Pork & left overs

This was a busy week and most of what we ate you've seen before, literally. I raided the freezer, partly because we were busy & partly because the freezer was getting too full to easily find stuff or fit more in.

On Sunday night we had roast pork, which I know is a favourite of a couple of you. I usually accompany pork with lentils & cabbage. I often cook lentils on Sunday to go in salad lunches for work so I just made a bit extra. And potatoes are expected by some at my table. Sometimes things go wrong and have unexpected results. Get your pork out of the fridge & leave it at room temperature for a good while to let the skin dry out. Sit it on a rack in a roasting tin big enough for the pork (and as it turns out a few potatoes). When you're ready to cook, coat the base of the tin with a thin film of oil and put the bones in the centre for the joint to sit on. If you don't have the bones just use the rack. Put the joint in skin side up (don't salt the skin because that will soften it - season the cut sides of the meat). Put it into the oven at the hottest heat (ours is 250) for 20 minutes then turn down to 180 and cook 30 minutes per lb (or 450g for you young ones)

Have I told you before about Margie potatoes? Boil potatoes cut into largish pieces (the size you might use for roasting) for about 20 mins, then drain. Generously cover the bottom of a saute pan with olive oil and when very hot add the potatoes. Turn the heat right down and gently cook for ages until they are golden & crisp on all sides. These are known in our family as Margie potatoes. They take about an hour or so. Anyway I was making these potatoes & something went wrong. The potatoes were browning nicely but not cooked inside and the pork was nearly done. I think I was doing too many things at once and lost 20 minutes, or maybe I didn't actually boil them for long enough. Anyway after a moment of despondency the potatoes went in with the pork and the pork had 20 minutes extra in the oven. The result was still perfectly cooked pork but in addition the best crackling ever experienced. I'm not suggesting you over cook your pork on purpose but just reminding you that most kitchen disasters can be averted with quick thinking.

The left over pork went into the lunch salads & if you accidentally cook too many potatoes, a cold roast potato is delicious in a salad.

We have a stack of boeuf bourguignon in the freezer so I used one of those on Thursday and served it with ribbon pasta which is a classic French accompaniment (nouilles fraiches) & a nice change from pommes vapeur (steamed potatoes)

I also made a batch of oatmeal raisin chocolate chip orange cookies, (no pecans in the cupboard) and Phoebe had made Nigella's Granny Boyd's biscuits so we are set for baking for the next little while.

Old Family Favourites

On Sunday I used up the last of my Nice'n'Spicy Nasi Goreng spice mixes. You may recall the Denningvleis from July last year. I made the Nasi Goreng following the recipe on the pack. I used pork with carrots, celery, capsicum, the last of the broccoli from the garden and some beans. And I served it with my sister's peanut sauce recipe - a great favourite in our house.
Saute chopped onion, crushed garlic & chopped ginger until soft. (She doesn't say how much - I just used half an onion, 1 clove garlic & a knob of ginger). Add 1/2 tsp chilli powder & 2 tsp curry powder & cook one minute.
Add 1/2 cup vinegar
1/3 cup sugar/ 1 tsp salt
2 tbsp peanut butter
1/3 c fruit chutney (we always use Tamarillo)
2/3 cup water (add more if too thick)
Bring to the boil & simmer until it thickens.
This sauce is lovely with spicy chicken on skewers and other Indonesian style dishes. Also very popular with children if you don't make it too spicy.
Apparently Phoebe's friends are very impressed with soup Monday as she reports on Tuesday the previous evening's delights. Monday is now her favourite day of the week because it includes both maths & soup - apparently a winning combination. Have any of you taken up the soup Monday concept, or even soup Tuesday? I recommend it. We've explored some great soups.
This week we went back to an old favourite, Pasta & Bean soup. I needed to use up some orzo I had bought a while back for something in particular & couldn't for the life of me recall what it was. I wanted to see the back of it & this soup seemed the ideal vehicle.
Heat a little olive oil in a large pot & soften a finely sliced onion & a finely chopped clove of garlic. Stir in a sprinkling of chilli flakes to taste with 2 bay leaves & 1/4 tsp dried thyme. Dried herbs are often good in a soup. Cook for a minute.
Add a can of crushed tomatoes, a can of kidney beans & one of mixed beans with 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock and bring to boil. Add 1 cup pasta. I usually use macaroni, but in this instance I used a mix of macaroni & orzo. You could use spirals or any short pasta you have in the cupboard. Boil gently until the pasta is cooked then season.
Serve topped with chopped parsley or try pesto & some grated or shaved Parmesan. This is something you can whip up in 20 minutes just from your store cupboard. Always a favourite with all our children.

Leeks and Peas

Leeks are good just now so for Soup Monday we had this variation on leek & potato soup. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil & a knob of butter in a large saucepan & add 2 leeks, finely sliced; 500g floury (I usually use Agria) potatoes cut up small; 2 cloves garlic, crushed & some chopped thyme. Heat gently until the leeks are very soft but not browned. Patience is required. Then add 5 cups of chicken or vegetable stock and 1 cup milk. Season & bring to the boil, then simmer 30 minutes. Don't worry that it looks a bit curdly - you're going to blend the curdle out of it. Add 3 cups frozen peas & cook another 5 minutes. Blend until smooth. Drizzle with a little cream to serve. What a colour! You'll notice this makes quite a bit, so freeze the leftovers. It's always good to have soup in the freezer in the weather.

On Tuesday I had to bin the chicken I had planned & this is why you should always have pasta & pesto at the ready. Boil egg pasta ribbons according to the instructions on the packet. Gently warm a large pan & when the pasta is done use a slotted spoon or tongs to lift the pasta from it's saucepan into the clean one. Stir through a tbsp per person of creme fraiche, the same of pesto. Season and add a knob of butter. Grate over some Parmesan. Serve with a green salad that you've prepared beforehand because once you start cooking the pasta you are less than 6 minutes from the table. If you've got pasta in your cupboard you've always got a meal.

On Thursday we had pea & prawn risotto. This combination is beautiful. Just make a regular risotto base (see May 09). You could substitute fennel for the leek and use Pernod instead of wine. Remember to be patient when softening the leek. You don't want crunchy leek. When the risotto is done, stir through 1/2 cup frozen peas & 1/2 cup frozen cooked prawns with the juice of 1/2 a lemon. You could use raw prawns and just cook them through in the pan. Cook a little more until the peas & prawns are ready then season, drop in a knob of butter, cover & leave with the heat off for a few minutes to rest. Serve with Parmesan.

The next night, if you've got some left over, make risotto cakes. I recently learned a clever trick to make these. Butter some ramekins & put a circle of baking paper in the bottom. Lightly beat 2 or 3 eggs & mix with the risotto & some Parmesan. Tip the mixture into the ramekins & bake in a moderate oven about 15 minutes until the egg is set. This is much better than trying to fry them as I have done in the past. They turn out really well. You could make it in one large shallow dish & cut into wedges like a cake.

Chinese greens

Along with the new job we have got into a new routine in the kitchen. Now that we're walking both ways, there is less time to spend on dinner during the week & I need to accommodate study. Wednesdays & Saturdays, when Phoebe works, we try to do something with fish or something else she's not so keen on.

On Saturday night we had something I've been meaning to try again for ages. I saw something on a tv programme but being unable to remember what it was & never writing it down, it was probably nothing like the meal I am about to describe. The key ingredient is a Chinese green - the leafy one with thin stalks & yellow flowers - Choy Sum.

Finely chop the stalks from a bunch of choy sum & soften in a pan in a little peanut oil, with some grated ginger (the grating plate is good for this), sliced spring onion, garlic & a little celery if you like it. Add sliced mushrooms & cook down a little. Then add a splash of soy sauce & stir through the choy sum. Add some baby spinach leaves if you have some to use up. Serve with pork cooked your favourite way and rice or noodles. A chop is good. In this instance, we had pork fillets which had been marinated in a mixture of vegetable oil, soy sauce & honey in a roasting dish. (For 2 servings use about 2 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp soy, 1/2 tbsp honey) We roasted the pork at 180 about 15 mins, turning once, then rested about 10 minutes. I am not a huge fan of Chinese flavours or Chinese greens but I just love this.

We didn't eat it all, so for Sunday lunch fried up the left over rice, veg & meat with some shredded carrot, pumpkin from an earlier meal, some ham that needed to be eaten & a plain omlette sliced on top. This was delicious.

On Sunday we had a busy afternoon in the kitchen. Phoebe baked cup cakes for an SPCA fundraiser & I made tomato sauce (ketchup type).