My friend Vanya Cullen moved the whole Margaret River Cullen Wines property to biodynamic status in 2007. There is also a thriving vegetable garden at the vineyard and I took my inspiration for this recipe from that. I also wanted to use David Hohnen’s organic Big Red pork from The Farm House, also at Margaret River.
Serves 4
Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking 5 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil
20 g butter
8 (about 800 g) pork leg steaks
salt
125 ml (1/2 cup) dry white wine
12 stinging nettle leaves (see Lyndey’s note)
freshly ground black pepper
Quick pickle
125 ml (1/2 cup) white balsamic or white wine vinegar
115 g (1/2 cup) caster (superfine) sugar
1 small fennel bulb, trimmed and finely sliced
1 small beetroot (beet), peeled and finely sliced
3 baby carrots, peeled and finely sliced
1 sprig fresh fennel seeds or 1 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
1 sprig fresh dill seeds or 1 teaspoon finely chopped dill
Asparagus and broad bean salad
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and blanched
75 g broad (fava) beans, blanched, with outer skin removed if desired
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
METHOD
1 For the quick pickle, combine the white balsamic vinegar and caster sugar in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat, bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Place the fennel, beetroot, carrots, fennel and dill seeds in a heatproof bowl, pour over the balsamic mixture, mix well and set aside.
2 For the asparagus and broad bean salad, combine all the ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3 To cook the pork, heat the olive oil and half the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Season the pork steaks with salt to taste, add to the pan and cook for 3 minutes on one side then 2 minutes on the other, or until cooked as desired. Remove to a warm plate, cover with foil and rest.
4 Return the pan to medium heat, add the wine to deglaze the pan, then add the nettles and simmer to reduce. Add the remaining butter, any pork juices and whisk until the sauce is smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5 Serve the pork topped with the sauce and pickle and the green vegetable salad.
Lyndey’s Note: Stinging nettles lose their sting once they are cooked. But use gloves until you put them in the pan!
Wine: Try a Margaret River chardonnay match for this Margaret River produce. Chardonnay has enough texture to marry with the pork, and can also handle the sweet/sour of the pickle.
The Carousel thanks Lyndey Milan‘s Taste of Australia for this recipe.
Taste of Australia is on Sundays 6.30pm, encore sessions are on Saturdays 9.30am. The episodes will also be airing two hours after their initial session time on Lifestyle +2.
