Pork And Rhubarb (and a nice Chardonnay!)

I've loved getting back into the swing of cooking some more interesting meals this week and I was excited to pick up a big bunch of rhubarb at the fruit shop a few days ago.

Initially I thought that I'd make an apple and rhubarb crumble, a strudel or some other sweet treat with it, but then thought I'd try something different. In the back of my mind I was sure that I'd seen a recipe for a pork and rhubarb dish and so went hunting. After a massive sort through my collection of cook books, I found the recipe in one of the original Jamie Oliver books, Happy Days with the Naked Chef.

I have had this cook book for years (it was published in 2001) so it's only taken a little while to get around to making it! I love the tartness of rhubarb, but have generally only had it in desserts, so I was intrigued to see how it would taste in a savoury dish.

Combined with the sweet pork fillet, salty proscuitto and the fragrant sage, it was a wonderful combination. The tart acidity in the rhubarb really complemented the other flavours well. I served the pork with duck fat roast potatoes and lemon peas and it all went really nicely together.

If you couldn't get pork fillet, the same flavours would work with chops or even a roast with lots of crispy crackling. If you did use a roast, you wouldn't drape the prosciutto over the top, because that would stop the crackling from forming. Just bake it on a separate tray until crispy and then serve alongside the meat.

The whole lot was washed down with a lovely bottle of Chardonnay. The perfect meal to have with the inlaws, welcoming them home from an 8 week holiday overseas.

Jamie Oliver's Superb Marinated Pork Fillet Roasted on Rhubarb

A large handful of sage

2 cloves of garlic, peeled

Olive oil

2 pork fillets (about 300g each)

Salt and pepper to taste

8 slices of prosciutto

A bunch of rhubarb, trimmed and washed

Trim the pork fillets of any sinew and cut each into two pieces, so that you have four equal fillets.

Use a mortar and pestle to smash up half the sage and garlic into a paste.

Add 4 tablespoons of olive oil and mix to combine. Season to taste.

Rub the flavoured oil over the pork fillets and allow to marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Cut the rhubarb into finger sized pieces and place in a glass baking tray. You don't want to use aluminium as it reacts with the acid in the rhubarb.

Put the pork fillets side by side on top of the rhubarb and then place 2 slices of prosciutto over each fillet. 

Drizzle with any remaining marinade and a touch more oil and then sprinkle with the rest of the sage leaves.

Wet a piece of greaseproof paper, scrunch it up and tuck it over the meat in the pan.

Cook in the oven for 15 minutes, then remove the paper and cook for another 15 minutes, or until the pork is cooked and the proscuitto crispy.

Remove from the oven and rest for a few minutes.

Serve each person some rhubarb and a prosciutto covered pork fillet. Spoon any remaining juices over the top.

Serve with roasted or mashed potatoes, or any other veg you like.

Enjoy!

And To Drink....

This 2006  Nepenthe Ithaca Chardonnay from the Adelaide Hills is a wonderful drop that we picked up while visiting my parents in Adelaide a few years ago. 

Even though it was eight years old, there were still plenty of stone fruit and citrus flavours, with a beautiful buttery mouthfeel and gorgeous complexity.  The oakiness wasn't overpowering and the nuttiness was lovely.

The citrus flavours complemented the sweetness in the pork and the saltiness in the prosciutto. I thought that the rhubarb might be a bit too acidic, but because it was roasted, it had begun to caramelise and so a beautiful stickiness had started to emerge. The crispy duck fat potatoes combined to that beautiful mouthfeel.

My Chardonnay palate certainly is evolving. I'm glad that we decided to buy a case of this wine, because I still have a few bottles left of this to enjoy!

Pumpkin Dhal

After running my first half marathon yesterday, I'm definitely in need of some filling comfort food. I was absolutely stoked with my time of 1 hour, 50 minutes, given that I was hoping for 2 hours. All that energy I've used is making me hungry!

Although today was a lovely sunny day, it was still pretty cool if you weren't in the sun and it gets rather chilly when the sun goes down.

A big bowl of something warm and comforting was on the cards. I have the last of our homegrown pumpkin sitting in the fridge and wanted to make something to use it up. I made pumpkin soup last week and didn't really want risotto, so decided to make an Indian inspired dhal. I've made this recipe before with spinach, and it was great, so I figured that pumpkin would work equally as well with the spices and flavours.

This is a really simple, but tasty, dish. Perfect for when you want something quickly that's going to fill you up and keep you satisfied. Hearty comfort food at it's best!

It tastes even better the next day too, so make up a double batch and have some now and some later in the week. Otherwise, you could freeze some to eat on a night when you can't be bothered cooking. Just make the spiced oil fresh to drizzle over the top.

I served my dhal with naan bread, but you could use papadums too.

Pumpkin Dahl

300g yellow split peas
2 tsp brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp ground turmeric

3cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated (or 2 heaped teaspoon of the jarred stuff)

3/4 tsp ground cumin

1kg pumpkin, peeled, seeds removed and diced (you want about 750g flesh)

Juice of 1 lime
Salt to taste (you'll need about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tsp mustard seeds

2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 long red chilli, halved, seeds removed and thinly sliced

Rinse the split peas in a colander, place in a bowl and cover with water. Allow to soak for about 1 hour and then drain and rinse again.

Put 6 cups of water in a large saucepan and bring to the boil.

Add the split peas, sugar, turmeric, ginger, cumin and pumpkin. Simmer for about 30 mins or until the pumpkin is soft and the split peas are tender.

Remove from the heat and stir through the lime juice.

In a small fry pan, heat the oil and fry the mustard seeds until they start to pop. Remove from the heat and add the garlic and chilli to the hot oil. Stir to combine and to stop the garlic from burning.

Serve the dhal in bowls and spoon over some of the spiced oil.

Enjoy as is, or serve with papadums or naan to scoop up.

Springhill Pantry Giveaway!

A couple of months ago I wrote a review on the Springhill Pantry range of sharing slices. You can read it here.

The fabulous people that they are then emailed me to let me know that they were releasing a new flavour to their range. The Date and Pecan Sharing Slice was only released a couple of weeks ago and I was lucky enough to sample some hot off the press!

This slice was rich and dense, full of plump dates and toasty pecans. It was delicious on it's own, but heated up and served with a blob of hot caramel sauce and a blob of cream, it was truly decadent! A wonderful winter warmer dessert.

I'm so excited that Springhill Pantry are part of my first giveaway for eat quaff laugh. I have a gift pack of the three original slices from their range to give away to one lucky reader. The three flavours in the pack are - Apple, Apricot and Hazelnut, Chocolate Brownie with Crimson Raisins and Raspberry and Almond. They are all absolutely delicious!

Entry to the competition is super easy. Just like this post, like eat quaff laugh on Facebook, share the competition with all your food loving friends and comment below or on Facebook with your favourite slice flavour. Easy!

Competition closes at 5pm (EST) on Friday August 8th and is open to Australian residents only.

Good luck :-)

Happy Bastille Day

Every year as it gets closer to July 14^th, I start to plan what delicious French treats I am going to prepare for Bastille Day. I’m not French, and don’t have any direct French connections, but I love French food and Paris would have to be one of my favourite cities.

Usually my food inspiration comes from my Gourmet Traveller magazines, who always do a French edition around this time of year. Previous menus have included confit duck, slow cooked beef with escargot, cassoulet and a slow cooked lamb dish. I match my food with a French wine, of course, to try and make the whole meal as authentic as I can. There might even be some French music playing in the background!

Dessert always includes something suitably French too.

Tonight’s menu had to match with a bottle of champagne, as we still  hadn’t got around to celebrating the move into our new house. What better way to celebrate a new house and Bastille Day than with a French Champagne.

When I was looking for the main course, I wanted something based on chicken, pork or seafood with the right flavours to complement vintage champagne.  In the end, a slow cooked pork rillettes salad with kipfler potatoes, baby beets and a mustard and chive dressing won. The salad was meant to be served at room temperature, but I modified it slightly to serve it warm. On a cold, Melbourne night a warm salad is so much nicer.

As an entrée and to go with the salad, I also bought a beautiful fresh baguette, an ashed chevre and a Coeur de lion brie. A perfect meal. Why can't every Monday night be like this?

  

Salad of Pork Rillettes, Crackling, Potato and Beetroot

600g piece pork belly, cut into 3cm thick slices

3 thyme sprigs

2 bay leaves

8 black peppercorns

500g small kipfler potatoes

8 baby beets

A few handfuls of mixed salad greens

1 Tbs Dijon mustard

1 Tbs red wine vinegar

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp brown sugar

2 Tbs finely chopped chives

For the rillettes

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.

Combine pork, thyme, bay leaves and peppercorns in a dish and bake, covered, for about 3 hours or until the meat easily pulls away from the bone and the fat has nicely rendered.

Allow to cool and then remove the bones, rind and fat. Shred the meat with your hands or two forks and place in the fridge.

Scrape the fat from the rind and set aside for later. Discard the bones and fat.

Place the rind on a lined baking tray and grill under high heat until the skin has crackled and is crisp and golden.

Drain on kitchen paper and break into smaller pieces when cool enough to handle.

Boil the potatoes and beetroots in separate saucepans of salted water for 10-15 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a skewer. How long this actually takes will depend on the size of your vegetables.

When they are cooked, drain separately and keep warm.

Peel the beetroots and cut in half lengthways.

Reheat the pork in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 20 minutes, or until just warm and the remaining fat has rendered.

For the dressing, combine all ingredients , except chives, in a small jar and shake to combine. Season to taste.

Add the chives just before serving.

To serve, combine the salad leaves, warm potatoes and beetroots, crispy pork skin and warmed pork in a bowl.

Toss gently with dressing and then pile on to plates.

Serve with fresh crusty bread.

Bon appetite!

And To Drink....

Looking through our selection of Champagnes, I wanted something special to celebrate our new house, as well as something that would match the pork. We have quite a few vintage and non vintage champagnes in the cellar, so it was no easy decision. In the end, I opted for the 1999 Pommery Louise.

This would have to be one of the most beautiful and refined Champagnes I have ever tried. It was only mildly yeasty, with plenty of fruit flavour still present, even though it was 15 years old.

The golden colour and fine bubbles made it look so special in the glass too.

There was some residual sweetness, but also enough acidity, that it was wonderful with the fattiness of the pork. The sweet, earthiness of the beetroot also complimented the sweetness in the wine and it's acidity. Stone fruit and quince were the beautiful flavours that came through to me.

We had the cheese with the champagne too and the creamy brie, as well as the tart goat's cheese, also matched perfectly. The Louise was certainly a wine that paired well with the whole meal. Now if only I could afford to drink this sort of Champagne every day!

Chocolate And Raspberry Cupcakes

Happy World Chocolate Day (well, for yesterday anyway)! With moving house, cleaning and trying to unpack and get things organised, I've been a little slack in the cooking and blogging stakes. Not having a computer or internet set up doesn't help either!

I won't say that I'm completely back on board yet, but when I discovered that yesterday was World Chocolate Day, I just knew that I had to get baking.

With cocoa and other baking essentials in the cupboard and raspberries in the freezer, my mind was made up. Chocolate and raspberry cupcakes! Not too rich, but with a good chocolatey flavour and lots of tart, juicy raspberries to add a contrast.

I made mini cupcakes in muffin tins and larger ones in butterfly tins, but you could use whatever you have. You could even just bake in a regular cake tin if you liked. Just adjust the cooking time to suit.

This is a really quick cooking recipe, so it's perfect for school holidays or when you need a treat at short notice. Originally, the recipe came from my mum and it's just had a few tweaks here and there. I hope it becomes a regular in your house too.

Chocolate And Raspberry Cupcakes

125g butter
3/4 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp bicarbonate soda
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 1/2 cups SR flour
1/2 cup frozen raspberries (or a few more if you like lots!)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Grease muffin tins of your preferred size. Line with paper cases if you have them.
Combine butter, sugar, cocoa, bicarbonate, water and milk in a saucepan.
Stir over a medium heat until the butter is melted and all the ingredients are combined.
Bring to the boil and then remove from the heat and allow to cool.
When cool, add the egg and sifted flour.
Gently stir through the frozen berries.
Spoon into mini muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes, or until firm and risen and a skewer comes out clean.

Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out on to a rack to cool completely.

Enjoy as is, or dust with a mixture of icing sugar and cocoa or be truly decadent and top with melted chocolate and a few extra raspberries!