When it’s cold outside and I’m looking for hearty, winter dishes – this is the one I pull out of the freezer and it’s a fitting one for the Winter Warmer series! It’s perfect for when the family come home after a long walk on a cold, wintry day …

Pork and Stuffing Casserole

– best served reheated the next day

Serves 6 people

1 pork loin joint to serve 6
10 fl oz of red wine and 30 fl oz water
1/2 packet (or 40g)  of dried sage and onion stuffing mix
A selection of winter vegetables (3 large x carrots, 1 x swede, 3 x parsnip, 1 x  medium turnip)
2 medium size onions
Freshly ground salt and pepper
2 packets of pork gravy mix
A little olive oil
Dried sage
2 bay leaves

Method:
Wash the joint of pork and place in a large saucepan. Whisk the two packets of gravy mix with the wine and water in a jug and pour over the pork. Add two bay leaves. Simmer, covering with a lid, for 90 minutes and until the meat is tender. Place the meat on a platter to cool and then cut into 6 slices. Keep the cooking liquid but remove the bay leaves.

Slice and dice the onions and saute them in a little olive oil for ten minutes, until they go slightly brown and put to one side. Dice the vegetables into 2-3cm pieces and place is a large saucepan. Add the liquid from the pork – the red wine and the water – to the vegetables and season with salt, pepper and dried sage. Add half a packet of dried sage and onion stuffing mix. Stir well and bring to the boil, add the onions, then simmer gently STIRRING FREQUENTLY SO THE STUFFING DOESN’T STICK TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SAUCEPAN. The vegetables should still  be whole and slightly ‘al dente’ – about an hour. Add additional water if the gravy becomes too thick.

To serve: If using small earthenware, single portion dishes  – place one slice of pork in the bottom and one very generous ladle of vegetables/gravy over the top. Pop in the oven for 30 minutes to finish cooking; if you are going to cool and freeze some of the portions then cover those with silver foil.

Best either a) reheated the next day in the oven, 200ºC 30-40 minutes until bubbling OR  b) frozen, defrosted and then re-heated. Serve with green peas and a side of mash, or with sliced potatoes (below). Alternatively, add a dumpling to each dish as a substitute for a potato side dish.

Sliced potato dish – cut some small potatoes lengthways, part-boil them, baste with olive oil and season with freshly ground pepper, sea salt and a sprinkling of mixed herbs. Cook in the oven alongside the Pork and Stuffing Casserole.

Note: If freezing do this in individual portions and don’t forget to defrost thoroughly before re-heating.

This is a dish that chef Ben might serve in The Restaurant @ The Mill as a main course following scallops in a saffron broth. The stuffing would be handmade, of course, and the casserole would be served in a small dish with a lid. He might add ‘winter greens’ mash, piped into delicate rosette shapes on the plate.

But what is it like to be a chef? In Ben’s case, he’s a chef who defends his kitchen as his domain and prefers his own company. Could it be that he’s running away from his emotions? To give up his life in London as a chef at a top restaurant and go into partnership with someone he only knew by reputation – unless, of course, they had met in the dim and distant past. But if that was the case, wouldn’t Hilary have remembered – especially if they had spoken? And what of his relationship with his father and brothers? Why is his mother the only one who stays in touch … Ben’s life unfolds and Hilary is in for a few very unexpected surprises!

Read chapter one here

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Thank you for joining me in my kitchen and I’ll be back with more Winter Warmer recipes. Don’t forget to come back on 2 February 2014 to download your FREE copy of the recipe booklet! Perfect for those family meals around the table on a wintry evening!

Did you miss – Winter Sausages and Easy Apple Muffins and Kedgeree?