Category: Pork

Spicy Tomato Baked Eggs

.Reading time 1 minute.
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Yes… an amazing way to start Sunday.

Serves: 4

We love our weekend breakfasts and this number we whipped up last week was just awesome; so spicy, so rich, so hot.

Add a side of avocado and a good coffee and you’re off to the best Sunday morning of anyone in your street; add a French champagne and you’re talking streets and streets!

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, chopped
2 red chillis (de-seeding is optional) and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, sliced
Small bunch of coriander, stalks and leaves chopped separately
2 x 400gm cans cherry tomatoes
2 chorizo, diced
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp caster sugar
4 eggs
Oiled, grilled Turkish bread sliced to serve

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a frying pan that fits a lid; soften the onions, chilli, garlic, chorizo and coriander stalks for 5 or so minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and sugar and then simmer for 10 or more minutes until thick.
  2. Using the back of a large spoon, make four dips in the sauce and then crack and egg into each one. Put a lid on the pan (or cover with foil) and then cook the eggs through over a low heat for 6 – 8 minutes; halfway through, scatter the parmesan cheese.
  3. Serve with the coriander leaves on top.

Maple and Mustard Glazed Ham

.Reading time 2 minutes.
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You get an A+ for effort.

Serves: Plenty

Nat’s sister Courtney (of Japanese Bean fame) had her engagement party last week.

120 of her closest friends and family, waiters darting around with wine and food, a million candles and fairy lights and animated conversations made for a wonderful and memorable night: everything the beautiful couple deserved.

A big part of the evening’s success came from Courtney’s fastidious focus from spending several years as an Events organiser; spreadsheets, meticulous planning, an innate understanding of the relationship between the increasingly lateness of a night, wine and food.

So I was delegated the glazing of a 10kg ham. A ham destined for around midnight with hundreds of soft, and otherwise illegal breadrolls and a creamy, wholegrain mustard sauce.

A do-it-yourself station where sir or madam was encouraged to match the wine or beer in their hand with a roll or two.

Anyway, here is the simple and very effective glaze I did. A tablespoon or two of finely chopped rosemary would have been a nice addition, though start with this glaze and you’ll be onto a very good midnight thing.

Ingredients

5 – 10kg ham
1 cup maple syrup
4 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp seeded mustard
30 cloves

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 180c.
  2. Remove the skin from the ham, keeping as much fat on the flesh as possible. Discard the skin.
  3. Score the fat and pin a clove into each corner of a score, making a quilt pattern as you go.
  4. Mix together the maple syrup, brown sugar and seeded mustard and baste the ham all over the scored fat/flesh.

Kylie Kwong’s Stir-fried Pork Fillets with Honey and Ginger

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 4 as part of a meal

This simple to prepare, fast to cook number tastes as if you have ordered in… or are eating out.

It really is very good and something you can marinate overnight ready for a simple, mid-week dinner.

Enjoy with a side of egg fried rice.

Ingredients

600gm pork fillets cut into 5mm pieces
¼ cup vegetable oil
6 spring onions, trimmed and cut into 10cm pieces
1 tbsp malt vinegar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp water
2 limes, halved

Marinade

2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp shao hsing wine or dry sherry
2 tbsp finely diced ginger
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp dark soy sauce
2 tsp five-spice powder
½ tsp sesame oil

Method

  1. Combine pork with the marinade ingredients in a large bowl, cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes or overnight.
  2. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a hot wok until the surface seems to shimmer slightly. Add half the marinated pork and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Remove from the wok with a slotted spoon and set aside; heat the remaining oil in the work and add the remaining pork and stir-fry for 30 seconds.
  3. Return the reserved pork to the wok with the spring onions, vinegar, soy sauce, water and lime halves. Stir fry a further minute or until the pork is cooked through and slightly browned.

Burmese Pork and Noodles

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Burmese Pork and Noodles

Serves: 4

This has to be your next, healthy, mid-week meal.

It is as if you grabbed takeaway on the way home, achieved with so little prep and 30-minutes of simmering: enough to pour that second glass of wine and squint to the weekend.

We minced a lean pork fillet (using a food processor) and it was awesome. Healthy, great consistency, the whole bit.

Add the noodles, the sauces and plenty of condiments and this is as fun as it is tasty.

Should I stop?

Ingredients

2 tbsp peanut oil
500 pork scotch fillet, minced or finely chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
¼ tsp turmeric
1 star anise
4 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
125ml chicken stock
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp fish sauce
200gm dried rice noodles
50gm snow pea sprouts
Roasted and salted peanuts, chopped
Red chilli flakes

Method

  1. Heat half the oil in a wok over a high heat. Stir-fry the pork for 5 minutes until golden. Set aside, draining the liquid.
  2. Wipe clean the wok and add the remaining oil, over a medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and stir-fry for a few minutes until soft. Add the turmeric and star anise and toss to combine.
  3. Add the pork, tomato and stock. Simmer for 30 minutes until the liquid is largely reduced. Stir through the soy and fish sauces. Season with salt as necessary.
  4. Cook the noodles following the instructions and drain.
  5. Divide the noodles and pork mixture among 4 bowls and top with the sprouts, peanuts and chilli flakes.

German Potato Salad

.Reading time 1 minute.

German Potato Salad

Serves: 4 – 6

I’ve said it before, though nobody can not like potato salad. Right?

And this quite simple, German Potato Salad is no different. No frills, sure, though simple is its key and ‘potato salad’ is its clincher.

With some grilled pork chops and a glass of chilled red, seriously?

You don’t need much more complex than this.

Ingredients

3 cups, peeled, diced potatoes
4 slices bacon
1 small red onion, diced
¼ cup white wine vinegar
2 tbsp water
3 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp salt
⅛ tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley or chives

Method

  1. Boil the potatoes until they are tender and easily pierced with a fork. Drain and allow to cool.
  2. In a pan over a medium heat, cool the bacon until browned and crisp, turning as needed. Remove from the heat, allow to cool a little and crumble.
  3. Add the onion to the pan that had the bacon and cook over medium heat until browned. Add the vinegar, water, sugar, salt and pepper to the pan. Bring to the boil and then add the potatoes and parsley.
  4. Add the crumbled bacon and serve either warm or cold.

Spaghetti & Meatballs #3

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Spaghetti & Meatballs #3

Serves:8 – 10

When we asked Oliver what he wanted to eat for dinner on his 9th birthday, I’d hoped he would say a veritable Greek feast complete with a BBQed leg of lamb, marinated in red wine, lemon juice, oregano and olive oil; or Zha Jiang Mian, a dish otherwise known as Chinese Bolognese with a touch of salt or sweet.

Or a burger he had never tried, a salmon Wellington, a bowl of coco pops, a more interesting take on meatballs.

Anything… but spaghetti and meatballs.

Because it isn’t that I don’t love a good spaghetti and meatballs.

It is just that this is the third recipe I have typed up on account of spaghetti and meatballs being his favourite dish. And on account that I am always wanting to try new recipes.

Dilemma, though the kid wants meatballs, then meatballs he will have.

This is another great recipe, tried and tested on Oliver and his brother Thomas who gave it a glowing review. They prefer shaved cheddar to Parmesan and hold the parsley, though otherwise, this hit the birthday-dinner spot and is definitely a comfort-food, no-friends-lost dinner you should try.

Plenty of time for lobster tet-a-tet on the weekend I guess. When it is meatballs time, best do them right.

Ingredients

Meatballs

8 good-quality pork sausages
1 kg beef mince
1 onion, finely chopped
½ a large bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
85gm Parmesan, grated
100gm fresh breadcrumbs
2 eggs, beaten with a fork

Olive oil
Spaghetto to serve

Sauce

3 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed
4 x 400gm cans chopped tomato
125ml red wine
3 tbsp caster sugar
½ a large bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
A few basil leaves

Method

Meatballs

  1. Heat the oven to 200c.
  2. Split the sausage skins and squeeze out the meat into a large bowl. Add the mince, onion, parsley, Parmesan, breadcrumbs, beaten eggs and season well. Mix together well.
  3. Roll the mince mixture into golf-balls. Line a baking tray with baking paper and spread out the meatballs. Drizzle with a little olive oil, shake to coat and roast for about 20 – 30 minutes until browned.

Sauce

  1. Cook the spaghetti.
  2. Heat the oil in a large sauce pan. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two.
  3. Stir in the tomatoes, wine, sugar, parsley and season well. Simmer for 20 minutes or more until the sauce is thickened. Stir in the basil leaves.
  4. Spoon the sauce over the spaghetti, combine slowly and add extra Parmesan and basil leaves.

Rosemary-Crusted Pork Tenderloin

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 4

I think anything with breadcrumbs will be pretty good.

Add Parmesan, chilli, herbs, spices, whatever you have and get it right – and not too doughy or oily – and you have yourself a great meal.

Stuck tonight with a piece of pork loin, we scrambled for options and here is what we came up with.

Served with some green beans in stewed tomato, garlic and olives and some roasted pumpkin with rosemary and we really did have a hit on our hands.

It won’t set the world on fire, though at the end of a long day, it was a little bit fancy, a little like a pork roast and just fine with a glass of vino and the lights turned down.

Ingredients

750gm pork loin
¼ cup breadcrumbs
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp chopped rosemary
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c.
  2. Combine all the ingredients except the pork and oil and spread out across a plate.
  3. Oil the pork. Roll in the breadcrumb mixture, ensuring that all the flesh is covered in breadcrumb mixture. Shake excess mixture off.
  4. Place on a baking-paper lined tray and cook for 25 – 40 minutes until cooked through.

Terrine with olives, pine nuts and prosciutto

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: Plenty as a starter

My father’s birthday was last weekend and right on cue, my mother served an amazing French lunch to celebrate. Tapenade to begin, a wonder goats cheese souffle, a four-hour lamb with pan-fried potatoes and mushrooms, beans tossed with caramelised onion and crepes suzette.

Wowser.

And all we brought was Champagne!

But it was this terrine that I thought won the show.

Sure, the lamb was amazing… indeed, it all was smashing.

But for effort and presentation, sophistication and wow… this terrine was just awesome.

Today, we spent the day packing boxes ready for our big house move in a week and I found our bread tin in the corner of one kitchen cupboard where it has been since who knows when.

But as soon as we’re in to the new place, no kidding, first Saturday afternoon, I’m doing this again.

House move complete, some toasts, some music, sun in the courtyard and a bottle of Champagne, this will be bloody heaven.

Ingredients

500g lean pork (mince)
125g veal (mince)
125g pork fat
⅓ cup pine nuts
¼ cup soft white breadcrumbs
2 tbsp dry vermouth
90g prosciutto, cut in one slice
1 clove garlic
1 tsp salt
⅓ cup black olives
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
½ tsp dried thyme
Freshly ground black pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
6 slices, fatty bacon, rinds removed

Method

  1. If not minced, cut the pork, veal and pork fat into small pieces and then mince together in a food processor.
  2. Lightly toast the pine nuts. Soak the breadcrumbs in the vermouth. Cut the prosciutto into small dice. Crush the clove of garlic with the salt.
  3. Combine all the prepared ingredients with a large bowl with the olives, basil, thyme, a grinding of black pepper and the egg; mix well.
  4. Preheat the oven to 180c.
  5. Line a 5 – 6 cup loaf pan with 3 slices of the bacon. Turn the meat mixture into the pan and push down firmly. Cover with the remaining bacon.Bake the terrine for 1¼ hours. Pour off any excess fat or juices. Put a plate on top and weigh it down: you want it to be as tight and compact as possible.
  6. Cool and then chill for 12 hours.
  7. To serve, unmould onto a platter allow to come to room temperature.
  8. Toast some thin breads, open some good french, send the kids to their room, enjoy.

Penne with meatballs and fresh tomato sauce

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 4

I cooked a great Donna Hay spaghetti and meatball recipe a while ago. 

Though those meatballs didn’t get the tick of approval from the boys (8 and 5) simply because they were gone before the boys could get there hands on them. Given the target market for such a dish, getting such approval could be an important thing for you.

And so here is Neil Perry’s take on a classic. And classic it is.

There is nothing controversial about it and that is why the boys wolfed it down.

It is simply classic spaghetti and meatballs, a version so literally classic, that it’s great.

Sometimes, you don’t need to be fancy to be fancy.

Ingredients

25g fresh breadcrumbs
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra
½ small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
350g minced pork
1 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Pinch of chopped thyme
1 tsp tomato paste
1 tbsp freshly grated parmesan, plus extra
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
400g penne

Tomato sauce

60ml extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
4 anchovies
½ tsp chilli flakes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1kg vine-ripened tomatoes, skinned, de-seeded and roughly chopped

Method

  1. For the tomato sauce, heat the oil in a heavy pan. Add the garlic anchovies, chilli and a pinch of salt and cook over a low-heat for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the tomatoes and cook, uncovered for 20 minutes. Check the seasoning.
  2. For the meatballs, soak the breadcrumbs in the milk until soft and then mash with a fork.
  3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in small saucepan over a low heat. Cook the garlic and onion for 5 minutes until the onion is soft. Set aside to cool.
  4. Place the pork, soaked bread, onion mix, parsley, thyme, tomato paste, 1 tbsp grated parmesan, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well so the mixture holds together. Form into small balls.
  5. Drizzle some oil in a heavy-based fry pan and cook the meatballs in batches. Add the meatballs to the tomato sauce to heat through.
  6. Cook the penne. Add the penne to the tomato sauce and meatballs and toss gently to coat. Divide among bowls and sprinkle with parmesan and a generous grind of pepper.

Spicy Mince and Lettuce Cups

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 4

This is a great weekday meal.

We used pork mince and with the lime juice, lime leaf, brown sugar and fish sauce, you’re left with a sweet, sour and sticky mince, just right for the contrasting crunch of the lettuce, herbs and shallots. And the crunch of the peanuts.

Yum!

253 calories a serve, beautiful and fun to plate, easily doubled for lunch like we did… you can’t go wrong here.

Ingredients

1 tbsp canola oil
Large piece of ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
500gm chicken, turkey or pork mince
85gm light brown sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
Juice of a lime
2 lime leaf, finely shredded

To serve

Lettuce leaves (we used cos, though iceberg just as good)
Good handful of mint and coriander, roughly chopped
Handful of toasted peanuts, roughly chopped
2 shallots, finely sliced
1 lime, quartered

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a pan. Fry the garlic, ginger and chillis for a minute and then add the mince and turn the heat up high; cook until the meat is golden.
  2. Add the brown sugar, fish sauce, lime juice and lime leaf and cook down until everything is sticky.
  3. Serve the mince in the lettuce leaves, topped with the herbs, peanuts, shallots and a squeeze of the lime.