Jellied Ham, Parsley and Quail’s eggs

Name: Jellied Ham, Parsley and Quail’s eggs
Yield: Serves 8
Ingredients: 2 bay leaves; 6 black peppercorns; 2 free-range eggs; 3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme; 1 medium onion; 1 unsmoked gammon hock, roughly 1kg; 2 medium carrots; 2 celery sticks; 1 heaped tablespoon baby capers, drained (optional); lime wedges, to serve; an enormous bunch of fresh, young curly parsley; ground black pepper; 12 fridge-cold quail’s eggs; 100 ml full-flavoured white wine; 5 sheets of gelatine (10g); 4 tablespoons olive oil; 4 tablespoons sunflower oil; 1 teaspoon caster sugar; a good pinch of flaked sea salt; 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar; 2 level teaspoons Dijon mustard

Preparation info

Serves
8

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

What to Eat Now (Spring & Summer)

By Valentine Warner

Published 2009

About

For me there is something reassuringly old-fashioned about this. I think it’s probably the jelly. In high summer, when ham in parsley sauce does not seem an appropriate dish, the main ingredients here emerge from the kitchen in more appropriate wear.

Ingredients

1 unsmoked gammon hock, roughly 1kg
1 medium onion
2 celery sticks

Garnish
Main course
Summer

Method

Rinse the ham in cold water and put it in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil, skimming off any scum that rises to the surface. Boil for 5 minutes, then drain in a colander. Return the ham to the saucepan. Peel the onion and cut it into quarters, clean the celery sticks and cut them into short lengths, and peel the carrots and cut them into short lengths. Put all the c