PORK FILLET AND FENNEL SLAW

A simple but delicious dish comprising of a purple potato rosti, rosemary rolled, sous vide pork fillet and a salt pickled fennel and carrot slaw, with a delicious vinaigrette.

Ingredients

For the Rosti

500g peeled waxy potatoes (any colour is fine)

25g Butter

2 Cloves of garlic, grated

Salt/Pepper

Rosemary flavoured oil (optional)

For the Pork

500g Pork Fillet (or other pork steak cut)

2 sprigs of Rosemary, stalks removed

Salt

Pepper

For the slaw

1 Fennel Bulb

1 Large Carrot, peeled

1 Clove of Garlic

Sea Salt

For the Vinaigrette

Olive Oil

Red Wine Vinegar

Caster Sugar

Celery Salt

To serve

Rosemary flowers

Fennel tips

Method

I did the pork sous vide in this recipe, but its perfectly fine to roast in the oven too. The preparation is the same - two sprigs of rosemary, stalks removed and five or six grinds of cracked black pepper. Chop the black pepper and rosemary together until its a fine grain. Dry the pork fillet/steak with a paper towel. Generously salt the pork on all sides with sea salt and leave aside until the salt has dissolve, and liquid has collected on the surface. Dry again with another paper towel. Scatter the rosemary and black pepper across a chopping board and roll the pork in it. Make sure it is coated evenly. If you're using sous vide, you'll want a water bath at 59-60°C to sous vide the pork for 1-4 hours, this will get you a medium-rare doneness, super tender and really juicy. In the meantime, do the rest.

Using a mandolin/julienne peeler/grater, grate the potatoes into a large bowl and add a couple of pinches of grated sea salt. Mix it through. Allow the salt to dissolve. Some liquid should drip and pool in the bottom of the bowl. Using your hands, wring out the potato. Add the grated garlic and a few grinds of black pepper and optional flavoured oil (2-3 tablespoons, depending on strength). Mix well. In a large (around 25cm) non-stick or cast-iron pan on a medium-low heat, and half the butter. Melt, and coat the pan. Pour in the grated potato and level it out. No binder is needed, as the potato will cook itself together. Cover with a lid, or tinfoil to assist the cooking process. Leave to cook for at least 20 mins.

While that is cooking, finely slice the fennel and garlic across the grain, and juilenne the carrot. Sprinkle in two generous pinches of sea salt and mix in. Set aside. The salt will leech juice out of the veges and help meld the flavours together.

Now move onto the vinaigrette. This vinaigrette can be scaled up or down but I did: 30ml Vinegar, 90ml Oil, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 2 pinches of celery salt. In a jar, dissolve the sugar and salt into the vinegar until fully dissolve. Add the oil, lid it, then shake like crazy. It'll seperate eventually, so just put the lid back on and shake it again before serving.

Flip the big rosti. I do this by inverting it onto a plate, putting the remaining butter in the pan and putting in back in the pan, raw side down to cook. No lid/foil this time to keep the top crispy.

If you've not done the pork sous vide, the oven method is best. brown the outside in a hot pan with olive oil, and transfer to a roasting dish, and roast at 180 until an internal temperature of 57°C, then rest under a tinfoil tent. Internal temp should climb by 4 or 5 degrees.

If you are doing sous vide, remove from the bath and pat the pork dry. Brush with olive oil then finish the pork with a torch. Or, in a raging hot pan, sear the pork fillet with a high smoke olive oil.

Strain the salty juices from the fennel. Slice the pork. Remove the rosti from the pan and cut into servings. Plate as you see fit - I used rosemary flowers from the rosemary plant outside, and fennel tips. Dress with vinaigrette for a tangy touch.