Tuesday 23 August 2011

Recipe - Tagliatelle with Pork Fillet in a creamy Dolcelatte sauce

I think we've been here before my friends. The place where I don't give you exact measurements and times in the recipe, allowing you to freestyle it to your hearts content - making it yours. Just see this is a guideline.

There are a couple of reasons behind this approach this time.

Firstly, this recipe isn't exactly rocket surgery so you should be ok with just some general guidance.

Secondly, I'm about to move at the end of this week so my place is in even more of a state than usual and I'm desperately short of time. Packing is not fun and I seem to be fighting a losing battle against time.

Enough moaning - let's get back to the food.

This is just something I threw together with some ingredients I had lying around. I wish I had some fresh herbs to add to it, but it worked quite ok as it was.

When you season this, don't forget that the Dolcelatte can be quite salty so taste it before seasoning.

Enough chit-chat, those boxes won't fill themselves, as the Madam said.

Ingredients
Tagliatelle
Pork fillet, trimmed of the silverskin and excess fat - sliced into medallions
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Shallot, finely chopped/minced
Single cream
Dolcelatte cheese

Method
Boil the tagliatelle as per the instructions on the package.

In the meantime, heat a frying pan on a medium heat and add a tablespoon or so of olive oil. Fry the seasoned pork medallions until cooked and nicely golden. Remove and keep warm.

Pop the shallot into the frying pan, add some oil if it's too dry, and make sure to scrape the bottom well to release the goodness from the pork. Fry until the shallot starts to soften a bit, don't let it start to colour up.

Add the cream and stir well, crumble in Dolcelatte and let it melt whilst stirring. Season to taste.

Drain the pasta and serve together with the pork and sauce.

Enjoy!

Friday 19 August 2011

Recipe - Quick Lamb Stew

The nice people from Knorr have just sent me another box of goodies.

This time it contained goodies from Forman & Field and Allens of Mayfair.

Not only that, there was also two new varieties of the Knorr Stockpots. The newcomers are the Herb Infusion and Fish Stockpots. You should be able to find these in the shops any day soon.

With the parcel I also received a recipe written by Marco Pierre White that makes use of the lamb neck, vegetables and Herb Infusion stockpots that were in the box.

Me being me, I actually freestyled the recipe a bit. After all, all he got was 3 Michelin stars so what does he know? ;) I will pop a link here to the 'proper' recipe once it is posted on Knorr's site. In the meantime you'll have to make do with my recipe.

As you (hopefully) can read from the recipe and should be able to see from the picture I kept the carrots and spring onions in one piece. If you don't like that, just cut them into smaller pieces.

I'm also working on a recipe or two with the smoked salmon and trout that was in the box, but you'll have to wait a bit for that. I'm just about to move so things are a bit upside down here at the moment, even more than usual.

Enough chit-chat, let's look at the recipe.

Ingredients (serves 4)
1 Knorr Herb Infusion Pot
2 tbsp Olive oil
800g neck of lamb, cut into about 16 pieces
8 - 10 spring onions, trimmed
8 - 10 small carrots, trimmed
200 g peas

Method
Mix the Knorr Herb Infusion pot with 600ml of boiling water and stir until it is properly dissolved. Add the carrots and spring onions and boil for about 2 - 3 minutes (if you want them a bit less al dente - go for a couple of minutes longer), add the peas and boil for another minute or so. Remove the vegetables from the stock, preserving the stock, and keep them warm.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan on a medium-high heat. Fry the lamb pieces for about 2 - 3 minutes on each side or until nicely browned. Add the stock and deglaze the pan properly. Bring to a boil and let boil for a couple of minutes so it reduces a bit.

Divide the lamb pieces and stock between four deep plates and add in the vegetables.

Enjoy!

Tuesday 16 August 2011

Recipe - Cherry Glazed Pork Fillet

I better admit this from the outset - this recipe is stolen from a cookbook. The cookbook in question is Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book (Amazon UK / US) by Chris Lilly of Big Bob Gibson's fame.

The book itself is ace and I thoroughly recommend that you have a look at it - I think you'd like a copy yourself. And no - nothing sponsored here, I bought it for my own money.

As you might understand from the title of the cookbook this is a dish that is supposed to be cooked outdoors in a smoker or barbecue. However, I'm still a couple of weeks away from moving in to the new place so I had to convert it to oven cooking. If you got a smoker or barbecue - just convert it right back.

I can't wait to move in, get my smoker and give this a good test. I think it will be even better cooked that way. Once I'm moved and got the smoker installed - boy am I going to bore you with cue recipes ;)

I served this with a simple vinegar based coleslaw, the tangyness of that worked beautifully with the sweetness of the pork.

As a note, the marinade and glaze should be enough for two pork fillets but I only cooked one.

Ok, ready to look at the recipe? Here we go then...

Ingredients (serves 2 - 4)
Marinade
60 ml soy sauce
60 ml dark brown sugar
60 ml Cherry Coke
3 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp minced onion
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp minced garlic

1 pork fillet (about 450g or so), cleaned of the 'silverskin' and extra fat

Glaze
180ml black cherry preserve
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tbsp distilled malt vinegar
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp water

Method
Mix the marinade ingredients well, pour into a plastic bag and add the pork. Marinade in the fridge for anything between 4 and 12 hours.

Once marinated properly, remove from the fridge and let it come to room temperature while you heat the oven to 120c.

Cook for 1hr 15min, turn once halfway through.

Combine the glaze ingredients in a bowl.

Once the time is up, remove the pork fillet from the oven and glaze all over the top. Return to the oven for about 15 minutes.

Remove again, let the pork rest for 10 minutes under a foil tent before slicing it.

Enjoy!

Thursday 11 August 2011

Recipe - Tri-Pepper Pork Salad


I hope that you liked the baguette recipe, here's another use for the Tri-Pepper pork fillet I cooked.

This time I made a quick and easy salad. Yet again I used the pork cold, it works beautifully that way. Guess what - freestyle this to suit what you have at home and what you like to eat.

Like the last time, no need to waffle. This is a salad and this is how I threw it together...

Ingredients
Baby watercress leaves
Pea-shoots and baby leaves
Cucumber, cut into quarters and sliced
Red onion, thinly sliced
French breakfast radishes, thinly sliced
Tri-Pepper pork fillet, sliced
Balsamic vinegar or dressing of your choice

Method
Assemble it all on a plate, making it as purdy as you can/want. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and/or dressing.

Enjoy!

Tuesday 9 August 2011

Recipe - Tri-Pepper Pork Baguette


Here it is, the first recipe showing how I used the Tri-Pepper pork I cooked.

I'm using it cold here, but you could just as well use it warm. The same goes for the vegetables I put on the baguette - freestyle it to suit what you have at home and what you like to eat.

There's not much more to say about it, it's a pork fillet baguette. Let's look at how I assembled it.

Ingredients (serves 1)
Baguette, sliced in half lengthwise
Mayonnaise
Baby watercress leaves
Pea-shoots and baby leaves
Tomato, sliced
Red onion, sliced
Tri-Pepper Pork fillet, sliced

Method
Spread the baguette with mayo. Top with the leaves, tomato and red onion. Finish off with the fillet slices. Pop the baguette 'lid' on top to 'close' it off.

Enjoy!

Thursday 4 August 2011

Recipe - Tri-Pepper Pork Fillet


I know that some people expect pork fillets to be dry and boring. To them I'd like to say - try this recipe and we'll continue the discussion, m'kay? ;)

Another way of keeping the fillet nice and moist during cooking is to brine it, but I'll save that for another recipe.

This should be seen as a base recipe, that you can use for lots of different dishes. This can be used both warm, straight from the oven (after a little resting) or cold. I'll post two different recipes the coming days that will show how I used it cold - so don't you come here and say that I don't treat you guys. ;)

Ahh, tri-pepper - what's that? It's just that I mixed black, green and white cracked peppercorns for the coating. Having said that, you could use most spices for the coating. Freestyle it to suit your cupboard and taste.

Enough chit-chat, let's see how this bad-boy was cooked...

Ingredients (enough for 2 - 4 portions)
1 pork fillet, about 400 - 450 grams
Dijon mustard
Cracked pepper (I used black, green and white peppercorns)
Salt

Method
Trim the pork fillet, removing the "silver" skin and any unnecessary fat. Spread the pork fillet liberally with Dijon mustard all over. Put it in a plastic bag and let it marinate in the fridge for at least an hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 250c.

While the oven heats up remove the pork fillet from the fridge and let it come towards room temperature.

Crack the peppercorns and mix with salt.

Cover a chopping board with clingfilm and pour the pepper and salt mixture onto it. Roll the pork fillet in the mixture, making sure that you cover it evenly. Move the pork fillet onto a tin foil covered baking sheet.

When the oven hits the temperature, pop the pork into the oven and lower the heat to 200c.

Let it cook for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the fillet rest for 10 minutes before cutting it.

Enjoy!

Tuesday 2 August 2011

Recipe - Swedish Style Prawn Sandwiches


I have had to defend open style sandwiches more than once and I will continue to do so until I am too old to eat any sandwiches at all.

Foodwise there are certain things that you bring with you from your childhood and that you probably never will get rid of or lose - depending on how you view it.

 One of those things for me is open sandwiches. Most of the time I actually prefer to make open sandwiches, no matter what topping I'm going for.

I give you that open sandwiches sucks hose in the sandwich grill but hey - I can adapt myself for the odd time that the open sandwich is a tad bit unsuitable.

One of the best open sandwiches I can think of is meatball sandwiches with beetroot salad and pressed cucumber.

However, I think that the king of the open sandwiches - at least for a Swede - is the prawn, egg and mayo sandwich. Don't forget the dill or it won't be as good as it should be.

You can have it on white or brown bread, my personal favourite is to make it on pumpernickel bread. I'm sure the healthy bread negates the unhealthy mayo.

Getting tired of my waffling? Ok, let's head over to the recipe...

Ingredients (mileage may vary so just freestyle it)
Sliced bread
Mayo
Fresh dill
Hard boiled eggs, cooled, peeled and sliced
Cooked and peeled prawns
Lemon, 1/2 thinly sliced and 1/2 left in one piece for juicing
Salt
Ground white pepper
Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce (optional)

Method
Spread the bread liberally with the mayo. Season with salt and pepper. This is when you can add the Tabasco Chipotle sauce if you want to kick it a bit. Add some dill. Pop the sliced egg on top and top that with the prawns. Squeeze some lemon over the sandwich. Add some more dill and a slice of lemon.

Enjoy!