depend on the thickness of each steak – we recommend using a temperature probe to make sure the steaks reach 70°C. Rest the steaks before plating them up.

With the griddle or BBQ nice and hot and while the steaks are resting, cut the sweet potatoes into thick steaks and brush with some oil. Grill them through for about six minutes, turning every two minutes, until just slightly soft (we don’t like them too squishy). At the same time, heat a pan of oil to 165°C and fry the bonbons for eight to 10 minutes, carefully turning in the pan until golden and crispy. Drain on a paper towel.

Now you’re ready to plate up all the elements and bring the dish together. Place a few sweet potato steaks and one tomahawk on each plate, along with a few pork bonbons. Drizzle the steak with salsa verde and serve the crème fraiche in a small bowl for dipping the bonbons.

PORC from Wales Week (January 24-30) is an annual celebration of all things pork – or porc to give it its Welsh name – and features small-scale and artisan producers and retailers that specialise in breeding and supplying high-quality pork and pork products.

A consequence of the small-scale nature of pork is that the hand-reared product is often only available to buy directly from the producer or in equally small-scale local independent shops, like butchers.

To highlight this year’s theme – “how far is your fork from our pork?” – leading figures from Welsh food such as broadcasters Samantha Evans and Shauna Guinn of Hang Fire Southern Kitchen fame and a host of food bloggers from Wales are showcasing the very best of locally-sourced pork.

Why not try some pork on your fork this week with these specially-created recipes – smoked pork tomahawks with West Indian salsa verde, grilled sweet potato steaks and crispy pork bonbons by Hang Fire, tomahawk pork chop with nam tok herb salad by the Hangry Bear and pork belly filled cinnamon sugar doughnut with miso peanut butter caramel and apple chips by Llio Angharad and Nicky Batch.

■ Visit www.porcweek.wales for more recipe inspiration

tomahawk pork chop with nam tok herb Salad