Once a year

Potted pork with juniper and thyme
1. 
Serve this with Marmalade of apples, raisins and shallots

400g minced pork
50g smoked streaky bacon, chopped small
1 clove garlic, crushed
An eighth of a tsp ground mace
1 heaped tsp chopped thyme leaves
8 juniper berries
Half a tsp whole black peppercorns
One and a half tbsp brandy
Half tsp salt

FOR THE GARNISH
some sprigs of thyme
a few juniper berries

Needs a 570ml pudding basin or heatproof bowl. Preheat the oven to 150C

All you do here is place the meats, garlic, mace and thyme in a mixing bowl. Then, using a pestle and mortar crush the juniper berries and peppercorns - not too finely. Add these, along with the brandy and salt, then give everything a really thorough mixing. Now pack the mixture into the bowl, press the thyme sprigs and juniper berries onto the surface, then cover with double sheet of foil, twisting it to make a kind of lid.

Place it on a baking tray then into the oven to cook slowly for an hours and a half. Then remove it from the oven, place some scale weights (or something else heavy) on top to firm it up and leave to get quite cold before transferring to the fridge. Serve cut into wedges, straight from the bowl.

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