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.

     

Greek Honey and Almond Cake

I created this recipe for Farmer Nick's birthday this year. We were having a Greek evening and I felt a Greek style birthday cake would fit in well for the evening. It is slightly more complicated than my usual bung in the mixer and whiz, but not much harder and totally worth the extra steps. If you enjoy a cake that is moist and melt in the mouth then this is the cake for you!

Ingredients

For the cake

I measure everything in a cup which holds about 200ml:

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup of granulated or caster sugar

1.5 cups of ground almond

0,5 cups of wholemeal SR flour

1 cup of oil

1 cup of plan yogurt

2 eggs

For the filling

200g chopped dates

1 good spoonful of runny honey

For the syrup

1 cup of water

3 tble spoons syrup

2 tble spoons sugar

2 tble spoons Armingac or Brandy

Method

Combine all the cake ingredients in a large mixing bowl or food processor and beat well

Place half the mixture into a lined and greased 20 cm  cake tin

Sprinkle over the chopped dates or other dried fruit of your choice and drizzle over the honey

Pour over the remaining cake mixture.

Cover with foil and bake at 180degrees for about an hour and a quarter till just firm to touch.

Allow to cool in the tin.

Meanwhile bring the hot water and sugar to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, add the syrup, return to simmer then remove from the heat and stir in the Armingac. It should now be a thickened syrup.

Drizzle the syrup over the cooled cake.

Serving Tip

Remove from the tin and dust with icing sugar to serve. 

This decadent cake makes a perfect desert with a spoon of thick Greek yogurt or Cornish clotted cream. A perfect birthday cake and pudding double up.

Linking up with some great food linkys, click on the badges to see what others have been cooking. 

An all time favourite

I had never heard of Baklava before I met Nick, then again apart from one holiday to Rhodes Island with my parents, and inter-railing as a teenager I had no real knowledge of Greece full stop. When I fell for Nick I also grew to love the country his father grow up in, from the customs and welcoming nature of the people to the wonderful food the country boasts. I am known for my sweet tooth and as such Baklava is just heaven to me. I have been disappointed with bought replicas in England so, for Nick's Big Greek Birthday Party earlier this month,  I decided that I would make my own. I was pretty sure from a Google search on recipes that I could come up with a combination that would beat the shops and indeed I did. This Greek traditional desert is actually very simple yet looks like it took hours to prepare!

Ingredients

180g Granulated Sugar

50g Runny Honey

180ml water

15 - 20 ml squeezed lemon juice (1 good size lemon)

120g butter (ideally unsalted) melted

420g Filo pastry (2 packs of filo pastry from the chiller cabinets in the supermarket is ideal)

175g pistachio nuts

250g Dried figs (if you don't like figs, dates work just as well)

Method

In a saucepan, gently heat the water, sugar and honey. Bring to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat then stir in the lemon juice and set aside to cool.

Brush a shallow 20 x 30 cm baking tin with melted butter

Line the tin with 8 sheets of filo pastry brushing each sheet with the melted butter as you go.

Chop the pistachio nuts into fine peices (I used a food mixer) and sprinkle over the buttered pastry layers

Layer another buttered 6 sheets of filo

Chop the figs as the nuts and sprinkle these over. Finish with another 8 sheets of buttered filo.

Brush the top with any remaining butter.

Cut the Baklava into 20 peices with a sharp knife

Bake at 180degrees for 30 - 35 minutes till golden and crisp.

Pour over the syrup mix and leave to cool in the tin.

Serving

Delicious served alone or with Greek yogurt.

   

Farmer Nick goes back to his roots as Nikos 

If you have ever watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding I can confirm that it really is a good take on Greek family life. When Nick told me he wanted a Greek dinner party for his Birthday this year I knew it would involve copies amounts of cooking and plenty of Retsina (Greek wine) and a party that would stretch into the early hours over several courses. Our English friends were only too happy to indulge Nikos and lapse into the Greek way with us for an evening. It really felt like we were back in a Greek Taverna on holiday, rather than the reality of my kitchen on the farm!

Thank goodness for good mates!

I have my close friends to thank for coming along in the afternoon and helping me decorate the room. Cooking on a large scale I am comfortable with, but trying to transform the kitchen whilst keeping the children elsewhere and occupied I find a struggle. We were ready in good time right down to the detail of glitter on the name tags and Greek flags on the napkin ties and more importantly had a good laugh and a cuppa over it all too while all our children happily enjoyed the extra time playing together. 

As 7.30pm rolled round and our guests arrived, having the room looking just so put everyone in the party mood. Alistair had kindly set us up with Zorba the Greek on the i-pod and there was much musing over when the plate smashing would commence as the fizz was popped and laughter filled the air.

In true Greek style it was a good hour or so before we actually sat down to eat and I kept the courses flowing until late. I think I am going to have to follow up with one or two of these recipes on the blog as I was rather proud of the finished results:

Let the feast begin!

The children were very much involved stoking up the fire for us in the BBQ hut where they and Nick and the Men all helped grill the souvlaki course over traditional wood. Every so often one of the children would come and see how we were getting on, have a quick cuddle, grab a bite to eat and disappear again. It is lovely that they are old enough to do this now and feel part of the evening too. Needless to say they all appeared when it came to singing Happy Birthday and helping Daddy blow out the candles revelling in their bed time extension!

Mummy Tip

Don't be afraid to ask for help on a big party, organizing with friends is so much easier and more fun than trying to do everything alone. I love to entertain and have learned over the years that friends are only too grateful for a good night out and more than willing to help muck in bringing a dish or decorating the room with me. I can honestly say I enjoyed the party as much as any of our guests or Nikos himself. Learning to relax and enjoy entertaining is something I wish I had mastered years ago. Perhaps some things do just come with practice and age?

Pooh to January Diets!

Usually I blog recipes that are a little quirky, always simple and tasty and full of goodness. Today I am fed up with drab January and just crave something yummy and naughty to eat. I remember Helen from The Crazy Kitchen, The Boy and Me and Emma ‏ Vanstone raving about Reece Chocolate and Peanut Butter things and thought that sounded suitably naughty for my needs today. I raided the cupboards and created this recipe; try it if you dare!

Peanut & Chocolate Crunch Farm Cookies

Ingredients

I'll say them quickly and they might sound more healthy? 

125g butter or good baking margarine like Clover

125g crunchy peanut butter

125g granulated sugar

275g SR flour

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method

Beat all ingredients in a food mixer until they begin to form a dough.

Roll into large walnut sized balls and place on a greased oven tray

Cook at 180degrees for aproximately 12 minutes till golden brown

Leave to cool before loosening from the tin; they can crumble if not cooled properly.

Meanwhile:

Melt Chocolate in a bowl over hot water or in the microwave being careful not to boil. I found 1 minute on high in the microwave, then a stir then 20 seconds, leave for 30 seconds then stir was perfect.

Dip the biscuits into the chocolate and then into white chocolate chips.

Leave to set.

These really are so easy they would be a lovely one to do with the children. A definite thumbs up in our house!

Linking up with Jenny and Emily why not pop over and see lots more scrummy ideas for baking and cooking.