Portuguese Pork - What's in a name?

I made this recipe up inspired to try a variation on my usual Pork in Honey recipe that I regularly cook for our holiday guests. To be fair I have no idea if it is even remotely Portuguese, having never been there or knowing eaten typical Portuguese food, but somehow it felt like the right Country to attribute the recipe to.  On reflection I think it may be a Mediterranean base fused with a Chinese influence; a sort of East meets West but not such a catchy heading! 

Simple, healthy and tasty

This is my motto with all cooking, though for a treat dish the healthy is often dropped! Not so for this one, it ticks all the boxes, in fact I would even go as far as to say it would work well as a dinner party dish as well as a family meal. 

Ingredients

450g pork leg or shoulder cut into chunks

175g good quality pork sausages each cut into 3 or 4 pieces 

2 large onions roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic crushed

250g Red and Yellow peppers sliced

Olive oil

2 tablespoons plain flour

2 chicken stock cubes

1 small glass white or rose wine

2 tablespoons paprika powder

1 teaspoon chilli sauce

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 tablespoon honey 

I tablespoon mango chutney

170g drained sliced peaches chopped into chunks

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

In a large casserole pot brown the pork and sausages in a tablespoon of olive oil.

Fry the onion and garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil till just soft then add the peppers and cook tossing over a medium heat for 2 minutes.

When the meat is sealed sprinkle in 2 tablespoons of flour and toss gently for one minute to absorb any juices and coat the meat.

Add all the other ingredients except the peaches and stir. Finally add the peppers and onions and peaches and transfer to a moderate oven for about 1.5 - 2 hours.  If you have a slow cooker I think this would be perfect cooked in there.

Serving and freezing

For our freezer meals at Coombe Mill I top the casserole with saute potatoes which then crisp up beautifully on defrosting and reheating in the oven. 

As our family meal I opted for egg noodles and salad which gave it a lovely summer feel now the sun is shining. Having made it in advance it was quick to heat up while the noodles cooked following an after school surf lesson at the beach for the children.  

Cooks Tip

If I were making this for a dinner party I think I would swap some of the sausage for chorizo and serve with fresh noodles or linguini and baby corn.

I am linking up to Recipe of the week and Slow Cook Sunday & cook it blog it. Click on the badges for more delicious ideas.

     

Prompted by Facebook

Last week I posted on Facebook a snap shot of one of my regular family meals: 'Toad in the Hole'. I was surprised by all the comments and questions I had coming back, it seems a popular dish thwart with a few cooks concerns, so I offered to blog my recipe and tips for the perfect Toad in the Hole, or Frog in the Bog as my children have relabelled it. The rising Yorkshire pudding around the sausages pieces does bear a passing resemblance to the farm frogs emerging from our swampy section of the wood!

Ingredients

I make all the ingredients shown here in double for our family of 8 and serve with roast potatoes, garden peas and gravy. 

125g strong bread plain flour.

Pinch of salt and pepper.

2 eggs.

270ml whole milk.

8 large chunky quality sausages or vegetarian sausages.

Oil for greasing and a desert spoon for the mix. 

2l Good quality Roasting tin or oven proof dish or bun tins

Method

Pour the flour and seasoning into a food processor with a whisk head. 

Add the eggs and a drop of the milk.

Turn on to a very slow setting to start to combine whilst pouring in the rest of the milk.

Add a desert spoon of olive or sunflower oil.

Turn the speed up and beat to a smooth thick liquid. 

Next:

Oil a small oven tray or lasagne dish or if you prefer a bun tin to make little individual servings.

Place this in a hot oven.

Chop each sausage into approximately 4 to 5 pieces each.

Remove the pan / bun tins from the oven add the liquid mixture then scatter over the sausage chunks and return to the oven as quickly as you can.

Cook on high for about half an hour till the bog rises and browns around the frogs. If you are using bun tins the cooking time is more like 15 minutes. 

Tips

Make sure you use good strong flour.

When oiling the tin remember to cover the sides well where the mixture rises.

The spoon of oil in the milk mix makes a real difference when it comes to ensuring the finished bog is not stuck to the pan!

Ensure the tin is piping hot when the mixture goes in.

Whole sausages are traditional but I find pieces easier to share out and visually it looks more risen. 

Make sure the sausages are good quality and lean or the finished meal will look and taste too greasy with the fat spilling our as the sausages cook. Vegetarian sausages work very well as these are naturally grease free.

Mini roast potatoes go so well with this and cook in the same hot oven, but start the potatoes first so the oven is already very hot when the Toad in the hole goes in.

Don't be fooled into thinking you can cook more than double this quantity in one oven. I have tried cooking for lots of people thinking it will be so easy then finding it just doesn't rise at all. If the oven is too full, even if heated first the temperature will drop too far and take too long to come back up leaving you with frogs in a flat bog! 

Don't be tempted to keep opening the door to peep more than you have to as this will cool the oven and reduce the rise of the bog.

Do you have any other tips to add? I would love you to leave them on the comments below.

Raspberries Galore

We finally took the children Raspberry Picking a couple of weeks back. We missed the strawberry season but the kids were quite happy to go for raspberries instead. It was a lovely afternoon and reminded me how much fun children can have with the simplest of days out, it is just being together with Mum and Dad when we are not working that really matters to them. 

Faced with 5 punnetts of raspberries at the end of the afternoon we had a discussion on the way home abut what to make with them. Cakes and meringue were discarded in favour of Ice cream and Jam. In true kid style there was not a moment to lose when we arrived home, it was hand washing and straight into checking the cupboards for ingredients. I figured on a quick inspection had we had enough to cobble some recipes together:

Ice Cream Ingredients

2 punnets of Raspberries (aprox 1kg).

2 450g tins of Sweetened condensed milk.

1/2 tub of low fat creme fresh.

1 tub of Greek yoghurt.

Method

Place all ingredients into the blender and whiz well.

Decant into plastic containers.

Place in freezer.

Remove and re whiz after about 2 hours when just beginning to set, then return and leave over night.

I was very brave at this stage and allowed the children to place everything in themselves, just a minor "slop" to clear up!

They all took it in turns to press "go" on the blender and felt very involved in what was essentially a really simple process!

We made 3 ice cream tubs full and the children are delighted with the result!

Jam Ingredients

500g packet of granulated sugar.

1 500g punnett of raspberries.

Juice of 1/2 a lemon.

Method

Melt sugar and raspberries over a medium heat with a dash of water.

Bring to the boil stirring continuously.

Test if the jam is ready by pouring a little on a cold plate to see if it begins to set. (approximately 5 minutes). 

We made 2 good size jars and it is absolutely delicious, especially as Cornish Cream Tea with homemade scones and clotted cream, or simply spread on my homemade bread. definitely good uses of our raspberry haul! the last 2 punnets the children ate as DIY raspberry Sundae that evening!

Roll on blackberry picking, just another week to ripen fully down here in Cornwall! 

Linking up with The Crazy Kitchen Photo Friday

Perfect for a dinner party

This is one of my favourite puddings. It is rich, sweet and alcoholic, ticks all the boxes for me! What's more it is so easy to make. I love this recipe so much I never order it when out as it is always a disappointment by comparison. Sadly it is not one I can make for our holiday guests at Coombe Mill as it doesn't freeze for our freezer meals. However it is so quick I often rustle one up if asked to take a dessert to a supper party, which is exactly why I made this one at the weekend! It can be made the day before which is perfect for me on a busy Saturday with changeover.

Ingredients

500g Full fat cream cheese like Philadelphia (chill well before use)

large 410g tin of sweetened condensed milk, full fat (chill well before use)

Cocoa Powder for dusting

White chocolate bar or drops

Pack of sponge fingers

Good quality very strong coffee

Brandy, whiskey or marsala wine

Decorative glass serving bowl

Method

1. Whisk the cheese and condensed milk to dropping consistency.

Tip: It is important to make sure both are VERY cold before you start and not use any half fat versions as they will just turn to a liquid consistency. 

2. In a separate dish make some strong coffee and add a few spoonfuls of the Brandy or other to taste. 

3. Dunk the sponge fingers in the coffee to absorb the liquid, turn to soak both sides, remove while just stiff.

4. Begin to layer the cream mixture with alternate sponge layers in the glass serving bowl dusting with cocoa in between. Finish on a cream layer.

5. Dust with cocoa and sprinkle over the white chocolate.

Tip: You can by drops but this is expensive, I like to grate a bar, it forms little curls which are very effective and go so much further - if the children don't find them!

Perfection

The finished result is of the bitter coffee sweetened by the creamy mixture with a delicious zing from the brandy. Definitely an adult pudding! One day I would like to give it a go replacing the coffee for lemon juice and the brandy for a citrus liqueur.  Not sure if it will work, but I am sure there is scope to develop this traditional Italian dessert.

Inspired by the weather and twitter!

This recipe is one I experimented with last month. I had been tweeting with Andy Grant who blogs at Dad's Cooking Tonight, wondering what to do with my leg of pork as the weather was far too lovely for the roast I had planned. He mentioned he had Pesto Pork in his slow cooker for his family. Not a combination I would have naturally put together but it seemed to match the mood of the day so having found a jar of pesto sauce in the cupboard an idea for a recipe began to evolve:

Ingriedients

Leg of Pork, boned and cubed

Fresh or dried herbs: oregano, rosemary, bay leaf

Onions: chopped

Mushrooms: sliced

Yellow pepper: seeded and sliced 

2 tablespoons of Pesto sauce from a jar

2 cloves of garlic

Plain flour

Pear Cider

Tin of evaporated milk

Chicken stock cubes

1/2 Fresh lemon squeezed

Olive oil

Black pepper

Method

Step 1

Shallow fry the pork in a large pan with a little olive oil to seal for about 5 minutes.

Sprinkle in a couple of tablespoons of plain flour and chicken stock cubes. Coat the meat and stir for a further minute till it just begins to stick to the pan.

Add the pear cider and about 1/2 can of the evaporated milk, stirring to incorporate all the sticky bits from the flour on the base of the pan.

Add the herbs to taste and pesto sauce and continue to fry over a medium heat. for 3 - 5 minutes.

Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon and reduce the heat to simmer.

Step 2

Meanwhile, Fry the onions and garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil for 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for a further 4 minutes till wilted. Add to the casserole with the sliced yellow pepper.  If the sauce thickens too much let is down with the cider or more of the tin of evaporated milk.

Cover and place in a medium oven for 1 hour or better still a low oven for 2 hours.

I served ours with mini garlic roast potatoes and green vegetables, but it would have worked equally well with rice, or for one of our shop frozen meals I think I would use saute potatoes or couscous as I don't like to freeze cooked rice.

The meal had the thumbs up from my family and will be added to the list of favourite pork dishes. Thanks to Andy for the inspiration! 

I am linking this post up to Funky Foodies over on Scottish Mum's blog, why not see what other tempting recipes are there.