I wish I’d thought of asking Mr R if he’d like some Plumslard Porkkare for his dinner on Saturday. What a brilliant name for a big joint of pork! I’ve just googled Plumslard Porkkare and nothing comes up at all. Maybe Corinne made it up?
I’ve been celebrating my birthday for days and days. It was a big birthday. Can you guess which one?
First there was a big feast at the Fleet Tandoori. Then a massive party. Me and Mr R (also coming up to the big one) selected our top 100 dance tunes and invited around 100 people to party with us. It was superb. If I ever get to heaven, it will be this party, on repeat, ad infinitum. My best bits were dancing to Ca Plane Pour Moi with Sanja, to Rock Lobster with Geoff, to Spacer with Angus and Clive, to Crazy Horses with just about everyone, and to Tiger Feet with Mr R.
Oh, and doing the Conga to Rasputin with Boney M was brilliant too. Gary C started that one off! Am so hoping that someone got a photo of that! We love Rasputin because of this genius movie…
Cathy, Heather and the Frickster made me laugh all night long wandering around with their clipboards and badges as they were the JUDGES for the three dance contests. These were the trophies…
Then there was my birthday dinner. At a MICHELIN STARRED RESTAURANT (my first ever, this is not a normal occurrence by any means) – The Sportsman in Seasalter on the Kent Coast.
Utterly sublime. The Pontefract Beef-Ox Cheek Braised in Licorice and Onion goes straight into my top 3 “most-delicious-things-eaten-ever” list. A photo cannot possibly do it justice…
Mmmmmmmmm!
Me and Mr R rented a little wooden shack right on the beach at Seasalter called The Mermaid’s Cave for 3 nights and it was just adorable.
We’d got a few supplies in for breakfast on the day after my birthday but had forgotten butter. The bread and butter we were served at The Sportsman was just so delicious…
we decided that we’d be cheeky and ask if we could take home the couple of pieces we hadn’t scoffed, and the little pat of butter that was left over, so we could have it for our breakfast.
A sign of how WONDERFUL The Sportsman is, the lovely waitress returned with all this bread:
and a beautifully wrapped chunk of home-made butter:
I just can’t imagine that happening in a Michelin starred restaurant in London, can you? I LOVED the Sportsman. I want to go back immediately.
The nice thing about renting somewhere with a kitchen is that I get to cook using someone else’s pots and pans. So it was I rustled up a Corrine Griffith’s Plumslard Porkkare on Saturday in between fiddling around with a jigsaw we found in a corner…
Corrine’s pork was absolutely delicious. Getting a bit of porky pork with a prune bit attached was GOOD. Here’s the joint with prunes and apples in pockets…
and here it is with all of the accompaniments including Mr R’s divine roast potatoes and some TINNED peas. We decided that it would be a waste to buy a packet of frozen peas as we’d only need a small amount, so we bought a tin of petits pois from the Co-op. Mr R thought they were too solid, and proclaimed that: “Peas should be hollow”. OK then!
The joint was really moist and flavoursome – it was from one of the Whitstable butchers (the lucky beggars who live there have THREE) – Jim’s Family Butchers. We were served by a very friendly man who made me laugh by saying that cooking meat is basically “all guesswork”. Hmmm, I’m not so sure, so followed this guide for how to roast pork. It was perfect.
Corinne’s recipe follows, should you wish to try it – it comes highly recommended. Oh, but before I go, here’s a pic of me outside The Peter Cushing in Whitstable. The great man lived in Whitstable for many years and good old Wetherspoons have done a lovely job converting the old cinema into a massive drinking den.
Corinne Griffith’s Plumslard Porkkare
3.5 lbs porkkare (pork pot roast)
6 prunes
2 teaspoons salt
1 pint hot water
1/2 lemon
6 slices apple
1 pint bouillon
1/2 tablespoon butter
Wash the kare (roast) well and dry with clean towel. Rub lemon all over the meat until juice is gone. Set aside. Wash prunes well and put in hot water to soak. Do not remove the pits, they add to the flavour.
Make 12 slits in the roast. Fill them, alternately, with prunes and apple slices. Save prune water. Place meat on spit or in oven if necessary. Add salt to prune water in bottom of pan and baste occasionally. Add a little of the bouillon and butter every 10 minutes until all is used. Cook 25 minutes to the pound. Serve the roast with its delicious gravy.
YUM! Corinne, you are GOOD!
