Pork shoulder is a fantastic cut. It is good value and has delicious flavour and will melt in your mouth. It is great in a slow cooker. Just put it all together in the morning and have a tasty meal waiting at the end of the day. Pork shoulder can be easily sourced at your local butcher. This is a good time of the year for root vegetables so use the ones you like. I like this meal with mashed potato, but I also use rice from time to time. This is as good as comfort food gets.

There is a lovely tartness in the orange sponge pudding with the raspberries. This same recipe can be used to make individual cup cakes or muffins, but you need to halve the cooking time. Going out picking blackberries is always a good outing. For the restaurant we are lucky to get ours (as well as our strawberries and raspberries) from Pat Clarke in Stamullen, Co Meath. I always freeze some blackberries as they are great in smoothies.

Happy cooking,

Neven

Braised pork with root vegetables

Serves four to six

2 tbsp olive oil

1kg (2 1/4lb) pork shoulder, trimmed and diced (bones removed)

2 onions, sliced

2 celery sticks, sliced

3 carrots, cut into chunks

2 parsnips, cut into chunks

2 bay leaves

1 tbsp plain flour

330ml bottle cider

850ml (1 pint/9fl oz) chicken stock (from a cube is fine)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, to garnish

creamy mashed potato and green beans, to serve (optional)

  • 1 Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, gas mark four). Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole and quickly brown the pork in batches, then set aside on a plate. Add the onions, celery, carrots and parsnips to the pan with the bay leaves and sauté for 10 minutes until golden brown. Sprinkle over the flour and give everything a good stir, then add back in the sealed pork with any juices.
  • 2 Pour the cider and stock into the pan, ensuring that the pork and vegetables are covered. Season to taste and bring to a simmer, then transfer to the oven for two hours until the pork is meltingly tender. Scatter over the parsley and bring straight to the table. Have separate bowls of mashed potato and green beans to serve, if liked.

    • Orange sponge pudding with blackberries

    Serves four to six

    100g (4oz) butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing

    175g (6oz) caster sugar

    finely grated rind and juice 2 large oranges

    4 eggs, separated

    50g (2oz) plain flour

    200ml (7fl oz) milk

    225g (8oz) blackberries

    icing sugar, to dust

    crème fraiche, to serve

  • 1 Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, gas mark four). Beat together the butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the orange rind and juice with the egg yolks, flour and milk – it doesn’t matter if the mixture curdles at this stage.
  • 2 Whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl until soft peaks have formed, then fold into the lemon mixture until evenly incorporated.
  • 3 Scatter the blackberries on the bottom of a 1.5 litre (2½ pint) buttered pie dish and pour the sponge mixture on top in an even layer. Carefully place in a roasting tin half-filled with boiling water. Bake for 30–35 minutes or until well-risen and golden brown. Dust with icing sugar and serve straight to the table with a bowl of crème fraiche so that guests can help themselves.