Ham hock hash served with a poached quail egg and salad

Lauren Gregg has worked with Café 1885 for almost two years. There is a constant stream of visitors as Snape Maltings is a natural draw for tourists, concert goers and shoppers. “It’s always busy. All of our dishes need to be served within a 15-minute window as we cater for coach parties and people attending the concerts, so timing is everything.’ Here Lauren shares one of her most popular dishes.

Ingredients

Makes 12-16

2 ham hocks

Celery stick

Carrot

Half an onion

A bay leaf

1 onion (large)

2 garlic cloves

4 tbsp of parsley (chopped)

2 tsp of thyme (chopped)

2 tbsp of Dijon mustard

500g of potatoes

Salt and pepper to taste

Hash Coating

250g of bread crumbs

Egg wash from 4 eggs

100g of flour

Method

Place the ham hocks into a saucepan with a bay leaf, celery stick, carrot and half an onion and cover with water. Place on a low heat and allow to simmer for three hours. Remove the ham hocks from the liquid and allow to cool, removing any excess liquid.

While the ham is cooling, dice the onion and garlic, sauté and put to one side. Peel the potatoes and boil. Once the potatoes are cooked, drain off the water and mash the potatoes adding salt and pepper, milk and butter (optional).

To the onion and garlic mix add parsley, thyme and Dijon mustard and allow to cool. Pull the meat from the ham hocks and add to the mixture. Now place in a bowl and mix in the mash well. Season to taste. Once all mixed together, start shaping the mixture.

Place the flour onto a tray, place the egg wash onto another tray and place the breadcrumbs onto another tray. Place your shaped mixture onto the flour tray first, removing excess flour and then place into egg wash and remove excess egg and then place onto the bread crumbs, making sure the ham mixture is completely coated. Place onto a baking tray and continue this process until all your shapes have been coated.

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. If you have a fryer, drop the hash into the fryer for a couple of minutes (to colour) then place into the oven for 10 minutes. If you don’t have a fryer, place the hash into a hot frying pan with a little oil and colour both sides and then place into the oven for 10 minutes.

Once cooked, serve with a little mixed salad and a poached quail egg (or an egg of your choice).

Get the taste

Café 1885

Snape Maltings

Nr Aldeburgh

Suffolk

IP17 1SR

01728 688303