Slow Cooked Pork Eggs Benedict with Chipotle Hollandaise and Cornbread

Loosen your belts, pile up your plates and dig into the latest recipe from our incredibly talented foodie friend, Master Chef finalist, Giovanna Ryan. This little beauty of a brunch recipe is just the thing to feed the masses over Christmas and is sure to impress the in-laws.

Over to Giovanna ...

Christmas is a time for giving and for me that translates to “feeding”. I spend most of the latter part of December gathering people together and putting food in front of them and I LOVE IT. This brunch dish is an excellent way to feed everyone that you’ve got staying in your spare rooms over the festive period. The pork is cooked overnight with minimal effort and nearly everything can be made ahead and assembled at the last minute. The cornbread is super easy but if you can’t be bothered, some thick sourdough toast works well too. If you can’t get hold of some of the more specialist ingredients, don’t worry, the alternatives work almost as well.

Ingredients (for 6 hefty brunch portions):

Slow cooked pork:

2kg rolled, boneless pork shoulder
330ml bottle dark beer
2 bay leaves
2 large garlic cloves, sliced
2 medium brown onions, sliced
Tablespoon cumin seeds
Tablespoon ground coriander
1/2 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 dried ancho chillies (or tablespoon chipotle chilly paste)
Juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon sugar

Cornbread:

300mg cornmeal or polenta
250g plain flour
4 large eggs
400ml sour cream
100ml milk
120g butter, melted and left to cool
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder

Hollandaise:

250g butter, melted
4 large egg yolks
1 tin chipotle chilli in adobe, blended in a food processor (or 2 tablespoons chipotle paste). You won't need it all.
1/2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
To serve:
6 large fresh eggs
2 ripe avocados, mashed with salt and lime juice
Chilli flakes

The night before, soak the chillies in boiling water for 30 minutes. Drain and blend to a paste with 3 tablespoons of the soaking water, lime juice and sugar. Spread the paste over the pork and set aside. This can be done up to 24 hours ahead and the pork covered and left in the fridge.

Pre-heat the oven to 100C. In a large heavy-based, oven proof pan, gently fry the onions and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add the cumin, coriander, paprika and bay and fry for a further two minutes until fragrant.

Sit the pork on top of the onion mixture and add and any remaining marinade to the pan. Add the beer and 300ml water along with the salt and cinnamon stick. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and place in the oven overnight or for at least 7 hours.

Once cooked, remove the pork from the pan, remove the bay leaves and cinnamon stick and reduce the cooking liquid to a thick, sticky sauce.

Remove the skin and main fat layer from the pork along with any string and shred with two forks. Add the meat back into the sauce and stir to combine. Set aside until ready to use.

For the cornbread, pre heat the oven to 160C. Mix together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and all the wet ingredients in another.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Line a shallow baking tin with baking paper and pour the mixture into the tray, spreading evenly.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown on top and a cake tester comes out clean. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes before cutting into it.

For the hollandaise, whisk the egg yolks and vinegar in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water until the consistency of a thick custard. Whisk in the melted butter a few drops at a time, making sure it’s fully combined. If it starts getting too thick, remove from the heat.

Whisk in the chipotle paste to taste. I like it really spicy but it’s up to you! You can make the hollandaise in advance and bring it back to life over the simmering water when you’re ready to serve.

Poach the eggs for 3 to 4 minutes in a large pan so that the yolk is still soft.

Cut the cornbread into large squares. Spread a spoonful of mashed avocado on top, followed by a big spoon of the pork. Place an egg on top of each stack and pour over a generous amount of hollandaise sauce. Sprinkle over a little black pepper and a few chilli flakes.

Enjoy and await the inevitable food coma.