Pork chops with creamy bacon cabbage

From BBC – Something for the Weekend
Serves 4

Ingredients
For the smoky potatoes
2 baking potatoes, cut into 2.5cm/1in cubes
4 tbsp olive oil
100g/3½oz unsalted butter
1 tbsp smoked paprika

For the pork chops
4 x 200g/7oz pork chops
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the creamy bacon cabbage
300g/10½oz smoked bacon lardons
1 head Savoy cabbage, shredded and blanched
125ml/4fl oz double cream

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the potatoes. Parboil for 4-5 minutes until just tender. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, snip vertical cuts in the pork chop fat at 2cm/1in intervals to stop the chops curling up when cooking. Rub the chops with the oil and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Heat a griddle pan until hot and griddle the pork chops for about six minutes on each side, or until cooked through.

Meanwhile fry the bacon lardons in a frying pan until crisp. Add the shredded and blanched cabbage to heat through before adding the cream. Mix well to coat the cabbage and bacon with the cream.
For the smoky potatoes, heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the parboiled potatoes until crisp. Add the butter and paprika and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
To serve, spoon the creamy cabbage onto four serving plates, top with a pork chop and serve the smoky potatoes alongside.

I am in love with cabbage.

One pot roast pork chops with fennel and potatoes

From BBC GoodFood
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 potatoes , cut into 8 wedges
1 fennel bulb , cut into 8 wedges
1 red pepper , halved, deseeded and cut into 8 wedges
4 thyme sprigs
4 garlic cloves , unpeeled
1 tbsp sundried tomato paste
300.0ml hot chicken stock
4 bone-in pork loin chops

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put the potatoes, fennel, pepper, thyme and garlic in a large roasting tin. Mix together the tomato paste and stock, then pour into the pan. Tightly cover with foil and cook for 30 mins. Take out of the oven and increase the temperature to 220C/200C fan/gas 7.

Remove the foil and place the pork in the roasting tin, nestling in between the veg. Season well and return to the oven for 15-20 mins more or until golden brown and cooked through. Serve with the pan juices drizzled over.

Something really simple for a Saturday lunch. The key to the taste of this dish is the sun dried tomatoes paste. I couldn’t find any such paste so I did well the next best thing which is to get some sun dried tomatoes in olive oil and to pound it into a paste before adding it to the chicken stock.

Steamed egg with minced pork

Modified from noobcook.com
Serves 2-4

Ingredients
2 eggs
1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp Chinese cooking wine
1/4 to 1/2 tsp light soy sauce

150g minced pork
Marinade for the minced pork
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp Chinese cooking wine
a bit of Chinese white pepper
1/2 stalk spring onions, finely chopped (use the green upper part)

Break the eggs into the bowl. To minimize bubbles, do not beat the eggs but gently stir the eggs with a pair of chopsticks using a cutting action.

Add the water, 1/2 tsp Chinese cooking wine and 1/4 to 1/2 tsp light soy sauce to the eggs mixture.

Combine the marinade with minced pork and mix well. Leave for at least 10 minutes.

Heat wok with a bit of oil, then stir fry the minced pork till they are no longer pink, breaking them to smaller bits using your spatula. Do not overcook.

Arrange the stir-fried minced pork in a thin layer on a shallow dish. Then pour the stained egg mixture over gently. If you see any bubbles, “flatten” the surface gently with the back of a spoon.

Cover the dish with aluminium foil.

Steam the egg custard over high heat for about 15 to 20 mins. To test if the egg mixture is cooked, insert a bamboo stick into the mixture: if a little clear liquid comes out, it is cooked. Serve with warm rice.

My mom has been cooking this dish for my family for a very very long time. I am glad I know how to make it as well now to continue the tradition.

Andalusian pork

Serves 4
Ingredients

2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp coarse sea salt
2 tbsp olive oil
500 g pork fillet, trimmed
2 lemons, cut into wedges, to serve

1. Mix the paprika, oregano, garlic and salt with the olive oil to make a thick paste.

2. Spread the paste evenly over the pork, cover and marinate in the fridge, ideally overnight.

3. Cut the meat into slices on the diagonal.

4. Heat a griddle or large heavy frying pan until very hot. Cook the pork for 3-4 minutes on each side until cooked through.

5. Serve at once with the lemon wedges.

One of my favourite ways to cook pork, especially for warm weather which I am suffering from now. I used pork loin steaks, and added the tomatoes and green peppers to the griddle pan to cook it.

Pork with leeks and celery

From kalofagas.ca

You can read the recipe by clicking on the link above. Not posting his recipe here as there’s a specific request not to.

Had a lunch party yesterday where i made baked eggs with creamy leeks, mediterranean fish stew, chicken with chorizo and cabbage and potato gratin. As a result, I had loads of leftover leeks and celery, and so I went googling to see what I could do with these ingredients. First recipe that cropped up was this Greek dish. Really love this recipe for the colours and flavours. Reminds me of a milder version of a chinese dish – preserved vegetables pork.

What I didn’t do, which I suspect may have had a huge impact on the taste is to use peperoncini. I think the taste will be much stronger with this. Instead, I used some mixed peppers in extra virgin oil which I got from Waitrose. Will try it next time, if i do get hold of it.

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.

Irish coddled pork with cider

From BBC More One-pot Recipes
Serves 2
Ingredients

small knob butter
2 pork loin chops
4 rashers smoked bacon , cut into pieces
2 potatoes , cut into chunks
1 carrot , cut into large chunks
1⁄2 small swede , cut into chunks
1⁄2 large cabbage , cut into smaller pieces
1 bay leaf
100ml Irish cider
100g chicken stock

Heat the butter in a casserole dish until sizzling, then fry the pork for 2-3 mins on each side until browned. Remove from the pan.

Tip the bacon, carrot, potatoes and swede into the pan, then gently fry until slightly coloured. Stir in the cabbage, sit the chops back on top, add the bay leaf, then pour over the cider and stock. Cover the pan, then leave everything to gently simmer for 20 mins until the pork is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.

Serve at the table spooned straight from the dish.

At the end of the day, I still think soft cabbage with bacon and soup is the best comfort food you can get for winter.

Classic Swedish Meatballs

From BBC More One-pot recipes
Serves 4
Ingredients

400g lean pork mince
1 egg, beaten
1 small onion, finely chopped or grated
85g fresh white breadcrumbs
1 tbsp finely chopped dill , plus extra to serve
1 tbsp each olive oil and butter
2 tbsp plain flour
400ml hot beef stock (from a cube is fine)

In a bowl, mix the mince with the egg, onion, breadcrumbs, dill and seasoning. Form into small meatballs about the size of walnuts – you should get about 20.

Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan and brown the meatballs. You may have to do this in 2 batches. Remove from pan, melt the butter, then sprinkle over the flour and stir well. Cook for 2 mins, then slowly whisk in the stock. Keep whisking until it is a thick gravy, then return the meatballs to the pan and heat through. Sprinkle with dill and serve with cranberry jelly, greens and mash.

I’ve always like Ikea meatballs; I think it’s definitely, for me, the highlight of going to ikea. So I found this recipe in my bbc recipe book, not too sure how authentic it actually is but it tasted quite good. One huge difference from the one I had at ikea is that it’s not as crunchy. It makes me wonder what actually went into the ikea meatballs to make them crunchy. So I think mine’s nicer because it’s just more natural tasting!

Have to be a bit careful when pan frying the meatballs so that they don’t disintegrate!

Pork loin with apples and cider

A variation of this recipe. Instead of using cider, I used 1/3 cup of milk and 1 tsp of wholegrain mustard

Serves 2
Ingredients
2 pork loin steaks
3 jazz apples, cut into slices
2 small onions, cut into rings
1/2 cup apple cider
2 handfuls of cheddar cheese
1 tbsp fresh sage, chopped

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees

Season the pork with salt and pepper. Brown the pork on both sides. Remove pork to a baking tray. Add the cheddar cheese around the pork.

In a frying pan, fry the onions, sage and apples for 5-10 minutes until lightly browned. Add the cider and simmer for 2 minutes. Pour the apple mixture over the pork.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the pork is cooked. Serve, garnished with sage leaves

I have been experimenting with pork and apples for some time. This is the first time I actually think the dish’s a success! I got this recipe while rummaging the cookbooks at Books for Cooks near Portobello market. I think the book in question was called Recipes with Cider and Beer. Memorised it, modified it a bit by adding the sage and I think I have found my go-to recipe for pork and apples.

Taste wise, I know it’s strange but it’s kind of like eating pork with a sweet “onion soup” kind of sauce. I think it’s the combination of the sweetness in the apples and the onions (different kinds of sweetness) and the savouryness of the cheese that makes this dish come together. Am quite pleased with this dish.

Balsamic pork with olives

From GoodFood 101 Mediterranean dishes
Serves 4
Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves , crushed
4 boneless pork loin chops
2 handfuls green olives , pitted and halved
large handful basil , chopped

Mix the oil with vinegar, mustard and garlic. Score the meat on both sides, season, then put into a dish. Pour over the balsamic mixture and leave to marinate for 5 mins.

Heat a griddle pan until very hot. Lift the pork from the marinade, scraping off any garlic, then cook for 4 mins on each side. Remove the meat and keep warm. Pour the marinade into the pan with the olives, cook for 2 mins, then stir in the basil. Pour any juices from the pork into the pan, drizzle the sauce over the pork and serve with pasta.

If you can’t do a BBQ, griddled food is the next best thing for an Indian summer day!