Restaurant style cuisine to make at home
FOOD & WINE
BLUEBELL RESTAURANT
SCALLOPS
WITH HONEY ROAST PORK BELLY
Impress your friends with this dish from The Bluebell Restaurant , Chigwell . Head Chef Gavin Maguire shows us how …
PREPARATION 1 . HONEY GASTRIC Heat 500ml red wine vinegar , 500g honey , 1 cinnamon stick and 1 star anise . Reduce by half , pass through a fine strainer & set aside . 2 . PORK BELLY Season with salt , pepper and 5-spice . Marinate for 4 hours , then cover with a mixture of half orange juice half water and 100ml of balsamic vinegar , add thyme , rosemary and garlic & bring to the boil . Cover with tin foil & place in the oven at 150 degrees for 3 hours or until tender and tears apart easily . Allow to cool in the liquid then refrigerate for 24 hours . Finally cut in to 2 inch squares ready to use . 3 . APPLE PUREE
Peel Granny Smith apples & cover with water , add a nob of butter , handful of sugar , juice of 2 limes and 2 lemons then cover with cling-film and microwave until soft . Blend until smooth , then cool . 4 . DRIED PARMA HAM place some thin slices on silicone paper with a little oil above your stove or somewhere warm and allow drying until crisp . 5 . Slice some apples and keep in a little water with a squeeze of lemon juice to prevent discolouring . METHOD 6 . Heat 4 pieces of pork belly with a generous amount of the honey gastric until they are dark and sticky , and then leave somewhere warm .
7 . Warm the apple puree gently . 8 . Drain 4 large scallops with no roe on a cloth , pan fry in a very hot pan with the large flat side first to get a nice golden colour , then turn the scallops & allow another 30 seconds , add a nob of butter and a squeeze of lime juice for a nice buttery nutty flavour , then drain on a cloth . 9 . Place a line of the apple puree down the middle of the plate then alternate with scallop , sliced apple and pork belly along the line of puree . 10 . Top with fresh Pea shoots ( washed & drained ), crisp pieces of Parma ham and finish with a squeeze of lime juice .
BEST ENJOYED WITH ...
A take on the brilliantly matched combination of pork and seafood , this dish gives an interesting combination of flavours that require some thought . The Alsace region of eastern France is famous for its beautiful scenery , its notably food-friendly wines , and its fine cuisine . Pinot Gris produced here is quite unlike its ubiquitous Italian cousin , fuller and more complex , and it is acknowledged for its affinity with dishes that combine richness and delicacy . Bruno & Renée Sorg founded their domaine here in 1965 . Their 2010 Pinot Gris has a lovely pale , green-tinted colour , and offers us bright , gently rich aromas of white flowers and honey . Full and intense in the mouth , with a gorgeous combination of roundness and acidity , and with fine persistence , it will provide a perfect foil to the complex flavours of the Bluebell ’ s dish . Toby Webster 2010 Pinot Gris , Bruno Sorg is available from Black Dog Wines of North Weald , £ 15.20 per bottle , or £ 13.95 when 6 bottles purchased . www . blackdogwines . co . uk
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