Panfried Pork with Maple and Mustard Sauce

I have a cold and this is the sort of food that I love when I have a cold, lovely and filling but really easy to make.



Panfried Pork with Maple and Mustard Sauce (from Good Food Magazine May 2007)
(Serves 4)

2 pork tenderloins , about 300g/10oz each
1 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion , thinly sliced
200ml vegetable stock
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
juice 1 lemon
handful parsley sprigs (optional)

Cut the pork into 3cm thick slices, season with salt and pepper, then lightly coat in the flour (the easiest way to do this is to put the flour and seasoning in a large food bag, add the pork and shake well). Heat the oil in a large frying pan, preferably non-stick, then add the pork and quickly fry until it is browned all over. Cook the pork for about 5 mins, then remove to a plate and cover with foil while you make the sauce.

Add the onion to the pan (with a touch more oil if needed), then quickly fry until lightly coloured, add the stock, then bring to the boil. Boil hard for a couple of minutes to reduce the stock a little, stir in the maple syrup, mustard and lemon juice, then bring back to the boil, stirring well.

Return the pork to the pan and gently simmer for a further 3-4 mins until it is cooked through. Sprinkle with parsley, if using.

Daring Cooks January 2011: Cassoulet

Our January 2011 Challenge comes from Jenni of The Gingered Whisk and Lisa from Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. They have challenged the Daring Cooks to learn how to make a confit and use it within the traditional French dish of Cassoulet. They have chosen a traditional recipe from Anthony Bourdain and Michael Ruhlman.

I have to say I loved loved loved this challenge. Cassoulet is something I love to eat and that I have wanted to make for ages but just been too lazy to do it, so I'm so glad this challenge finally got me to make it and I got to make confit, something I never thought I'd do. It took us ages to find duck legs, everywhere seemed to be sold out because of Christmas but we finally found some on Christmas Eve. I made the Cassoulet a couple of days after Boxing Day for my family, we had goose on Boxing Day so I used goose fat for the confit and the onion paste. I also couldn't find pork rind anywhere without buying a huge joint so I just used bacon to boil with the pork belly and beans and to line the casserole dish instead. It was so tasty and such a warming dish, a proper winter warmer.



Cassoulet
Cassoulet by Anthony Bourdain and Michael Ruhlman (as featured on the Travel Channel’s “No Reservations”)
Serves 4 - 8

Ingredients for Duck Confit

4 whole duck legs (leg and thigh), size does not matter
sea salt, for the overnight (at least 6-8 hours) dry rub (the amount varies depending on the size of your legs, so just know that you need to have enough on hand for a good coating.)
2 cups/480 ml/450 gm/16 oz duck fat
a healthy pinch or grind of black pepper
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
1 garlic clove

Day One

1. Rub the duck legs fairly generously with sea salt, place in the shallow dish, cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight. At all times, keep your work area clean and your ingredients free of contamination - meaning don't allow any other food, like bread crumbs or scraps, to get into your duck, duck fat or confit, as they will make an otherwise nearly non-perishable preparation suddenly perishable.



Day Two

1.Preheat the oven to moderately hot 375ºF/190ºC/gas mark 5.

2.Render (melt) the duck fat in the saucepan until clear.

3.After seasoning with the black pepper, place the duck legs in the clean, ovenproof casserole.

4.Nestle the thyme, rosemary and garlic in with the duck legs, and pour the melted duck fat over the legs to just cover.



5. Cover the dish with foil and put in the oven. Cook for about an hour, or until the skin at the "ankle" of each leg pulls away from the "knuckle." The meat should be tender.

6. Allow to cool and then store as is in the refrigerator, sealed under the fat. When you need the confit, you can either warm the whole dish, in which case removing the legs will be easy, or dig them out of the cold fat and scrape off the excess. I highly recommend the former. A nice touch at this point is to twist out the thighbone from the cold confit. Just place one hand on the drumstick, pinioning the leg to the table, and with the other hand, twist out the thighbone, plucking it from the flesh without mangling the thigh meat. Think of someone you hate when you do it.



Ingredients for Cassoulet

5 cups/1200 ml/1100 g/39 oz dried Tarbais beans or white beans such as Great Northern or Cannelini (if you use canned beans be aware that you will need double this amount!)
2 pounds/900 gm fresh pork belly
1 onion, cut into 4 pieces
1 pound/450 gm pork rind
1 bouquet garni (tie together two sprigs parsley, 2 sprigs thyme and one bay leaf)
salt and pepper
1/4 cup/60 ml/55 gm duck fat
6 pork sausages
3 onions, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
4 confit duck legs

Day One

1.Place the beans in the large bowl and cover with cold water so that there are at least 2 or 3 inches (50mm or 75mm) of water above the top of the beans. Soak overnight. That was hard, right? (Beans will double in size upon soaking, so use a big bowl!)

Day Two

1. Drain and rinse the beans and place in the large pot.

2. Add the pork belly, the quartered onion, 1/4 pound/115 gm of the pork rind, and the bouquet garni.

3. Cover with water, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and continue to simmer until the beans are tender, about 30 minutes more.



4. Let cool for 20 minutes, then discard the onion and the bouquet garni.

5. Remove the pork belly, cut it into 2-inch/5-cm squares, and set aside. (If you plan to wait another day before finishing the dish, wait to cut the pork belly until then.)

6. Strain the beans and the rind and set aside, reserving the cooking liquid separately.

7. In the sauté pan, heat all but 1 tablespoon/15 ml/15 gm of the duck fat over medium-high heat until it shimmers and becomes transparent.

8. Carefully add the sausages and brown on all sides.



9. Remove sausages and set aside, draining on paper towels.

10. In the same pan, over medium-high heat, brown the sliced onions, the garlic and the reserved squares of pork rind from the beans (not the unused pork rind; you'll need that later).



11. Once browned, remove from the heat and transfer to the blender. Add 1 tablespoon/15 ml/15 gm of the remaining duck fat and purée until smooth. Set aside.



12. Preheat the oven to moderate 350ºF/180ºC/gas mark 4.

13.Place the uncooked pork rind in the bottom of a deep ovenproof non-reactive dish. You're looking to line the inside, almost like a pie crust. Arrange all your ingredients in alternating layers, beginning with a layer of beans, then sausages, then more beans, then pork belly, beans, duck confit and finally more beans, adding a dab of the onion and pork rind purée between each layer.



14. Add enough of the bean cooking liquid to just cover the beans, reserving 1 cup/240 ml in the refrigerator for later use.

15. Cook the cassoulet in the oven for 1 hour, then reduce the heat to very slow 250ºF/130ºC/gas mark ½ and cook for another hour.

16. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Refrigerate overnight.

Day Three

1. Preheat the oven to moderate 350ºF/180ºC/gas mark 4 again.

2. Cook the cassoulet for an hour.

3. Break the crust on the top with the spoon and add 1/4 cup/60 ml of the reserved cooking liquid. (Don't get fancy. Just pile, dab, stack and pile. It doesn't have to be pretty.)

4. Reduce the heat to very slow 250ºF/130ºC/gas mark ½ and continue cooking another 15 minutes, or until screamingly hot through and through. Then serve.

Braised Cod with Butter Beans and Mint

I made this such a long time ago, that I can't really remember anything about it! My Mum brought me back lots of fish from a little shop on the seaside in Northumberland and this was what I made with one of the cod fillets. It includes beans which I'm still trying to eat more of, and it had the most wonderful fragrant broth that I tipped it all into the dish and used extra bread to mop up. I used sourdough bread as the piece underneath as that's what I had and that worked really well too.

Braised Cod with Butter Beans and Mint (adapted from Good Food Magazine April 2007)
(Serves 4)

4 cod fillets, skin on
2 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch spring onions
large pinch saffron strands
2 garlic cloves, chopped
400g can butter beans, rinsed and drained
600ml fresh fish stock
small handful mint leaves, chopped

TO SERVE
8 thick slices baguettes, toasted

Heat oven to 180C. Check the cod for bones and remove if necessary. Heat the oil in a flameproof casserole, add the spring onions, saffron and garlic, then cook over a low heat for 1-2 mins until soft.

Add the butter beans and stock, then bring to the boil and season. Nestle the cod, skin-side up, into the butter beans, then cover and cook in the oven for 10 mins, or until the cod is just done. Lift from the oven and check the seasoning. Add the mint just before serving.

To serve, put 2 slices of toasted baguette in a bowl, top with butter beans and cod (pulling away the skin if you want) then spoon the cooking juices around the fish.

Jamie's Chicken and Mushroom Pasta Bake

In between Christmas and New Year I did lots of cooking to fill up my freezer again after weeks of laziness with cooking in December. I had a really lovely time making pies, soup and pasta and rice dishes in between painting lots of door frames in my hall way. They have now gone from green to white! One of the dishes that I made was Jamie Oliver's Chicken and Mushroom Pasta Bake (spaghetti tetrazzini), it fitted the bill using mushrooms and chicken thighs, both of which I had a lot of. I had the first portion today for lunch and I have to report that its really rather tasty.

I am adding this to this week's Presto Pasta Nights round up, this week hosted by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast. Check out her blog on Friday for the round up.



Jamie's Chicken and Mushroom Pasta Bake (spaghetti tetrazzini) (from Jamie's Italy - Jamie Oliver)
(Serves 4)

20g/a small handful of dried porcini mushrooms
olive oil
4 chicken thighs, boned, skinned and cut into bite-sized pieces
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
350g/2 handfuls of mixed fresh mushrooms, cleaned and torn
200ml oz white wine
455g dried spaghetti
500ml double cream
200g Parmesan cheese, grated
a sprig of fresh basil, leaves picked

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Put your porcini mushrooms in a bowl and pour over just enough boiling water to cover them (approx. 150ml/5½fl oz). Put to one side to soak for a few minutes.

Heat a saucepan big enough to hold all the ingredients, and pour in a splash of olive oil. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and brown them gently in the oil.

Strain the porcini, reserving the soaking water, and add them to the pan with the garlic and fresh mushrooms. Add the wine, with the strained porcini soaking water, and turn the heat down. Simmer gently until the chicken pieces are cooked through and the wine has reduced a little.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions and drain well. Add the cream to the pan of chicken, then bring to the boil and turn the heat off. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Add the drained spaghetti to the creamy chicken sauce and toss well. Add three-quarters of the Parmesan and all of the basil and stir well. Transfer to an ovenproof baking dish or non-stick pan, sprinkle with half the remaining cheese and bake in the oven until golden brown, bubbling and crisp.

Divide between your plates, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese before serving.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

We have had some lovely food over the festive period. We started on Christmas Eve with Whole Roasted Carp with Capers. I made potatoes boulangere to go with it. The texture of the fish was far too soft for me though, I much prefer a meatier fish, but it was good to try it.



Opening the presents on Christmas Day was accompanied by lovely canapes made by my sister. We had vol au vents filled with olives and spicy peppers,

salmon and creme fraiche blinis and basil pesto and cheddar palmiers. They were delicious.

For our main course on Christmas Day we had Venision Wellington, Red Cabbage, Spaghetti Squash, Mash Potatoes, Roast Potatoes and Mangetout with Gravy.

Then for pudding my sister made Chocolate Truffle Cake from Nigel Slater's Real Fast Puddings. It was gorgeous but very rich so we only needed a small slice. We had some more for pudding on Boxing Day with raspberries and cream and the tartness of the raspberries cut nicely through the rich chocolate.

Mince Pies

I had my first go at making mince pies this Christmas. The local history group who meet where I work every other week were having a Christmas party, to which I was invited, so I wanted to make some mince pies to take along. So I got my Mum, who has been making mince pies for years, to show me how to make them. Sadly because of the weather the party was cancelled so the staff in the library got the pies instead! I had lots of people telling me how good they were though and I never realised how simple they were to make!



Mince Pies (from Cordon Bleu Cookery Course)
(Makes about 18)

For rich shortcrust pastry
8 oz plain flour
pinch of salt
5 oz butter
1 oz shortening, or lard
1 egg yolk
2-3 tbsp cold water

For the filling
about 1 1/2lb mincemeat
caster sugar for dusting

Make the pastry
Sift the flour with a pinch of salt into a mixing bowl. Drop in the butter and cut into the flour until the small pieces are well coated. Then rub them in with the fingertips until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. mix the egg yolk with the water and tip into the fat and flour and mix quickly with a palette knife to firm dough.

Turn onto a floured board and knead lightly until smooth. Chill in a refrigerator wrapped in clingfilm for 30 mins before using.

Make the mince pies
Preheat the oven to 200C.

Cut the pastry into two lumps. On a lightly floured surface, roll out half the pastry fairly thinly and stamp into rounds for the lids with a cutter. Put the rounds to one side. Add trimmings to the second half and roll out a little thinner than the first half. Stamp in rounds a little larger than the first.

Put the larger pastry rounds into patty tins, with a good spoonful of mincemeat to fill well. Place the smaller rounds on top, using a pastry brush and water to wet slightly and pinch the edges together. Brush lightly with cold water and dust with sugar.

Cook for 15-20 mins until nicely brown. Cool slightly before taking from the tins.

Chicken Caesar Salad

Chicken Caesar Salad is one of my Mums favourite dishes. She can't eat tomatoes, so it's one of the salad options that's pretty much guaranteed not to have them in. I don't think I had ever really eaten it before we went Paris, I'm not a big fan of creamy salad dressings much preferring vinaigrette, but the one she had in Paris was delicious and I have been craving it ever since. So I thought I'd try and make my own version with some left over roast chicken from last weekend and the results were pretty good. The sauce has the right consistency and flavour and was much better made from scratch than bought in a bottle, and the salad as a whole was really good. a lovely classic Caesar Salad.

Chicken Caesar Salad (adapted from Good Food Magazine June 2006)

(Serves 4)

1 medium ciabatta loaf (or 4 thick slices crusty white bread)
3 tbsp olive oil
leftover roast chicken
1 large cos, romaine or 2 little gem lettuce, leaves separated

For the dressing
1 garlic clove
2 anchovies from a tin
medium block Parmesan or Grano Padano cheese for grating and shaving
5 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp white wine vinegar

Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Tear the bread into big, ragged croutons or, if you prefer, cut with a bread knife. Spread over a large baking sheet or tray and sprinkle over 2 tbsp olive oil. Rub the oil into the bread and season with a little salt if you like (sea salt crystals are best for this). Bake for 8-10 mins, turning the croutons a few times during cooking so they brown evenly.

Bash the garlic with the flat of a knife and peel off the skin. Crush with a garlic crusher. Mash the anchovies with a fork against the side of a small bowl. Grate a handful of cheese and mix with the rest of the dressing ingredients. Season to taste. It should be the consistency of yogurt - if yours is thicker, stir in a few tsps water to thin it.

Shave the cheese with a peeler. Tear lettuce into large pieces and put in a large bowl. Pull chicken into bite-size strips and scatter half over the leaves, along with half the croutons. Add most of the dressing and toss with your fingers. Scatter the rest of the chicken and croutons, then drizzle with the remaining dressing. Sprinkle the Parmesan on top and serve straight away.

Work's Christmas Meal 2010

Last Friday we had our works Christmas dinner at Little Bay Restaurant on Farringdon Road, London. We had a lovely evening out and the meal was fairly cheap as works dinners go, the first and main course were absolutely delicious. I got to try pig's cheeks which I have never had before, and they were very tasty, lovely with the garlicky mash. The dessert, however was not so good, I went for a white chocolate cheesecake, which had a weird grainy texture to it. I would definitely recommend going there for their savoury food though.

Pig's Cheeks with Garlic Mash, Crispy Bacon and Gravy



Breast of Duck with Red Cabbage, Sultanas, Paprika Potatoes and Duck en Croute

White Chocolate Cheesecake with a Passionfruit Coulis

Spiced Carrot and Lentil Soup

Last week my sister stayed with me as she had some things to sort out in London. On the Sunday evening she made a beautiful Spiced Carrot and Lentil Soup for us for dinner and served it with Naan Bread. It was delicious and we had some leftovers that I froze, so I get to eat it again soon.



And for no other reason than she looks very cute in this picture, this is Smudge fast asleep on the back of a chair.



Spiced Carrot and Lentil Soup (from Glamour Magazine December 2010)
(Serves 4)

2 tsp cumin seeds
pinch chilli flakes
2 tbsp olive oil
600g carrots, washed and coarsely grated
140g split red lentils
1l hot vegetable stock
125ml coconut milk
plain yogurt and naan bread, to serve

Heat a large saucepan and dry-fry the cumin seeds and chilli flakes for 1 min, or until they start to jump around the pan and release their aromas. Scoop out about half of the seeds with a spoon and set aside. Add the oil, carrot, lentils, stock and milk to the pan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 mins until the lentils have swollen and softened.

Whizz the soup with a stick blender or in a food processor until smooth (or leave it chunky if you prefer). Season to taste and finish with a dollop of yogurt and a sprinkling of the reserved toasted spices. Serve with warmed naan breads.

Baked Beans with Chicken Nuggets

I remember when I was much younger, going shopping with my Mum. We always went to John Lewis for lunch as a treat and I would always have baked beans with chicken nuggets, it was cooked with the chicken nuggets in with the beans, and I loved it. I wanted to try and replicate this but with homemade baked beans. This was really simple to make and was lovely and warming on a cold evening. I also had lots of leftovers and froze the, which was good as they were very easy to heat up in the microwave when I was ill and the last thing I wanted to do was cook.



Baked Beans with Chicken Nuggets (adapted from Olive Magazine January 2006)
(Serves 4)

olive oil
16 chicken nuggets
6 rindless bacon rashers, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
700ml passata (or use 2x 400g tins chopped tomatoes)
400g tin of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 onion, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven

heat a little oil in a large pan, add the bacon and onion and cook for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for a further minute.

Put the chicken nuggets into the oven or under the grill and cook according to the instructions on the packet, they take roughly 12-15 mins.

Pour in the passata, add the beans, paprika and sugar, then season and mix well. Bring to a simmer and cook everything together for 15 minutes. Once the chicken nuggets are cooked add them to the bean mixture and cook for about 5 mins. Serve.