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Monday 26 November 2018

Sticky pork curry

Sticky pork curry
  • 500g cubed pork 
  • 3 tbsp light brown soft sugar
  • 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 4 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 6 fresh kaffir lime leaves or 10 dried leaves
  • 2 tbsp sunflower oil
  • 10 smallish shallots, finely diced
  • 25g of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
  • 2 red chillies, trimmed and finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp Massaman curry paste
  • 1 litre of cold water
  • 3 tbsp runny honey
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 spring onions finely sliced
  • Handful of plain toasted peanuts 
Method:
Place the pork into a bowl, add the sugar, soy sauce, lemon juice and lime leaves, season with black pepper, stir and then set aside for half an hour.

Heat the oil in a large casserole dish (one with a lid).  Fry the shallots over a medium heat for 5-10 minutes until softened and little browned.  Add the garlic, ginger and chilli, fry for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.  Spoon the curry paste into the pan, mixing well and fry for a further minute.  Stir in the pork and the marinade and cook for 5-10 minutes until the pork is lightly coloured on all sides.

Pour the water into the dish, stir well and bring to a simmer.  Place the lid onto the casserole dish and place into a preheated oven (180 degrees) and leave to cook for a couple of hours.  Carefully remove the dish from the oven (there will still be a fair bit of liquid), remove the lid and place the dish on a medium heat on the hob, you want the curry sauce to bubble and thicken, this could take a further 20-30 minutes,  as the sauce thickens, add the honey.  Keep stirring until the pork is thickly coated and glossy looking, serve with rice and top with the spring onion slices and peanuts.

This recipe is adapted slightly from a Hairy Bikers recipe and feeds two comfortably.  I have to say this recipe is a keeper, so much flavour!  I did have some concerns about the liquid and certainly this would not have turned out as it did in the hour the recipe suggested it should cook for!  This is now one of my new favourite curries, try it, you won't be disappointed.  Whilst we like a bit of heat, you can adjust the level of chilli according to taste.

Wednesday 7 November 2018

Panissa Rice

Panissa Rice
  • 50g of diced pancetta
  • 50g chorizo, cut into small bite size pieces
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 stick of celery
  • 1 litre of beef stock
  • 20g fresh rosemary, finely diced
  • 300g Arborio risotto rice
  • 250ml red wine
  • 1 X 400g tin of plum tomatoes
  • 1 X 400g tin of Borlotti beans
  • Handful of finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 12 fine asparagus spears
  • 12 slices of grilled pancetta
  • Parmesan shavings

Method: 
Place the diced pancetta and chorizo into a cold casserole pan, put it on a medium heat and cook out the fat has rendered out (10 minutes or so), stirring occasionally.  Peel and finely chop the onion and chop the celery into small 1cm chunks.  Stir the veg into the pan and and cook for around 10 minutes until softened, stirring often.  In a separate pan, simmer the stock and rosemary.

Stir the rice into the veg for around two minutes or so, until toasted, then pour in the wine and let it it cook away.  Add the tomatoes, stirring through until they are broken up and combined with the rice and veg.  Start adding the stock, a ladleful at a time, you need to let each ladleful cook away before adding more.  Constantly stir the rice (otherwise it will stick to the pan) for around 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked.  Whilst at this stage, steam your asparagus spears and grill the pancetta until nice and crispy, and set aside.  Drain the beans and stir them into the pan with the last ladleful of stock.  When your spoon stands up, it is done.  Taste and season the rice with black pepper and stir through the chopped parsley.  This recipe serves four. Plate up and top each dish with the asparagus, grilled pancetta and Parmesan shavings.

This recipe is adapted from Jamie Cooks Italy and all I can say is wow, packed full of flavour, I think my tweaks to the original recipe and the addition of the toppings really made this a great bowl of comfort food, perfect for those chilly nights.