I might be being a little mean completely casting all my blame at the old girl. The pork cut also had it’s drawbacks. Sourced from our wonderful friends rearing pigs in the countryside – these porker products differ somewhat  from their supermarket shelf equivalent. These cuts are leaner and because the pigs are truly free range – the meat has a tendency to dry out in ways we all might not be used to. Slow , gentle cooking for very , very long periods of time just doesn’t yield the result one is after – as the leg shockingly proved. Luckily all was not lost – i had probably the best trick up my sleeve to resurrect the pork into something eatable and utterly delicious (mamfuko’s ginger scallion sauce.) That sauce deserves a post of its own. But if you can’t wait for that,  then google it to get the recipe. It will change your life !

But i digress, good scallions sauces aside and old ovens managed, the real point here is learning how to cook pork well. Understanding your cut and having the patience to get it right. You might have to eat some overcooked leg along the way, but it certainly is worth the journey when you present a Pork Loin dish like this  one to your family for dinner…….

Braised Pork Loin with a Garlic & Shallot Gravy

Try use free range pork. In general it’s a good move to make, but also the taste is just so much more superior. You might have to ask your butcher to directly for a loin roast cut – as many supermarket’s in South Africa don’t sell this cut off the shelf – instead they cut the loin up into chops. I wouldn’t focus on getting good crackling here – instead aim for super delicate, moist meat. I can also recommend braising the pork in a cast iron pot. You don’t have to own Le Creuset ones, I use my Homechoice cast iron pots – which work brilliantly. The cast iron retains  & distributes the heat better than any other material and allows for even cooking. Once you start cooking with cast iron – it’s like eating free range meat – you can’t go back.

this recipe has been adapted from  www.canadianliving.com

serves 4

1.3-1.5 kilogram Free Range Pork loin roast – trimmed of sinew

1 & 1/2 teaspoon fry thyme

1 teaspoon fennel

1/2 teaspoon white pepper corns

8 shallots – peeled & hlved

1 head of garlic – peeled

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup dry white wine

6  teaspoons butter

Turn the oven onto 15odegC

Crush and grind the fennel seeds in a mortar and pestle along with the thyme and white peppercorns. Rub this all over the meat. Heat a little vegetable oil in your cast iron pot – the one just big enough to allow the meat to fit in snugly. Brown the meat on all sides – 5-10 minutes. Remove the meat and drain off most of the fat. Place the pot back on the heat and add in the shallots & garlic. Fry for about 2 -3 minutes and when they start to colour pour in the wine. Allow the wine to cook off for 5 minutes then add in the hot stock. Bring to the boil and place the meat back in the pot with the liquid. Pop a lid onto the pot and place into the oven. Cook for 1 hour with the lid on and 1 hour with the lid off. Baste every 30 minutes. When the meat is done – remove it from the liquid, cover with tin foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. While the meat rests – make the gravy. Place the pot back on the stove top and bring to a rapid boil. Reduce the sauce to a desirable consistency then whisk in the butter one teaspoon at a time. Season with salt to taste. Bear in mind, the garlic & shallots will disintegrate on whisking and so will also thicken the sauce.

Slice the pork into individual portions and serve with cauliflower mash and the gravy. A side of green beans would be great accompaniment too.

But let me reassure you (with my mother adding confirmation) the phyllo pastry now available from your supermarket is much easier to work with. Thank goodness. You’ll find it in the frozen food section.

Greek Spinach Phyllo Pie

Should the idea of working with phyllo pastry truly put you right off, try making something similar with puff pastry. Follow the recipe i did here, using the same or this recipe’s filling. I also baked the spinach phyllo in *stoneware which works incredibly well for crisping the phyllo pastry and makes for super, easy cleaning.

serves 4

5-6 sheets of phyllo pastry – cut in half lengthways to make 10-12 smaller sheets

approx 3 tablespoons butter – melted

1 large bunch South African spinach ( swiss chard ) – blanched & chopped

4 spring onion – finely chopped

1 very full cup ricotta cheese

2 tablespoons fine parmesan

3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon dried mint

1/2 teaspoon smoked chilli flakes (optional)

salt & pepper

Heat the oven to 180degC

Make the filling by mixing the blanched spinach, spring onion, ricotta, parmesan, eggs and seasonings together with a fork. Make sure it is well combined.

Grease a 20cm stoneware dish with some of the melted butter. Layer the phyllo into the dish, one sheet at a time, brushing generously with butter each time. Allow the sheets to overhang over the dish enough so that when they are folded back in over the filling they will reach the centre point of the dish. When all the sheets have been layered scrape in the filling mixture to evenly cover the dish base. Take the overlapping pieces of phyllo and casually fold them over the filling towards the centre  creating a pie crust on top.

Bake the pie for 25 -30 minutes or until golden and crispy.

Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving with tzatziki, olive tapenade and bread.

*Stoneware sponsored by Homechoice Click to view their colourful & extensive collection.

FIG CROSTATA

The Italians call this Jam Tart –  Crostata , which sounds much more exciting than it’s English equivalent – and thus i name it so. Using home made fig jam/conserve definitely makes this more than just any regular jam tart, but should you not have the luxury of such produce at your fingertips – use the best quality jam you can find and preferably one that is naturally sweetened.

This recipe comes from Angela Hartnett’s Cucina, a wonderful insight into this well respected chef’s Italian family culinary heritage. According to Angela, Crostata is a common tea time treat served up in many, regular Italian home.  It’s easy to make and just as easily devoured……

sweet pastry :

500g plain flour – sifted

150g caster sugar

zest of 1 lemon

250g cold butter, diced

3 eggs – lightly beaten

Mix the flour, lemon zest & sugar together in a bowl. Add the butter and rub it into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Pour the beaten eggs in and mix well to form a dough, try not to over mix. Form into a ball, slightly flatten the ball and cover with cling-film. Refrigerate for at least an hour before using.

for the crostata:

1 x portion sweet pastry

250g home made jam / naturally sweetened jam

icing sugar for dusting

preheat the oven to 180degC.

Lightly flour your work surface & roll out two-thirds of the pastry. Use this to line a greased 25-cm, tart tin with a loose bottom base. Fill the pastry base with jam. Roll out the remaining pastry and cut into strips and use to make a lattice pattern on top of the jam filling.  Bake for 25-35 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden. Cool on a wire wrack and sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

Donna Hay’s Banana Bread

125g butter – softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

2 eggs

2 cups mashed ripe bananas

1 & 3/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarb of soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup golden syrup

Switch the oven to 160degC.

Cream the butter and sugar and then add in the eggs one at a time – beating well to incorporate. Stir in the mashed bananas & the syrup. Sift in the dry ingredients and fold into the creamed banana mix. Add a splash of milk if you feel the batter is too stiff. Scoop the batter into a bread tin lined with baking paper. Spread to even it out. Bake for 60-65 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 20 minutes in the tin before turning onto a cooling wrack.

I have adapted the recipe slightly. Originally the hotcakes are served with a blueberry compote, however i found the compote turns the hotcakes a little soggy on eating and stains them in a less than attractive way. Intense purple-blue hotcakes are just not attractive or appealing to eat.  That said – i love the blueberry element so instead i would add fresh blueberries into the hotcake batter -to make more of a blueberry ricotta hotcake. This also eliminates the addition of all that sugar to make the compote. Less processed sugar is always a good thing .

Ricotta & Blueberry Hotcakes

Serve the blueberry with a dollop of butter and and a drizzle of honey and you will have THE most delicious breakfast of the year. The hotcakes keep incredibly well so don’t be shy of making a big batch and keeping some for the kid’s lunch box or for a late night snack. Otherwise just  halve the recipe and you’ll get enough for 4 people.

makes 24 hotcakes

225g plain flour

12.5ml baking powder

2.5ml fine salt

2.5 ml ground cinnamon

4 large eggs

225g ricotta cheese

350ml milk

90g unsalted butter – melted

5ml almond extract

6 large egg whites

handful of fresh blueberries

Vegetable oil

Butter & Honey for serving

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt & cinnamon into a large bowl. Whisk the egg yolks until thickened, then gradually whisk in the ricotta, milk, melted butter and almond extract. Make a well in the centre of he dry ingredients and slowly pour in the egg-ricotta mixture, whisking constantly to make a smooth batter. Add more milk if necessary  - you want a thick but not stodgy consistency. Put the egg whites in a clean bowl and whisk until soft peak. Fold the egg whites into the ricotta batter.

Heat a large non stick pan over a medium heat. Pour in a little vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the pan and continue to heat until hot.  Spoon the batter into the pan to make three or four hotcakes. Immediately drop in a few blueberries onto each hotcake. Cook for 2 minutes until the underside is golden brown, then turn the hotcakes over and cook for another 2 minutes. Lift out the hotcakes and serve immediately with butter & honey.

Melon & Cucumber Salad

This is all about the goodness of the ingredients , so use the finest you can find. Try and keep the dice of the melon and cucumber the same size. Being so simple, this salad is all about keeping the flavours honest – a simple grinding of black pepper and salt with a drizzle of good olive oil is all you need to dress it with.

serves 4

Simply assemble together :

1/2 sweet melon – peeled, deseeded & diced

1 cucumber – deseeded & diced

1/2 red onion – peeled & finely sliced

1 cup small red grapes

handful wild rocket

olive oil

salt & pepper

This is now the beginning of my journey to find THAT recipe.

This first recipe finding is not a bad one. It produces a dark and dense cake ( all the things i love about a brownie.) The real challenge was getting the icing right. After some research i realized one needed a butter icing that incorporates cocoa AND melted chocolate. It gives a velveteen finish that i must admit is pretty darn delicious.

The addition of blueberries was something that really got my attention in this recipe. Spicing up a regular cake with something berry-ish worked in theory – but i think raspberries would have been a better combination. In an honest critique  : the blueberries are overwhelmed by the chocolate and don’t hold enough tartness to contrast the sweet, sugary goodness of the icing – which raspberries would do. So i would recommend making that substitution or omitting the blueberries just entirely.

Chocolate Cake with Blueberries (or raspberries)

This recipe actually comes (sourced) from my new assistant in the kitchen, Casey. It’s her fall back recipe in the need of a chocolate cake. And she swears by it’s easiness, which i must confirm.  The icing recipe comes from Martha Stewart – found on the inter-webs.

serves 6-8 – or double the cake mix to make 2 cakes & sandwich them together with the icing.

• 1 1/3 cups plain flour

• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

• 1/3 cup cocoa powder

• 1 cup caster sugar

• 1 cup buttermilk

• 2 eggs

• 125g butter, melted, cooled

• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

• 125g blueberries

Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 6cm-deep, 20cm round cake pan. Line base withbaking paper. Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa powder into a large bowl. Stir in sugar. Combine buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla in a jug. Make a well in centre of flour mixture.P our in buttermilk mixture. Using an electric mixer, beat on low speed until combined.Increase speed to high. Beat for 3 to 4 minutes or until thick and creamy. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

for the icing : make 1/2 only making a single layer cake

300g icing sugar

100g butter – at room temperature

45g cocoa powder

50g melted dark chocolate

60ml milk

extra blueberries for decorating

Place the butter in a bowl. Sift over the icing and cocoa powder. Start beating together and add just enough milk to get a soft, buttery consistency. Continue to beat until smooth and glossy. Pour in the melted butter and beat until just combined.

How wrong could i have been !

The good news is that it is so simple to make – the only thing that should halt you in the making of your own steak tartare is getting your hands on some good quality, free range beef. This my friends is what  truly distinguishes the amateurs from the professionals – making THE decision to use the best quality meat out there. Anything less – well then i would suggest making pasta bolognaise instead.

The true inspiration for me finally trying my hand at finely chopping up a beautiful piece of beef fillet and serving it up as tartare is Liam Tomlin’s latest book “Lessons with Liam.” It is a thoughtful collection of basic (but classic) recipes that covers all the culinary topics which any serious cook needs to address (and master.) He defogged my illusory impression on how simple a dish this really is. It’s ultimately all about the quality of the beef. That’s your real challenge – actually sourcing the goods.

With an inspired result ( the tartare turned out to be so delicious!) my intention is to now work through all the recipes in the book over the next few months (why not!) Liam has a great track record and i couldn’t think of a better chef to be learning from …… so here is his tartare recipe and hopefully it will also inspire you to give this superb method of appreciating some fine beef a go.

A REALLY GOOD STEAK TARTARE by Liam Tomlin

serves 4

300g beef fillet – cleaned of all sinew

15ml finely chopped gherkin

15ml finely chopped cocktail onions rinsed

finely chopped capers to taste

15ml chopped chives

15ml chopped flat leaf parsley

1 free range egg yolk

5-10ml Dijon mustard to taste

dash tabasco

dash Worcestershire sauce

tomato ketchup

dash brandy

salt

freshly ground black pepper

4 free range egg yolks for serving

You want to keep the temperature of the chopped beef chilled – so place a bowl into a larger stainless steel bowl half filled with ice. Dice the beef very finely.Place the meat into the bowl sitting atop the ice and add in the remaining ingredients. Making it as spicy as you prefer & season to taste. You can place the tartare in the fridge until you are ready to serve it.    Serve with the additional egg yolks and with some toasted sourdough bread.

Salmon & Dill Rice Salad

A great way of using the pieces of fish are in a frittata – think goats cheese, fresh peas & chives. Or mixed into a salad like this one. The rice  and lentil element mixed with a heavy hand of freshly chopped herbs is reminiscent of a middle eastern pilaf ( and yes this salad could be enjoyed warm or cold.) I took that connection a little further by adding a touch of sumac into the rice. The sumac adds a wonderful underlying tartness that compliments the richness of the salmon perfectly.  What is sumac ? Read here……

serves 4

200-300g smoked salmon pieces ( off cuts )

2 cups cooked basmati rice

1 cup cooked lentils -drained

1 cup freshly chopped mix of herbs  - Dill, Parsley, Mint & Fennel

4 spring onion – finely sliced

1 teaspoon sumac

1 tablespoon of currents

olive oil

Salt & Pepper

Juice of 2 limes / or 1 lemon

Assemble the salad by gently mixing together the rice & lentils with the herbs, sumac & currents. Pour over some olive oil, the lime/lemon juice & a good grinding of pepper and a touch of salt. Gently stir through. Serve with salmon arranged on top – or mixed in. Serve with extra lime / lemon wedges.

Tarragon Roast Chicken  Salad with Roast Pepper & Lentils

A simple salad made even simpler when using ready roasted chicken and ready roast peppers. The freeze dried version of the herb worked well, but fresh here would have been best.

serves 2-4

2 ready roast chicken 1/4′s – deboned

1/4 cucumber – cut in half, deseeded & sliced into chunks

1/2 small red onion – finely sliced

3/4 cup cooked lentils

1 red pepper

Tarragon Mayo dressing :

1  whole egg

2 teaspoons freeze dried tarragon  / freshly chopped tarragon

squeeze of lemon juice

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1/2 cup sunflower oil

Switch the oven onto 200degC. Deseed & cut the red pepper into large chunks. place on a roasting tray, toss with a little olive oil & a pinch of salt. When the oven reaches temperature roast the cut pepper chunks for 15-20 minutes until soft and slightly charred in places. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Make the tarragon mayo dressing by placing all the ingredients except the oil in a jug / blending cylinder. Using a hand held blender – blend the ingredients and slowly trickle in the oil until you get a creamy mayo consistency . You don’t want it thick – you want it pouring consistency. Cut the chicken into large chunks – keeping the skin on if desired, otherwise discard the skin. In a bowl mix the chicken with the mayo. To serve the salad : gently mix the lentils, roasted pepper, red onion and cucumber together. Dish into serving bowls and divide the chicken and mayo on top. Scatter with a little extra tarragon to garnish.