Roast Pork leftover dish No2…Retro Style!

February 5, 2014

This recipe is the 2nd leftover dish from the Roast Pork Shoulder I did.  Technically, the 3rd Pork dish of that week.


  By this point, I was starting to suffer! I felt the Pork smell sweating out of me! But I was determined to cook that final dish, So I felt it had to be something I hadn’t cooked for a long while…A very long while even! 

  I had some double cream to use up and also fancied something with rice that evening. I didn’t want something too creamy mind you.  Then it came to me…A lovely Retro Classic, Normally done with Beef but I  feel this worked actually better.



                                             
 Retro style Roast Pork Stroganoff :

Ingredients:

(Approximately for 2 people)

–  Leftover Roast pork shoulder 
–  2 Garlic cloves chopped finely
–  1/2 an onion sliced
–  About a 1/4 of a leek, finely sliced width ways
–  A very small Sprig of Chopped fresh Rosemary, Thyme, Sage and I used Lemon Thyme, but if you don’t have that you could add a little lemon zest.
–  A Small knob of Butter 
–  Rapeseed oil or olive, whichever you always use.
–  150ml of the leftover gravy from The roast pork shoulder dish (Contact me If you don’t have this, We can think of alternatives)
–  1 Tsp of Smoked Paprika
–  1 Tsp of Chilli Powder
–  1 Tbsp of Dijon mustard.
–  100 ml of Double cream, may need to add a touch more, depending on how creamy you like it.
–  Seasoning if it needs it. I only added a touch of cracked Black Pepper.

Add a touch of oil and start to fry the Onion, Leek and Garlic. If a little dry, add the Butter but not too much as the Leftover pork will still contain Fat.

To the Onion and Leek mixture,  add your leftover Roast Pork and your Herbs.

By this point, you can add all of the rest of your ingredients, but add a little at a time if you don’t want it to be say, Spicy, salty or creamy.

I served mine with White long Grain Rice.  There were also meant to be some steamed Broccoli on there too, but I was so pleased with the taste of this dish…I forgot!  Found them in the Pan when I went back for seconds! Whoops!

This Dish I will definitely do again. It was lovely and comforting, cheap as a leftover meal and quick for when you have a busy midweek time doing household chores, picking children up from activities etc…

Just try not to forget the steamed greens like I did!







 

Roast leftover Dish No 1 and the start of… Chinese New Year!

January 30, 2014

One thing I must mention regarding my Challenge Roast Pork dishes this week, is that I wasn’t going to buy anymore ingredients for any dishes.  Purely because it is even greater of a Challenge that way and to top it off… it’s the end of the month!  Such a tough month after Christmas, so even more the better to make your meals go further.  I was to purely use Only what was in my fridge and cupboards and of course the Pork! . Which, when you start to look, you have more than you think, well I did. That being in my fridge and of the leftover Pork! I started to wonder then, how I was going to eat this all! 

 I had many ideas buzzing around in my head that I could do, but one dish that I really fancied that night was a Stir fry with Noodles, great! So be it! 
  Now I cook ALOT of Chinese Food, believe me! But what is even better this week is that I can also combine this dish as an Add on or should I say, a “starter” for Chinese New year! Which kicks off tomorrow, January 31st (or tonight in some homes)!

 So this was the first leftover meal from my Roast Pork Shoulder. A quick, Cheap and tasty dish to eat anytime of the week. With an added ingredient that you may think is rather strange but worked perfectly. Which is the Pink Grapefruit.  I had some leftover and  I had previously used Orange with Duck, Lime with chicken, Lemon with prawns etc…So I had a go and I was thoroughly Impressed! I only used a little so not to overpower the flavours too much.
 I used to say I was one of those people that didn’t  like to mix fruit with savoury, just because I didn’t like pineapple on a Pizza! Now look at me! 


Roast Pork and Vegetable Stir Fry with Grapefruit:

Ingredients:
(Serves 2 approximately)

– 150 g Noodles (Dry)
– 3 cloves of Garlic finely chopped
– half an inch cube of Fresh Ginger finely chopped
– tbsp Light Soy *
– tbsp Chilli bean sauce ( slightly spicy, I used Lee Kum Kee) *
– tbsp Hoisin Sauce (Lee Kum Kee) *
– tbsp Oyster Sauce *
– tbsp Honey *
– tbsp Rapeseed oil or you could use Groundnut/Sunflower oil *
– tsp Dark soy ( for colour )
– Leftover roast pork
– Broccoli into small florets (pre-soak in a bowl with boiled water over for 5 mins)
– 1/2 a Carrot sliced thinly 

– Small handful of Snow Peas 
– 1/2 Onion sliced 
– 5-6 segments of pink grapefruit.



Mix the ingredients marked * in a bowl, as you would a marinade. Then add half of your Garlic and Ginger to it.

Add your leftover Roast Pork to this sauce to coat it.
Cook your Noodles as per packet instructions. Fire up your Wok with a dash of oil that you are using and start to stir fry your Onions and Carrots. Then add your pre soaked Broccoli, stir fry for another minute adding the rest of your Garlic and Ginger. 
You can then add your Pork to the veg, snow peas and then your Cooked Noodles. Finally add your dark soy for colour. If it is a little salty, add a little more honey or sugar to balance. You can always add water if you feel it is a little dry. Never add more oil.

Now you can add your Pink Grapefruit for the end result.



A Quick, Cheap and Tasty dish with your leftovers.











The Roast Pork challenge begins!

January 29, 2014

One thing I am very passionate about is not wasting food.  A Love/hate relationship I have.  
  Being creative and seeing what you can come up with from your leftovers is just fab!  I have written about this sort of thing before and will continue throughout my Blog. It excites me seeing the outcome of meals that you can produce.  Some of my best dishes/recipes have been created when doing this and Im sure some of you will agree too. 
  At the moment Sainsbury’s are currrently doing a campaign to Make your Roast go further, So I popped in, bought a generous sized British pork shoulder joint and this is the first dish. Obviously… The Sunday Roast… Bring on the “Porkathon”!




Roast British Pork Shoulder with spiced Cider Gravy:

Ingredients (Pork Joint):

-Pork Shoulder 
-1 onion
-1/2 a leek
-1 Carrot
-3 Bay leaves
-3-4 Garlic cloves crushed
– a scattering of Fennel seeds
-Small sprig of Rosemary
-Tspn of Dijon mustard
-Tspn of honey
-Approximately 2-300ml of dry Apple cider( drank the rest of the bottle )
-Water
-Rapeseed Oil or whatever oil/fat you prefer to roast your meats in.
– You could even put some apples at the bottom of the tray with the veg if they need using up.

Take your Pork shoulder joint out of the fridge to bring up to room temperature for no more than 30 minutes.

Preheat your Oven on 220c as you want your oven to be nice and hot to crispen the skin. This will make awesome crackling. 


Place all of the vegetables and herbs as above into a deep roasting tray. You will notice there is a little bit of red onion on the picture as it just needed using up, just like the rest of the tray veg.
 Score the pork skin with a Stanley knife and rub in sea salt keeping it dry. Before your Pork goes on, add a drizzle of rapeseed oil over the veg. Place the Pork joint on top as so…


Then pop the Pork into the oven for about 20-25 mins depending on the size of your joint. 
After that time, take out the pork and it should start to look something like this?…

Turn your oven down to 160c, add a few splashes of your Cider into the roasting tray, plus a little water. Now, also at this point I then brush around the meat only, some honey and dijon mustard. It only coats the outer meat, but makes those nice end bits tasty!  It also makes a our great gravy at the end! 
Cover with foil and roast for anything between 2-3 hours depending on the size of your meat. 
Always note: keep checking your joint adding more water to the roasting tin and the cider to keep it moist and for your Gravy at the end. This will give lots of gooey black bits (hey aren’t burnt) that add loads and loads of flavour.
Once you have checked your joint is done, take out to rest for 20-30 mins.
Whilst it is resting, you can get on with the Cider Gravy…
Take the vegetables out from the roasting tray, place over a low heat to allow a sticky, bubbling goodness to erupt. Add plain flour to thicken,whisking in and add water to a gravy thickness. You could always add more pork or chicken stock if needed.

Ya can’t beat a good ‘ol Sunday Roast! 









Friday Night fish dish, a healthier approach.

January 24, 2014

I have decided to re-kick things going again with a fairly healthy dish. Well, it certainly is compared to the typical battered fish and chip supper we usually dive head first into on a Friday night.  
  A couple of reasons why I chose this dish to post today is A, Cost. I know its nice to treat oneself to it once in a while but “back in the day” Fish and chip Friday was a fairly cheap takeaway for families and was nice as a treat.  But now, I know I struggle sometimes to afford it!  You maybe shocked but this recipe IS a cheaper alternative. 
 And, B, because we may have overindulged slightly over December so this will make a lighter, healthier Dinner (Or supper in my case) after a glass or two of vino! 
  If you are indeed, like myself, who loves the combination of Pasta with Fish or seafood, then you will love this!



Roasted flaked Sea bass with Pesto Spaghetti and Tomato Salsa: 
(Serves 2)

One thing I will mention is I couldn’t make up my mind on wether to say the fish was steamed or roasted? as I did both!  But seeing as I finished the dish by Roasting at the end, that is why it is in the recipe title.

Ingredients:

For the Sea bass:

One whole Sea bass descaled and gutted.
1/2 a lemon
1 spring onion chopped in half
A piece of leek about a few inches long cut lengthways into 4
a few chopped fresh chives and parsley
A sprinkling of Fennel seeds or fresh Fennel would be fine also, just not too much
knob of Butter
a good glug of dry White wine
100 ml of water
Salt and pepper for a bit of seasoning.


Pesto:

(Approximately) as it is depending on how much you want to make to keep or how big your blender/processor is?

  6 spinach leaves
Handful of fresh basil
Cashew nuts
Olive Oil
1 fresh garlic clove (browned first to soften)
small handful of Fresh parmesan 
Salt and pepper to season if required.


Tomato Salsa:

Olive Oil
Cherry tomatoes 
Mini capers
Fresh lemon juice 
Fresh basil and Parsley
1 clove of fresh garlic chopped finely
A small amount of red onion chopped.


Method:



Preheat your oven to 180c.
Boil up some water ready for your spaghetti to cook.
Take your Sea bass and place onto foil which is on a deep baking tray.  Stuff the inside of the fish with the lemon, spring onion, leek and herbs.  Then place the knob of butter on top of the fish.  Grab the ends of the foil and start to gather up at the ends as you are going to make a little bath (parcel) for your fish.  Put the White wine and water into the bath and drizzle a little of olive oil (if wanted) on the fish.  Close up the foil parcel so it creates a steam bath and cook in the oven for about 15 mins.

 In the meantime whilst the fish is in the oven you then do the pesto.
  Place all ingredients into a hand blender or food processor and blitz! Adding more olive oil and seasoning if need be. Then chop all your ingredients for your Salsa (as shown above). Not forgetting of course to cook your spaghetti !  Place the salsa in a pan to gently heat. You do not want this to go to mush.

 Check on your fish after 15 minutes and open up the foil at the top so the fish will get a little colour once back in the oven.  Now depending on the size of your sea bass, it may only need maybe 5 mins more cooking.  
  Once the fish is done, Toss your drained spaghetti with the pesto, flake the Sea bass onto the spaghetti and drizzle over your Tomato salsa. 

Enjoy! 












I’m Back!

January 23, 2014

Hi to all my lovely readers out there.  It has been an awfully long time since I last wrote and posted anything on my Blog.  Due to my ill health, from my injury done in Dec 2012, things mentally and physically began to worsen towards the back end of last year.  I won’t go into any details, but what I will do is apologise to anyone who I lost track with, i.e reviews, write ups or just in general etc… 
  I am still suffering however from my accident but I am fighting fit more than ever this year and plan to show my passion for food and drink as much as I can.  I am hoping that 2014 is going to be a good year.  I feel it is already from having a very nice phone call today.  So please watch this space for lots of catch ups on recipes, old and new, projects and so forth.  Oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!