Filed under: Food
![One-Pot Winter Warmers: Ham hock and white bean soup with green sauce]()
Helen Graves
This week's
one-pot recipe will chase away the chilly fog; it's a rustic
ham hock and white bean soup that is a cinch to make, yet really pulls weight in the flavour department. The hock is first cooked with aromatics like onion, carrot and bay, leaving you with a sublime porky stock to form the base of the soup.
The hock will take a little time to cook but there's no effort involved in leaving it alone to get on with it. Once falling away from the bone, the meat is added back to the stock, along with white beans, vegetables and a topping of piquant green sauce, like a British salsa verde; pungent herbs, capers, mustard and lemon add freshness and verdant green colour.
The home-made stock is deeply fragrant, warming through to the bones with every slurp. Hammy pieces bob about like porcine treasure and the white beans provide necessary substance and texture. If you don't fancy beans,
pasta shapes would make a nice variation, perhaps farfalle, broken spaghetti pieces or the small, swollen-rice-shaped orzo. Pearl barley or green lentils would also work.
The vegetables can be changed according to what's in season; asparagus in spring for example, or peas or sweetcorn in summer. An endlessly variable soup that's thrifty too; ham hocks are a steal and if you reserve a little of the meat for sandwiches you'll make your money go even further.
Ham Hock and White Bean Soup with Green Sauce
1 ham hock
2 medium carrots
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
1 bay leaf
6 black peppercorns
A few parsley stalks
2 tins white beans, drained
For the green sauce
1 handful parsley leaves, finely chopped
1 handful mint leaves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon capers, finely chopped
2 cornichons, very finely chopped
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon mustard
3 tablespoons olive oil
Chop one of the carrots into a few large pieces and place in a large pan. Peel the onion, cut it in half and add half to the pan along with the ham hock, bay leaf, peppercorns and parsley stalks.
Cover with water, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and let cook for about 2 hours or until the meat is falling away from the bone. You'll need to top up the water a little.
Meanwhile, make the green sauce by finely mixing together all the ingredients; taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper then set aside.
Remove the ham hock carefully and set aside. Strain the stock into a bowl and add it back to the pan. Remove the skin and bone from the ham hock and break up the meat.
Peel and slice the remaining carrot and finely chop the remaining onion half. Heat a little oil in the pan you strained the stock from and cook the carrot and onion gently for about five minutes to soften them without colouring. Add the stock and when the carrots are cooked, add the meat and beans back to the stock to warm through.
Taste the soup and season with pepper if necessary. The soup will likely be salty enough from the pork. Serve with a spoonful of the green sauce and good crusty bread.
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Proposals by the head of the UK border force for controls to be relaxed further prior to the start of a pilot scheme this summer were rejected before he went ahead with them, Home Secretary Theresa May has said.
Mrs May, who said she had no intention to resign, told MPs that Brodie Clark had wanted more discretionary controls than she was prepared to sign off.
But when she rejected these and brought in a more limited pilot scheme during the peak summer period, Mr Clark went further, scrapping key checks against a Home Office database without ministerial approval, she said.
"Those wider changes were ones which I rejected," she said.
Mrs May added that in setting out the terms for the pilot, "there were certain things that were suggested that I was not prepared to accept".
She said: "I take full responsibility for my decisions and actions related to the pilot, but Brodie Clark must take responsibility for his actions."
The number of suspected terrorists, criminals and illegal immigrants who entered the country as a result of the move will never be known, Mrs May said.
But figures for August last year showed 10.5 million passengers coming into the UK, including 2.5 million people from outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
The memo, dated July 28 2011, said: "If, for whatever reason, it is considered necessary to take further measures, beyond those listed above, local managers must escalate to the border force duty director to seek authority for their proposed action."
But Mrs May said the guidance "does not allow a decision to be made to significantly change the checks at the border" and was simply part of health and safety measures, should people start becoming ill or fainting in long queues at ports.
Frankie Cocozza, the party-loving X Factor hopeful, has been axed from the ITV competition.
The teenager had "broken competition rules", according to producers of the show.
Cocozza admitted: "I no longer deserve my place in the show."
His antics have already prompted an Ofcom investigation into the series.
The young wannabe has been pictured on a string of nights out since finding fame in the contest.
He made an impact in the early stages when he boasted that the names of some of his many lovers were tattooed on his bottom.
He said that his life had "gone out of control" while taking part in the show.
As he left, he said sorry to his mentor, Gary Barlow, and fans who had been voting for him.
Many viewers were astonished that the singer remained in the competition following a below-par performance at the weekend.
Other acts were advising him to curb his behaviour to concentrate on the contest.
A lawyer representing phone hacking victims says he has seen documents suggesting that News International placed politicians under surveillance.
Mark Lewis, who was himself tailed by a private detective hired by the media company, said Labour MP and hacking campaigner Tom Watson was among those named in a report he was given by police.
Mr Lewis told Victoria Derbyshire on BBC Radio 5 Live that he planned to bring a civil claim for breach of privacy against News International, former publishers of the News of the World.
The solicitor said documents suggested that the move to place politicians under surveillance was ordered "by someone at News International". He said: "I have seen Tom Watson's name, and other politicians' names have featured. This is a report that I have been handed by the police."
Mr Lewis's clients include the family of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, whose voicemails were illegally intercepted by the News of the World after she went missing in 2002.
News International said on Monday it was "deeply inappropriate" that it hired private investigator Derek Webb to spy on Mr Lewis and fellow lawyer Charlotte Harris, who also represents victims of phone hacking. The company declined to comment further on Mr Lewis's latest claims.
Mr Lewis condemned the spying, which included following and filming of his former wife and children.
He said: "It's disgraceful. No father wants his child surveyed - this is wrong on so many levels. It thoroughly undermines any notion of fair play. I am sure they were doing it in order to stop me and Charlotte Harris representing our clients. It was undoubtedly a fishing exercise."
Mr Webb, a former police officer who ran a private investigations firm called Silent Shadow, told the BBC he had not been paid compensation he was owed for his loyalty to the News of the World over eight years of service.
The private detective said he was commissioned by the now-closed Sunday tabloid to carry out surveillance on Mr Lewis and his former assistant Ms Harris in Manchester early last year, while James Murdoch was executive chairman of News International.
Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi has won a key parliamentary vote, but the result showed he can no longer count on a majority.
The opposition immediately demanded Mr Berlusconi step down to calm financial markets that are running scared of the country's economic problems.
The vote, on a routine measure to approve the 2010 state budget, won 308 for and none against in the Chamber of Deputies. But 321 deputies abstained, most of them from the centre-left opposition. If all 630 had voted, Mr Berlusconi would need a 316-seat majority to assure he was still in command.
Mr Berlusconi scrutinised the vote tally handed him right after the vote, apparently trying to figure out who had abstained.
"This government does not have the majority!" thundered opposition leader Pierluigi Bersani, rising up in the chamber.
"We all know that Italy is running the real risk in the next days to not have access to financial markets," he said.
He was referring to Italy's borrowing rates, which have been soaring amid weeks of political uncertainty over Mr Berlusconi's ability to continue to lead the country and oversee the adoption of austerity measures to fight Italy's growing pile of debt.
Demonstrators should not be able to erect a tent village outside St Paul's Cathedral as part of their protest against excess in the City, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.
Mr Cameron said that the form of encampment seen at St Paul's and outside Parliament - where anti-war campaigners have held a vigil for more than 10 years - was not a "constructive" way to exercise the right to protest.
And he dismissed suggestions that it might be a manifestation of the kind of civic activism which he hopes to encourage through his Big Society agenda.
Speaking as he gave evidence to the House of Commons Liaison Committee about the Big Society, Mr Cameron said: "Obviously, the right of people to protest is fundamental to our country.
"The idea of establishing tents in the middle of our city, I don't feel is particularly constructive. I don't think it's particularly constructive in Parliament Square and I don't think it's particularly constructive at St Paul's."
Asked whether the protesters were a "manifestation of the Big Society", Mr Cameron insisted that his agenda was about making it easier for individuals to get involved in social action such as volunteering in their communities or setting up free schools.
"Protest is, to me, a separate issue," he said. "It is certainly a right that people have, but I have got this rather quaint view that you shouldn't be able to erect tents all over the place.
"I think protesting is something you, on the whole, should do on two feet rather than lying down - in some cases in a fairly comatose state."
Foreign prisoners in British prisons represent a "serious problem", Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has said as he admitted the Government has not yet completed one transfer deal since coming to power 18 months ago.
With an EU-wide prisoner transfer agreement coming into force next month, shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan asked Mr Clarke in the Commons how many further deals the Government had negotiated with countries outside of Europe since coming to power.
Mr Clarke said there was only one case where negotiations were close to completing a deal. This was despite the Prime Minister David Cameron claiming he would personally intervene in negotiations to tackle the problem of foreign prisoners being released back in to the UK, MPs were told.
In a question to the Justice Secretary, Mr Khan said the new agreement with the EU, which was signed in 2007 under Labour, would make it impossible for a detainee's native country to refuse a request to take them back while the prisoner's consent for deportation would not be required.
Turning to Mr Clarke, he added: "The Prime Minister promised the repatriation of thousands of prisoners by personally taking charge of negotiations with individual countries. We all know he likes to keep his promises.
"Can you tell us how many new prisoner transfer agreements with individual countries have been successfully negotiated over the last 18 months? How many foreign prisoners do you expect to be repatriated this year?"
Mr Clarke replied: "You hit on a very serious problem. We really do have to find some way of reducing the foreign prisoner population. We only at the moment have one international bi-lateral agreement that is near to coming to a conclusion but we are continuing to work on it because (foreign prisoners) take up 10% of places in our prison system."
Prisoner transfer agreements with other countries mean that foreign inmates are not required to provide their consent to any deportation while the prisoner's native country cannot refuse a request.
Last month it emerged there were more than 5,000 foreign criminals who should have been deported but remain in the UK, including almost 4,000 who are free on the streets. The UK Border Agency (UKBA) is also struggling to reduce the number of rulings which are overturned, according to John Vine, the chief inspector of the UKBA.
His team found a total of 3,775 former foreign national prisoners who should have been deported had been released from custody and were living in the community. More than 1,600 others remained in detention, having completed their prison sentence. A further 12 are missing after either being released directly from court or referred incorrectly, he said
Police threats to use rubber bullets if violence erupts at a national march have made it more likely that trouble will occur, organisers have warned.
Around 10,000 university and college students will travel to London on Wednesday to voice their anger over cuts in education funding and plans to triple tuition fees.
The demonstration comes exactly a year after thousands of people first took to the streets to protest against the Government's higher education plans.
Those protests descended into chaos, with violent clashes erupting between police officers and troublemakers who hijacked the marches, leading to hundreds of arrests.
Amid fears that those scenes could be repeated, Scotland Yard has announced that baton rounds, or rubber bullets, will be made available for police chiefs to use if necessary.
But Michael Chessum, lead organiser of the demonstration, said: "What the police have done is extremely political and a cynical attempt to put people off from coming to a national demonstration.
"What they are doing is trying to put people off and pre-criminalising the process. They have made it more likely that trouble will occur."
Scotland Yard Commander Simon Pountain said: "We know the overwhelming majority of students are law abiding and we hope this will be a peaceful event. However, it would be negligent if we did not plan a response to the small minority who may be intent on disruption and may not intend to be peaceful."
Regarding the potential use of baton rounds, a police spokesman said: "There are a range of tactics available if there is criminality and violence associated with the event.
"One of these is the authority to deploy baton rounds in extreme circumstances. These are carried by a small number of trained officers and are not held and used by those officers policing the route on Wednesday."
A Red Arrows pilot has been killed after being ejected from his aircraft while on the ground.
The RAF said a full independent inquiry was being launched into the incident at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.
The tragic accident came less than three months after another pilot with the world-famous aerobatics team, Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging, 33, was killed in an air show crash in Dorset.
Medical teams rushed to RAF Scampton, the base of the Red Arrows, after the incident at about 11am.
The Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance airlifted the pilot to Lincoln County Hospital but his injuries were so severe that he could not be saved.
The Red Arrows completed their final display of the season in September and are carrying out their winter training at RAF Scampton.
Speaking at RAF Scampton, Group Captain Simon Blake said: "The pilot was ejected from the aircraft whilst the aircraft was on the ground.
"The director-general of the Military Aviation Authority is in the process of initiating a full and independent service inquiry to determine the cause of this tragic incident.
"It would be inappropriate to speculate on the cause of the incident until that inquiry is complete. The investigation will determine the facts.
"The pilot's next of kin have been informed. Our thoughts and prayers are with the pilot's family and friends at this difficult time."
A private investigator carried out surveillance of Prince William and scores of other targets for the News of the World, it has been claimed.
Derek Webb was paid to follow and record the movements of celebrities picked by the newspaper's staff, the BBC reported.
The investigator told Newsnight: "Basically I would write down what they were wearing at the time, what car they were in, who they met, the location they met, the times - the times were very important - and I would keep that.
"And then I would transfer part of it into my diary, but not the actual log itself. Just the names of the people."
A spokesman for the Duke of Cambridge declined to comment.
Mr Webb told the broadcaster that over eight years he was paid to follow more than 90 targets including former attorney general Lord Goldsmith and football pundit Gary Lineker.
Relatives, such as the parents of actor Daniel Radcliffe, were also targeted, he said.
In 2006 Mr Webb was asked to follow the Prince when he was spending a number of days in Gloucestershire, it was claimed.
The investigator, a former policeman, told Newsnight: "I was working for them extensively on many jobs throughout that time."
Carrying out surveillance is not illegal and is not new for journalists or private investigators.
"I was really worried that I would end up with frown lines, like my mum. I think 
