Slow Cooked Pork Hocks with Carrots and Fennel

Day 4 of the big freezer challenge and pork hocks are on the menu.  These are incredible value for money and just need some TLC, tender loving cooking, to make sure the meat falls off the bone and is oozing flavour.  We used to cook these as impoverished students many many years ago and are still a firm favourite.  

3 pork hocks, skin scored about 1cm apart down to the flesh

2 tablespoons olive or rapeseed oil

2 teaspoons fennel seeds

4 cloves garlic, chopped

Sea salt

6 small carrots, peeled and split lengthwise

3 fennel bulbs, stalks trimmed off, coarse outer leaves removed and bulbs halved

500ml beef stock

2 tablespoons cornflour mixed with 4 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons Moscatel or white wine vinegar

Freshly ground black pepper.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Put the hocks into a large, deep roasting pan. Add the oil and sprinkle the fennel seeds, garlic and salt over them. Cover, place in the oven and cook for 2 hours. Uncover. Place the carrots and fennel around the pork and cook uncovered 1 further hour until the meat is falling off the bones, the skin is crisp and the vegetables tender and browned. Remove from the oven and arrange everything on a serving platter. Discard the fat from the pan. Add the stock and bring to the boil, while scraping the pan with a wooden spoon. Add the cornflour mixture, stirring until lightly thickened. Add the vinegar, mix well, taste and season. Carve the meat from the pork hocks and serve with the carrots, fennel and gravy around it on a bed of lentils.