Meal 75 - September 5th - Jerk Pork, Grilled Corn and Crunch Tortilla Salad
Other than dousing my chips in reggae reggae sauce, I couldn't really say that my cooking up to now has ventured much into the realm of the Caribbean. It's not that I don't like it - Jamie's Jerk Chicken recipe was one of my favourites in the 30 minute meals book - it just doesn't really get a lot of coverage over here. So I was quite excited to try out this 15 minute meal version and see whether it would really cut the mustard - or cut the scotch bonnet if you like.
Showing posts with label pork fillet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pork fillet. Show all posts
27 Mar 2013
Pork Masala, Porcini Rice and Spring Greens
Meal 29 - March 26th - Pork Marsala, Porcini Rice and Spring Greens
Almost a quarter of the way through my challenge I must say I'm surprised how well it's going. Lolz, despite being only too happy to complain when something is not to her taste, has given me an average score of well over 8/10, and her lowest mark, a 3/10, was awarded only because of her aversion to bananas. It's inevitable that something was going to give, and at one point I thought this rather innocent looking pork dish would be that something.
Almost a quarter of the way through my challenge I must say I'm surprised how well it's going. Lolz, despite being only too happy to complain when something is not to her taste, has given me an average score of well over 8/10, and her lowest mark, a 3/10, was awarded only because of her aversion to bananas. It's inevitable that something was going to give, and at one point I thought this rather innocent looking pork dish would be that something.
6 Mar 2013
Glazed Pork Fillets, Cajun-style Pepper Rice and BBQ Sauce
Meal 22 - March 5th - Glazed Pork Fillets, Cajun-style Pepper Rice and BBQ Sauce
Going through my worldly possessions at the weekend, Lolz decided a fairly large pile was expendable and hence we took a car load of stuff to one of our favourite weekend hangouts, Smugglers Way tip in Wandsworth (it really is quite an experience).
Going through my worldly possessions at the weekend, Lolz decided a fairly large pile was expendable and hence we took a car load of stuff to one of our favourite weekend hangouts, Smugglers Way tip in Wandsworth (it really is quite an experience).
17 Jan 2013
Pork Steaks, Hungarian Pepper Sauce and Rice
Meal 6 - 16th Jan - Pork Steaks, Hungarian Pepper Sauce and Rice
Looking in the fridge, Lolz decided the fact we had half a fennel bulb left over meant I had to attempt this rather hearty and rustic looking pork fillet number. Finding no reason to object, I got my "15 minute meal head on" as Jamie puts it and realised that, just 17 days and 5 meals into this challenge, I really have developed a 15 minute meal head. Thinking back to my attempt at Rosemary chicken back on the 6th, I remembered cooking equipment and discarded packaging strewn all over the kitchen and numerous health and safety guidelines being willfully flaunted. Today the kitchen is a picture of calmness, ingredients and equipment ready, and various space saving solutions implemented.
The recipe is very simple; cook the rice, chuck all the sauce ingredients in to a pan and let it simmer while you griddle the pork. My only mistake was not sufficiently pre-heating the griddle pan before slapping on the meat. Lesson learned. The end result is basically sweet n sour pork with a twist, with the sauce packed full of veggie goodness. Would probably also work well with sausages in place of the pork fillet.
Lolz gave the dish a "surprising" 9/10. Difficulty factor 3/10.
Looking in the fridge, Lolz decided the fact we had half a fennel bulb left over meant I had to attempt this rather hearty and rustic looking pork fillet number. Finding no reason to object, I got my "15 minute meal head on" as Jamie puts it and realised that, just 17 days and 5 meals into this challenge, I really have developed a 15 minute meal head. Thinking back to my attempt at Rosemary chicken back on the 6th, I remembered cooking equipment and discarded packaging strewn all over the kitchen and numerous health and safety guidelines being willfully flaunted. Today the kitchen is a picture of calmness, ingredients and equipment ready, and various space saving solutions implemented.
The recipe is very simple; cook the rice, chuck all the sauce ingredients in to a pan and let it simmer while you griddle the pork. My only mistake was not sufficiently pre-heating the griddle pan before slapping on the meat. Lesson learned. The end result is basically sweet n sour pork with a twist, with the sauce packed full of veggie goodness. Would probably also work well with sausages in place of the pork fillet.
Lolz gave the dish a "surprising" 9/10. Difficulty factor 3/10.
10 Jan 2013
Crispy Parma Pork, Minted Courgettes and Brown Rice
Meal 2 - Jan 9th - Crispy Parma Pork, Minted Courgettes and Brown Rice
Ooh brown rice healthy. After making a "safe" chicken dish first time round, I decided to venture into slightly less well known territory for meal 2: pork fillet. It's a cut of meat that to me always looks a little scary in the butchers. My first difficulty was sourcing different coloured courgettes. I knew yellow ones did exist but could not find anywhere that stocked them. Waitrose do a variety of round/baby courgettes in addition to the more traditional variety but none that are not green. I decided to go half and half with aubergine (that's egg plant for all my American fans out there).
In another minor diversion from the book, I used standard brown rice as opposed to the pre cooked option (with brown rice taking some 25 mins to cook this does admittedly defeat the 15 minute object of the recipe). Lolz was out running (seriously!) so I cooked the rice in advance and left it to cool. When Lolz returned from her run I began the recipe proper. The pork got prepped, veg sliced. You need a very big pan for all that veg! It all went rather smoothly. Warming the rice through in the pork pan with a bit of lemon juice and sundried tomato paste was a fantastic touch.
Once on the plate Lolz was immediately requesting extra yoghurt (Jamie seems to have adopted natural yoghurt as his condiment-du-jour) saying the dish was a little dry (although she was at pains to point out that this was not due to my cooking skills/ interpretation of the recipe, but down to the lack of any kind of sauce item in the recipe). She also thought that the chilli/ garlicky-ness of the courgettes overpowered the flavour of the meat, and on this point I would have to agree.
Lolz gave it 6/10. Difficulty factor 4/10. Leftover courgette and rice warmed through made a good next day lunch (although come to think of it I should probably not be reheating the rice so many times...)
Liquid Refreshment: I accompanied this meal with a bottle of St Peters Golden Ale. I can't really claim to be any kind of ale connoisseur but I did like the shape of the bottle and it was on offer in Waitrose.
Ooh brown rice healthy. After making a "safe" chicken dish first time round, I decided to venture into slightly less well known territory for meal 2: pork fillet. It's a cut of meat that to me always looks a little scary in the butchers. My first difficulty was sourcing different coloured courgettes. I knew yellow ones did exist but could not find anywhere that stocked them. Waitrose do a variety of round/baby courgettes in addition to the more traditional variety but none that are not green. I decided to go half and half with aubergine (that's egg plant for all my American fans out there).
In another minor diversion from the book, I used standard brown rice as opposed to the pre cooked option (with brown rice taking some 25 mins to cook this does admittedly defeat the 15 minute object of the recipe). Lolz was out running (seriously!) so I cooked the rice in advance and left it to cool. When Lolz returned from her run I began the recipe proper. The pork got prepped, veg sliced. You need a very big pan for all that veg! It all went rather smoothly. Warming the rice through in the pork pan with a bit of lemon juice and sundried tomato paste was a fantastic touch.
Once on the plate Lolz was immediately requesting extra yoghurt (Jamie seems to have adopted natural yoghurt as his condiment-du-jour) saying the dish was a little dry (although she was at pains to point out that this was not due to my cooking skills/ interpretation of the recipe, but down to the lack of any kind of sauce item in the recipe). She also thought that the chilli/ garlicky-ness of the courgettes overpowered the flavour of the meat, and on this point I would have to agree.
Lolz gave it 6/10. Difficulty factor 4/10. Leftover courgette and rice warmed through made a good next day lunch (although come to think of it I should probably not be reheating the rice so many times...)
Liquid Refreshment: I accompanied this meal with a bottle of St Peters Golden Ale. I can't really claim to be any kind of ale connoisseur but I did like the shape of the bottle and it was on offer in Waitrose.
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