Pork Vindaloo

 

Pork Vindaloo

• 800g diced pork
• 3 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp brown mustard
• 10 curry leaves (preferably fresh)
• 2 brown onions, finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes, deseeded and finely chopped
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 2 bay leaves
• Large pinch of salt

For the marinade

• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tbsp ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 1/2 ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground fenugreek
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 4 green chillies, finely chopped (remove seeds for less heat)
• 5 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp soft brown sugar
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste
• 3 tbsp mixed garlic and ginger paste

Method:

Firstly for this recipe we start with the marinade.  Place all the marinade ingredients into a large bowl and stir until you have a smooth paste.  Add the pork and mix well until coated.  Cover and leave the pork to marinate in the fridge for at least an hour (preferably overnight).

When you are ready to cook, heat the oil in a small saucepan over a low heat, add the garlic and allow to cook for around 20 minutes, make sure you don’t let the garlic burn!  Transfer the garlic to a plate and set aside, add a splash more oil, turn the heat up and add the mustard seeds, when they start to pop add the curry leaves and fry for 30 seconds or so before adding the chopped onion.  Turn the heat down and fry for 10 minutes or until the onions are soft and translucent.  Add the tomatoes, chilli powder, bay leaves and the pork (with all the marinade), stir well before emptying the mixture into a large casserole dish then pour in just enough water to cover the pork.  Place the casserole dish into a preheated oven (160 degrees) and cook for at least 2 hours or until the pork is tender.  I would recommend you check the dish after each hour just to ensure more water is required.

When the pork is cooked, check for seasoning, adding salt if required, stir in the garlic and serve. We had this with the usual rice, dips, chutney and naans.  

There is a great flavour to this dish, nice bit of heat but not enough to make you reach for the water, one I will definitely be making again.

Pork Vindaloo

Bao Buns with Pork Belly

Bao Buns with Pork Belly

• Pack of bao buns
• Crispy chilli pork belly
• 1/4 cucumber
• 4 radishes, thinly sliced
• 2 spring onions
• Sweet chilli dipping sauce

Cook the pork belly according to packet instructions.  The pork I used was from The Juicy Meat Company, cut into handy bite sized pieces so no need to shred.  Whilst the pork is cooking, slice the cucumber and spring onions into thin strips, as the buns are not large you don’t want big chunky bits of vegetable, keep it fine. 

I found these bao buns in Marks & Spencer, a pack of 6 costs £2 and takes a minute to heat in the microwave.  Whilst at some stage I will make my own, for the price and convenience these are hard to beat.  Once the pork has cooked and you’ve warmed your buns, divide the pork between the buns, top with the radish, cucumber and spring onion, a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce and get stuck in!

I’m all for cooking from scratch but sometimes it’s nice to cheat when you don’t have the time.  The buns are little fluffy clouds of doughy goodness, the pork, which I purchased from Ocado, was packed full of flavour, not overly spicy so if you don’t like heat don’t be put off, go on, make it, trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

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.

Six Hour Pork Belly

Six Hour Pork Belly

• 3 onions sliced in half
• 3 crushed garlic cloves
• 300ml dry sherry
• 500ml chicken stock
• 1kg pork belly
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds
• ½ tbsp sea salt

• For the relish
• ½ red onion, thinly sliced
• 3 tbsp sherry-vinegar
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 20g bunch of fresh mint, finely chopped
• 20g bunch of fresh coriander, finely chopped

Method:

Heat the oven to 240 degrees/220 fan.  Put the sliced onions into a deep roasting tin with the garlic, sherry and stock.  Place the pork on top, skin side up, pat dry with kitchen roll, then rub the fennel seeds and salt into the skin of the pork.  Roast the pork for 15-20 minutes until the skin starts to puff up and looks like its about to crackle.  Turn the heat down to 140 degrees/120 degrees fan and cook the pork uncovered for 5 hours until the meat is tender and falling apart.  Take the pork out of the oven, drain the stock/juices from the tin into a saucepan, along with the onions, then set aside.

Turn the oven back up to 240 degrees/220 degrees fan, put the pork back in and cook for a further 30 minutes to ensure the crackling is nice and crispy, if the fennel seeds brown you can brush them off the top of the pork.  Whilst the pork is in the last stages of cooking, make the relish.  Put the red onion into a small dish with the vinegar and sugar and set aside.  When the pork belly skin has finished crackling, remove the tin from the oven and put the meat onto a lipped plate and leave to rest for 20 minutes.  For the gravy, bring the reserved stock mixture to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for around 25 minutes until it coats the back of a spoon.  Add a glug of sherry to give acidity, then taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.

Just before serving, stir the chopped fresh herbs into the relish.  Add any resting pork juices to the onion gravy then carve the pork into chunky slices.  Serve with the relish, sherry gravy and your favourite potatoes and greens.

This recipe is a perfect winter comfort dish and just right for a Sunday roast.  I adapted the recipe slightly from Delicious magazine, adjusting the stock and sherry levels as the original recipe had too much to fit into the oval roasting tin that I used, also my recipe serves 4 as opposed to 6-8 in the original recipe. 

Whilst I have included the recipe for the gravy I will be honest and say it didn’t turn out all that well and given that a large percentage of it was made up of rendered down fat, I wasn’t actually too keen on eating it in the first place!  That’s when that store cupboard staple of Bisto gravy granules comes in super handy as a last minute substitute! 

Overall a nice tasty dish and the relish really did go well with the pork, going forward, I wouldn’t spend 6 hours cooking this again it could be cooked for half the time on a slightly higher temperature and leave you with the same result!  Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Red Dawg Apache pulled pork flatbread with crackling

Red Dawg Apache pulled pork flatbread with crackling

• Pork belly (size will depend on how many people you are feeding so adjust accordingly)
• Flatbreads (1 per person)
• Handful of pea shoots
• Crumbled Feta cheese
• 1/2 sliced red onion
• Sliced peppers
• Red Dawg Apache sauce from www.angusandoink.com 
• Voodoo Mango sauce from Angus & Oink
• Phat Taco sauce from Angus & Oink

Method:

Place the pork belly in a lidded tin (the tin needs to be just big enough for the pork), pat the skin dry and rub over a few pinches of sea salt.  Heat the oven to highest setting and place in the pork (uncovered) for around 20 minutes or so until the skin is blistered looking.  Turn the oven down to 160 degrees, pour a small amount of water around the pork (just enough to cover a depth of around a centimetre), place the lid onto the tin and return to the oven.  You will need to cook the pork for around 3-4 hours depending on the size of the meat.  Periodically check the pork and top up the water as this will cook off, for the last hour add white wine to the tin instead of the water and then for the last 30 minutes turn the heat up to 200 degrees and cook the pork uncovered to really crisp up the crackling, once done remove from the oven and set aside.

When the meat has cooled slightly, using a sharp knife remove the crackling sheet from the top of the pork, once removed you can scrape off any fat that may remain (it should pretty much have cooked off though!).  Break the crackling into small pieces and leave to one side.  Using two forks, shred the pork in the tin (there should be no liquid remaining at this stage).  Once shredded, add a good few glugs of the Red Dawg Apache sauce and mix through, the idea is not to swamp the pork in the sauce, you just want to use enough to moisten the meat and for the sauce to impart its flavour.  

Heat your flatbreads in the oven according to the pack instructions, once heated, drizzle some Phat Taco sauce over the top of each and spread evenly using the back of a spoon.  Top each flatbread with the shredded pork, peas shoots, peppers, feta cheese and crackling.  Finish off with a drizzle of the Voodoo Mango sauce.

This is a great Saturday night dish, you can vary the toppings and the cheese, (I normally use grated mozzarella but had feta in at the time).  You can make this as spicy or as mild as you like for each flatbread made, it is always a crowd pleaser and the sauces really give a great kick and flavour.

If you don't have the time (or inclination) to cook the pork as above, you can cheat and buy one of those BBQ joints from the supermarket that have already been cooked so you just need to heat it through in around 30 minutes.  This is handy is you are in a rush, but I prefer the slow method, you can't beat a good bit of crispy crackling which you can only get through a long slow roasting!  

Chipotle Pork Pittas

Chipotle Pork Pittas

• 4 wholemeal pitta breads
• Kankun Mexican Chitpotle Sauce
• Kankun Mexican Habanero Sauce
• 4 pork loin steaks (1 per pitta)
• Handful of grated cheese
• Rocket & pea shoots
• 1 tbsp Jalapeno peppers finely chopped
• ½ red onion, finely diced
• Handful of cherry tomatoes cut into quarters
• Vegetable/Rapeseed oil

Method:

Place the pork steaks into a container and cover with the Kankun chipotle sauce, mix well to ensure all of the steak is covered and then place into the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Add a dash of vegetable/rapeseed oil to a frying pan and put on a medium heat. Cook the steaks for a few minutes each side, you will know when they are done when the steaks change colour from pink to a white colour. Remove from the pan and place onto a chopping board and allow to rest for a few minutes. Whilst the steaks are resting, pop your pittas into the toaster and once done cut a slit into each one to make a pocket.

Stuff each pitta with the rocket and pea shoots and then top with cheese. Thinly slice the pork steak and put this into each pitta along with a sprinkle of jalapeno pepper, red onion and some of the quartered tomato and then a good few dollops of Kankun habanero sauce.

I had the pork steaks in the fridge, they were destined for another recipe, I'm so glad I changed my mind and came up with this instead, it was so tasty and quick and easy to make, an ideal mid week dinner for all the family.

Pork belly with chorizo, shallot and bean stew

Pork Belly with Chorizo, Shallot and Bean Stew

FOR THE PORK

• 2 onions, thickly sliced
• 2kg free-range British pork belly, scored
• 500ml chicken stock
• 500ml dry white wine
• 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• A few fresh thyme sprigs 

FOR THE STEW      

• 5 shallots, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 120g cooking chorizo, cubed
• 4 large carrots, finely sliced on the diagonal
• 250ml dry white wine
• 400g tin cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 x 400g tins butter beans, drained and rinsed
• 250g spinach
• Small bunch fresh parsely, roughly chopped

Method:

Heat the oven to 140 degrees/120 degrees fan.  Line a large roasting tin with a double layer of foil. Lay the sliced onions in the middle of the tin along with the garlic to create a trivet.

 Sit the pork on top, skin-side up.  Generously rub all over with salt, getting it between the score marks. Pour the stock and wine into the tin around the pork, then add the thyme sprigs and a grind of black pepper.

Cook in the oven for 4 1/2-5 hours, uncovered, until the meat is fall apart tender.  Remove the pork from the oven, then turn up the heat to 240 degrees/220 degrees fan.  Drain and reserve the juices from the roasting tin, but spoon off almost all the fat from the surface (reserve 1 tbsp and cool and chill the rest for up to 3 days – it makes great roasties).  Return the pork to the oven for 25-30 minutes until the skin is crisp and crackled.

Meanwhile, heat the reserved 1 tbsp fat in a large, deep frying pan over a medium heat.  Add the shallots and soften for 5 minutes over a low heat.  Add the garlic and tomato puree and cook for 1-2 minutes, then add the chorizo and carrots.  Fry for a further 5 minutes over a medium-high heat, then add the wine (reserving a splash to finish) and bubble for a further 2 minutes.  Add 350ml of the reserved pork juices and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the carrots are nearly tender.

When the pork is ready, remove it from the oven and allow to rest for at least 20 minutes, uncovered.

For the last 5 minutes of the resting time, stir the beans and spinach into the stew and gently simmer.  You may need to add the spinach in batches.

Slice the pork into thick pieces.  Stir the parsley and the remaining splash of wine into the stew, then serve straight away.

Whilst there is a lot of cooking involved in this recipe it is worth it to ensure the meat is fall-apart-tender and it will also be packed with flavour.

This recipe went down a treat in our household and is definitely on the do again list!  This recipe feeds 4-6 people, I therefore reduced the ingredients down somewhat as there were only two of us!  This dish is ideal any time of year, for a stew it's not actually really heavy and is certainly perfect for a dinner party.

Recipe courtesy of Delicious Magazine          

  

Pork chops with prosciutto, apple and stilton

Pork chops with prosciutto, apple and stilton

• 12 slices prosciutto
• 4 pork chops
• 1 small red apple cored and sliced
• 75g Stilton cheese, crumbled
• 4 large rosemary sprigs, to skewer

Method:- 

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.  Lay out 3 slices of the prosciutto so they overlap, repeat with the rest of the prosciutto so you have 4 piles.

Put a frying pan over a high heat.  Season the chops with salt and pepper then sear in the hot pan on both sides.  Place a seared chop on top of each pile of prosciutto.  Divide the sliced apple and Stilton between the prosciutto piles, on top of the pork.  Wrap the prosciutto around each of the parcels to hold it all in place and secure with a rosemary sprig.  Place the parcels in a baking tray and bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until the pork is cooked through.  Serve with mashed potato and greens and cooking juices from the parcels.

This was a perfect dish for an Autumnal evening, homely and comforting.  Recipe courtesy of Jamie Oliver.   

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Pork, bacon & chorizo burgers with pulled pork

Pork, bacon & chorizo burgers with pulled pork

For the pork

• Pork shoulder (size depending on how many you are feeding, 5kg serves approx. 10)
• Olive oil
• Sea salt & ground black pepper
• 2 heaped teaspoons of smoked paprika

For the burgers (makes approx 6)

• 1 ½ teaspoons cumin seeds
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup diced shallots
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp thyme leaves
• 2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
• 2 chiles de arbol finely diced
• 2 lbs pork mince
• Salt & Pepper
• 120g finely diced chorizo
• 4 slices smoked bacon finely diced
• 6 burger buns

 Method:-

Preheat your oven to the highest temperature, score the pork skin about 1cm deep all over with a sharp knife (if not done already).  Drizzle over a little olive oil, season generously with salt, pepper and the paprika and rub in to the pork.  Place the pork into a roasting tin (I suggest lining the tin with foil) then place in the oven, turn the heat down to 160 degrees and cook for 4 hours, basting occasionally.  After 4 hours turn the heat down to 150 degrees and cook for a further 2 hours or until you can pull the meat apart easily.  Remove the crackling and leave to one side and pull the pork apart using two forks, cover with tin foil until needed.

Whilst the pork is cooking, in a medium pan, toast the cumin seeds over a medium heat for a few minutes until the seeds release their aroma and darken slightly.  Pound the seeds in a mortar or grinder until coarsely ground.  Return the pan to the stove, add the olive oil and heat for a couple of minutes, add the shallots, turn the heat down to medium and cook for a few minutes until they start to soften.  Add the garlic, thyme, cumin, sliced chile, a few grinds of black pepper and a couple of pinches of salt.  Cook for 3-4 minutes until the shallots become translucent, set aside to cool.  In a large bowl combine the pork, chorizo, bacon, shallot mixture & parsley, season with a few grinds of black pepper and a few good pinches of salt.  Shape the meat into 6 burgers, chill in the refrigerator if not using right away.

You can either BBQ your burgers, grill them or fry them in a frying pan with a little olive oil.  Once cooked through, place your burger onto a toasted bun and top with the pulled pork.  For this recipe, I mixed the pulled pork with Kankun Chipotle sauce to give it extra flavour, I also topped with burger with smoked cheese and served with slaw and spicy wedges.  

These burgers are perfect for a summer bbq and always go down a treat.   

Kankun Pulled Pork

Kankun Pulled Pork

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 500g Boneless pork roast
• ¾ Cup of tomato ketchup
• ¼ Cup cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp of honey
• 1 Cup of Kankun Chipotle sauce
• 1 Tsp Soy sauce
• Salt & Pepper

Method: 

Heat the oil in a roasting tin.  Combine all the above ingredients for the marinade, season the pork with salt and pepper and then coat the pork all over with the marinade.  If your roasting tin has a lid place this on or alternatively cover with tin foil.  Place in the oven (160 degrees) and cook for 6-8 hours.  

Once cooked, shred the pork using two forks and toss in with any of the marinade left in the pan.  You can serve on bread buns with red beans and your favourite salad, or as an alternative as shown in the photo, you can use the pork to make pulled pork flatbreads.