Twice-cooked spiced ham hocks

I’ve cooked this dish using ham hocks, because they are often easier to find, but you can do the same thing using fresh or pickled pork knuckles. Each has its own nuances (I prefer pickled), but obviously if you’re using fresh knuckles you will need to season the liquid that they are cooked in with a decent amount of salt. Two teaspoons per litre is usually about right.

Credit: Alan Benson

• serves

  6

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  3:30 hours

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 500 ml (2 cups) apple cider
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 10 black peppercorns
• 10 cloves
• 2 cinnamon quills, broken in half
• 3 large ham hocks
• 60 ml (½ cup) olive oil
• 2 cups chopped kale leaves
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 100 g sauerkraut (see Note)
• 1 kg mashed potato, to serve

Chilling time overnight

Instructions

Place cider in a large pan over high heat; it needs to be large enough to fit hocks in a single layer. Add 2 litres of water, bay leaves, sugar, peppercorns, cloves and cinnamon and bring to the boil.

Add hocks to pan ensuring they are covered with water; add more water if necessary. Bring back to the boil then reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 3 hours or until tender.

Once cool enough to handle, remove hocks from cooking liquid, pat dry with paper towel then place on a wire rack set over an oven tray. Refrigerate overnight, uncovered, to completely dry out skin.

The next day, preheat oven to 220ºC. Rub 1 tablespoon of oil over hocks and season with salt. Roast for 15 minutes or until skin is blistered.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan over medium heat and cook kale for 2 minutes or until it starts to crisp and colour. Add garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes or until kale has wilted. Stir kale and sauerkraut into warm mashed potato and serve with hocks.

Note

• Sauerkraut is pickled cabbage and is available from delis and select supermarkets in jars or vacuum-packed bags.

Photography by Alan Benson. Food preparation by Asher Gilding. Food styling by Michelle Crawford.

As seen in Feast magazine, August 2014, Issue 34. For more recipes and articles, pick up a copy of this month's Feast magazine or check out our great subscriptions offers here.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.