Rarebit Hotpot

Stephen Terry's layered dish of Rarebit Hotpot, bitter winter leaf salad and a cheeky fried egg is delicious. The ham hocks are cooked in stout and this is definitely a dish to try when you fancy something that is homely, tasty and packed with flavour.

Ingredients

A loaf of sourdough bread, sliced and pan fried in pork fat or olive oil
3 x ham hocks, cooked in stout
Approx. 750g grated strong cheddar
English mustard, to coat the bread
Tabasco, dash of
Worcestershire sauce, dash of
2 x bottles of beer or stout
2 x litres chicken stock
small handful Thyme
1 Bay leaf
2 x carrots, sliced
2 x sticks celery
1 x onion
4 x leeks, sliced

To serve

Seasonal Italian salad leaves,
Extra virgin olive oil,
unwaxed lemon, zest of, grated
Fried egg

Method

Print Recipe

Cook the ham hocks in the stout or beer until cooked through and the ham breaks apart, approximately 2-3 hours. Remove the ham hocks, keeping the stout aside. Break apart chunks of the ham so it’s almost shredded and set aside.

Meanwhile heat through the chicken stock, and add the herbs, onion and carrot and simmer on a low-medium heat for 30-45 minutes. Discard the herbs and vegetables.

Take the fried sourdough bread and brush in the mustard, to coat.

In a cast iron casserole pot, layer the fried sourdough bread with the ham hock, grated cheese, and leeks. Keep a slice of bread and some cheese for the final layer to top.

Using the stout from cooking the ham, add a dash of tabasco and Worcestershire sauce, and pour over the layers in the casserole dish. Then add the stock to the dish.

Add the final slice of bread and the cheese.

Cover with tin foil and bake at 180 degrees C for approximately 20 minutes.

Remove tin foil and allow the top layer of cheese to gratinate.

The only thing to serve with this really is a good bitter Winter leaf salad and a fried egg on top. Mix together the leaves with a glug of olive oil and the lemon zest.