CALM JUICE RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. To make a rub, bash all the spices together with a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper in a pestle and mortar till fine (or use a blender). Muddle in 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
  2. Trim the fat off the pork, then rub the spice mix over the pork and marinate for 1 hour.
  3. Light your barbecue and let it calm down. Make sure you’ve got your coals high on one side and low on the other for control.
  4. Grill the pork for 5 to 10 minutes, using tongs to turn it till charred all over. Fat will render out, so keep it moving to avoid any flames.
  5. Once it’s looking beautiful, move it to the cool side of the barbecue, cover with tin foil and cook for 45 to 60 minutes, turning every 5 to 10 minutes – you should get gnarly pork that’s beautifully cooked. Check it by cutting in half and looking, or use a meat thermometer and stop when it reaches 72ºC inside – you don’t want it pink but please don’t cook the hell out of it either.
  6. Meanwhile, for the sauce, mix all the ingredients together. Taste it, and tweak the flavours until it tastes right for you. Whatever vibe you’re going for, you want to go slightly too far as it will mellow when it cooks. You don’t have to, but it’s nice to put it on the heat for a couple of minutes to help it along.
  7. For the salad, pick and finely slice all the herbs. Scrub the beetroot and shred the cabbage. Finely slice the chillies (if using).
  8. Add the herbs to a large serving bowl. Thinly slice your beets and apples (core and all), then finely slice into matchsticks (a food processor will do a fine job).
  9. Put these in the bowl, along with the chilli (if using), and add a squeeze of lemon juice.
  10. Just before serving, pour on the extra virgin olive oil, squeeze over the rest of the lemon juice and add a good pinch of pepper. Toss it all together, then have a taste and season to perfection, if needed.
  11. Brush half the sauce all over the pork so it’s shiny and dark, and cook for the final few minutes till it sizzles.
  12. Put it back on the hot side if it needs help to get sticky, but don’t let it burn.
  13. Transfer to a nice board, drizzle over the rest of the sauce and carve at the table, to eat with your lovely salad.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Lightly grease two baking trays lined with baking paper.
• Measure the butter and sugar into a bowl and beat together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk. Sieve in the flour and spices and add enough milk to make a fairly soft dough. Bring together, using your hands, to make a soft dough.
• Halve the mixture and set half to one side.
• For the traditional currant biscuits, add the currants to half of the mixture and knead lightly on a lightly floured work surface. Roll out to a thickness of about 5mm/¼in. Cut into rounds using a circular cutter. Place on the prepared baking trays. Sprinkle with caster sugar.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until pale golden brown. Keep a careful eye on the biscuits – it doesn’t matter if you open the oven door to check. Sprinkle with more caster sugar and lift onto a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.
• For the iced biscuits, knead the remaining half of the biscuit dough lightly on a lightly floured work surface. Roll out to a thickness of 5mm/¼in. Cut out Easter biscuits using an assortment of shaped cutters, such as bunnies, Easter eggs, chicks or spring flowers.
• Lightly grease two baking trays lined with baking paper.
• Place the biscuit shapes on the prepared baking trays and bake in the preheated oven for 10–15 minutes. Remove from the oven and lift onto a wire rack to cool.
• To make the icing, pass one teaspoon of lemon juice through a fine sieve, to remove any pips or bits. Mix the icing sugar with the lemon juice and then add about two tablespoons of cold water, adding it little by little until you have a relatively stiff but smooth icing. Add a splash more sieved lemon juice if necessary.
• Divide the icing into separate bowls and mix in food colourings of your choice into the separate bowls of icing, until you achieve the desired shade.
• Spoon a little icing into a piping bag and pipe your decorations onto the biscuits. For a smooth finish, you can pipe the outline of your design in the firmer icing, then slacken it down a bit by mixing in a little more water, giving the icing more of a runny consistency, and use this to fill in the designs.