Baked mustard pork with potatoes and peas

So cooking this for the second time since 2009, and it’s still as good as it tasted two-three years back. My modifications this time round is to add chopped tarragon, leftovers from yesterday to the cheese mixture to give the pork a fresh herby taste. I used shoulder steaks, so I increased the amount of time in the oven to 20 minutes (exclusive of the five minutes under the grill). I didn’t use peas this time, and I added more cheese to it, so with less liquid generated from the peas and more cheese, you get a much more cheesy pork bake

I also wanted to show off my new baking tray from John Lewis. I think it looks lovely!

Ingredients

1 kg potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
splash of white wine
2 tbsp olive oil
4 pork chops about 175g each
100g cheddar cheese grated
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
3 tbsp milk

Preheat fan oven to 210 degrees. Toss the potatoes, onion, wine and oil together in a large baking tray. Season, then bake for 20-30 minutes until the potatoes start to brown. Lay the chops on the potatoes and cook for 10 minutes more.

Mix the cheese, mustard and milk together. When the chops have had 10 minutes in the oven, spread the cheese mixture over them and switch the oven over to grill.

Place the pan under the grill and cook for about 5 minutes. Serve straight from the pan.

I love the sauce for this dish. It’s one of the best sauces I have tasted so far for pork, it’s not overly rich, just a homey mild mustard taste to it. Once again, I have taken liberties with the recipes as you can see in the photograph. I used a red onion instead, which I think, works better with the potatoes because it has a stronger taster in comparison to the usual white onion. I also added peas to make the meal more balanced and it actually goes very well with the mustard sauce.

As always, the key thing to look out for when cooking such dishes is making sure that the potatoes are tender and cooked.

Leeky salmon in a parcel

From GoodFood 101 Fish and Seafood Dishes
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 salmon fillets, 140g/5oz each
1 medium or 2 small leeks , about 200g/8oz in total
50g frozen petits pois
4 heaped tbsp crème fraîche , plus 2 tbsp to serve
1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon

Season the salmon fillets all over. Slice the leeks really thinly. Cut two 40cm square sheets of greaseproof paper and put a fillet in the middle of each sheet.

Top each fillet with leeks and peas, and 2 tbsp of crème fraîche. Sprinkle with tarragon and salt and pepper.

Make up parcels with the paper and stand them on a microwave-proof plate or tray. Microwave on full power for 5 minutes. Put the contents of the parcels on two plates and top each serving with a spoonful of crème fraîche. Serve with new potatoes.

Cooking in the oven – If you prefer to cook the parcels in the oven, they will take 15 minutes at fan 170C/ conventional 190C/ gas 5.

Salmon fillet with a salsa verde crust / Braised peas with spring onions and lettuce

Ingredients

Salmon fillet
1½–2 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 small handful of capers
1 small handful of gherkins pickled in sweet vinegar
6 anchovy fillets
2 large handfuls of flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked
1 bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked
1 handful of fresh mint, leaves picked
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
8 tablespoons really good extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Enough breadcrumbs to cover the surface of your salmon fillets

For the salsa verde, finely chop the garlic, capers, gherkins, anchovies and herbs and put them into a bowl. Add the mustard and vinegar, then slowly stir in the olive oil until you achieve the right consistency. Balance the flavours with freshly ground black pepper, a bit of salt and maybe a little more vinegar.

Preheat the oven to 230 degrees. Spoon the salsa verde over the surface of the salmon fillet. (Keep the rest for another day!) Add the breadcrumbs on top of the salsa verde. Bake for 15 -20 minutes depending on the size of your fillet.

From Cook with Jamie
Ingredients

a knob of butter
olive oil
1 heaped teaspoon flour
285ml chicken or vegetable stock
6 spring onions, trimmed, outer leaves discarded, and finely sliced
400g fresh or frozen peas
2 little gem lettuces, sliced
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
juice of 1 lemon
good-quality extra virgin olive oil

Slowly heat the butter and a good lug of olive oil in a pan. Add the flour and stir around, then slowly pour in the stock. Turn up the heat and add the spring onions, peas and lettuce with a pinch of salt and pepper. Put the lid on and simmer for 5 minutes or until tender. Taste, correct the seasoning and squeeze in a little lemon juice. Serve drizzled with a splash of good oil. It’s fantastic served with a piece of fish.

The braised peas is a classic French dish and I have cooked Gordon Ramsay’s version previously with chicken. I love the natural sweetness of this dish. So had this with salmon fillet with a salsa verde crust which is something I came up with on a whim. I think my mom had a recipe where she did something similar with pesto rather than salsa verde. Measurements are a bit off as I made the dish up. So adapt it to your own situation. You can always keep the leftover salsa verde; just remember to add a layer of olive oil to it before you store it in the fridge.

Ma Po Tofu (麻婆豆腐)

From Rasamalaysia.com

Ingredients

1 block silken tofu (19 oz box)
1/4 lb ground pork
3 tablespoons Sichuan spicy bean paste (辣豆瓣酱)
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons cooking oil
3 tablespoons chili oil
1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns (roasted and ground to powder)
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon fermented black beans (rinsed and pounded)
2 stalks of leeks or scallions (chopped into 1 or 2-inch length)
2 gloves garlic (chopped)
1/2 cup water
Salt to taste

METHOD:

Cut the tofu into small pieces, drain the water from the tofu and set aside. Heat up a wok and pour in the cooking oil and chili oil. Add the chopped garlic, ground pork, spicy bean paste and stir-fry until the pork is half-done. Then add in chili powder, soy sauce, fermented black beans and stir-fry until aromatic. Add in the tofu and water; stir gently to blend the tofu (don’t break them) well with the sauce. Lower the heat and simmer for about 3-5 mins or until the sauce thickens. Add in the roasted Sichuan peppercorn powder and chopped scallions. Gently stir and blend well. Dish out and serve hot.

I must confess I made quite a bit of modifications to this recipe. I used minced beef instead of pork, I didn’t have any scallions so I used flat leaf parsley instead (left over from the spanish fish soup). I didn’t have any Sichuan peppercorn powder (I didn’t want to buy a bottle of it from Waitrose and not use it for months and even years). Oh, and I added mushrooms and peas (left over from the braised peas and onion to make it a more balanced meal. So the final product is probably not that authentic but it suits my craving for a decent chinese meal rather than just the normal stir fries I cook every week.

Corn-fed chicken legs with braised peas and onions

From Gordon Ramsay – Cooking for Friends
Serves 4

Ingredients

4 large corn-fed chicken legs (about 300-350g each)
2 tbsp olive oil
a small handful thyme sprigs
1 fat garlic clove , lightly crushed, skin on
20g butter

For the braised peas and onions

25g butter
200g baby or pickling onions , peeled
a few sprigs thyme
600g peas , thawed if frozen
2 Little Gem lettuce heads, shredded

Cut off the knuckles from the chicken legs for neat presentation and trim off any excess fat. Heat the oil in a large frying pan until hot. Season the chicken legs all over with salt and pepper. Fry for 2 minutes on each side until golden brown. Add the thyme, garlic, butter and 150ml water to the pan. Reduce the heat to low, partially cover the pan and braise for 30-40 minutes until the chicken legs are tender. Turn the legs over halfway through cooking. Remove the garlic.

To make the braised veg, 15 minutes before the chicken legs are ready, melt the butter in another pan and tip in the onions. Toss well and cook over medium-to-low heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are tender. Add the thyme sprigs, peas and 150ml water. Season well and simmer for about 5-6 minutes until the peas are tender and the water has mostly cooked off. Add the lettuce and stir for another minute until just wilted.
Spread the braised peas and onions on a serving platter and arrange the glazed chicken legs on top.

This is the third or fourth time I have cooked this dish. Oddly enough, I never did manage to get a decent photograph of the dish until today. The amazing thing about this dish isn’t the chicken (pretty standard way of cooking it, browning then braising it); it’s the braised peas and onions with the lettuce. There’s such a wonderfully natural sweetness that comes welling out from the ingredients when you cook it this way. Certainly beats eating the lettuce raw and just steaming the peas.

Saffron risotto with bacon and peas

Not going to provide a full recipe for this. It’s basically the same old risotto recipe. I added a pinch of saffron to the risotto while it’s simmering in the pan. I grilled some bacon and added it with the peas to the risotto when it’s almost done.

Smoked mackerel and pasta frittata

Ingredients

25g pasta
225g smoked mackerel
6 medium eggs
3 tbsp milk
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
25g butter
6 spring onions, trimmed and diagonally sliced
50g frozen peas, thawed
75g cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat the grill to high just before cooking. Bring a pan of lightly salted water to a rolling boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the packet instructions or until al dente. Drain thoroughly and reserve.

Remove the skin from the mackerel and break the fish into large flakes, discarding any bones and reserve.

Place the eggs, milk, mustard and parsley in a bowl and whisk together. Season with just a little salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper and reserve.

Melt the butter in a large heavy-based frying pan. Cook the spring onions gently for 3-4 minutes, until soft. Pour in the egg mixture, then add the drained pasta, peas and half of the mackerel.

Gently stir the mixture in the pan for 1-2 minutes or until beginning to set. Stop stirring and cook for about 1 minutes until the underneath is golden-brown.

Scatter the remaining mackerel over the frittata followed by the grated cheese. Place under the pre-heated grill for about 1 1/2 minutes or until golden brown and set.

Cut into wedges and serve immediately.

This is actually a pretty good post gym meal, fish, carbos, protein and quite tasty as well. There’s no need to put much salt since the fish itself and cheese is already quite salty. If you can’t get smoked fish, bacon should be a decent substitute.