Pork and Leek Stew, with Red Peppers

Stir fried diced leek, cooked until it began to brown a little, then boiling water was added. The pot was covered and simmered gently for an hour and a half.  Add two red chillies. The pork stock and herbs were added ten minutes before serving.

The pork loin steak was diced and stir fried in a separate pan until the pieces began to brown. Then the pork pieces were added to the leek sauce and stirred through. The diced red pepper was added after an hour and also stirred through. 

Served with boiled basmati rice. 
 

Pork and Bacon Soup

Stir-fried diced portions of pork loin and smoked bacon, cooked until golden brown. Added two chopped red onions and four medium sized carrots, plus a stick of celery.

Stir-fry for eight minutes or so, and add boiling water. Cook under glass for half an hour, then mash the vegetables. Add vegetable stock, and the herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano).

Simmer for another half hour to forty five minutes before serving with panini or potato bread.

Singapore Fried Noodle with Pork

Singapore style rice noodles prepared with turmeric and coriander (from Morrison's), and served with thinly sliced pork loin, onion, orange pepper and half a scotch bonnet chili.

The pork was stir-fried for ten minutes in sunflower oil, and a couple of splashes of rice wine. The vegetables were added, and stir-fried for another five minutes or so.

The pork and vegetables were decanted to a small pan on another hob, and the wok was cooled and cleaned. Then a dessert spoonful of sunflower oil was added, and a high heat applied. When hot, the noodles were added, and stir-fried briskly for four to five minutes, depending on the heat.

The noodles were decanted onto the plate, where there was a spiral of dark soy sauce, and some white pepper. Add the pork and vegetables, and serve.

Pork Marinade and Noodle Soup

Pork loin strips, marinaded in a mixture of oyster, soy, and sweet chilli sauce for a couple of days in the fridge. Cook for fifteen minutes in the sauce at a medium heat, till the sauce begins to thicken  through evaporation.

Serve with noodles in a chili soup. The noodles were prepared in boiling water, along with the soup powder, and the hob was turned down. I covered the pan while I was cooking the pork strips, and allowed the noodles to absorb most of the water in the pan. Stir and separate the noodles every few minutes until they are just the way you like them.

The pork strips can also be prepared under the grill. Quick and delicious!

Tomato Soup, with Red Camargue Rice and Roast Pork

A delicious soup made with 400 grams of baby plum tomatoes, two medium size carrots, ten spring onions, chopped roast pork loin, mustard, herbs, and a sixth of a cup of Camargue red rice.

The baby plum tomatoes were halved, and added to a pan of boiling water, along with the chopped carrot and spring onion. Simmer for thirty minutes, and then mash, and blend with a hand mixer. Add the sixth cup of Camargue rice, one teaspoonful of powdered mustard (I used Colemans), a pinch of oregano and basil, some Nam Pla fish sauce, paprika, and a little black pepper. Add the chopped roast pork. Stir thoroughly. Simmer for another thirty minutes, after which it will be ready to serve.

Roast Pork Loin

A bargain pork loin joint with crackling just before New Year's day meant that there was plenty of pork around in the early days of 2017.

I don't eat the crackling (essentially the fatty rind), because its chemistry doesn't agree with my metabolism, but I cooked the joint for just over two hours with the crackling still on it. Cooked in a large casserole dish at between 200 and 220 deg C (30 minutes per 500g, plus another 30 minutes).

The joint was allowed to rest overnight before carving with an electric knife (though an hour or two should be enough).

A gravy was made with some of the pork fat and juices from the joint, with ten to a dozen spring onions, one large carrot, half a bramley apple, chopped, pork stock, vegetable stock, parsley, oregano, rosemary, thyme, two pinches of paprika, and a pinch of smoked paprika. Plus a couple of dashes of Nam Pla fish sauce and a squirt of tomato puree. The gravy was simmered for an hour and then mashed. Cooked for another twenty minutes to half an hour, and then blended with an electric hand blender.

The other ingredients of the dish were white potatoes, carrots, and brussels sprouts, cooked for twenty, twenty, and nine minutes respectively. The slices of pork were reheated in a saute pan and simmered in the gravy for ten to fifteen minutes, until tender. Serve with freshly ground black pepper.

Sweet and Sour Pork Loin Stir-Fry

Cabbage, bean sprouts, sweetcorn, red and yellow peppers, red onion, pork loin, carrot, plus a sweet and sour sauce,

The pork was stir-fried first in order to make sure it was properly heated. It had been cooked on the previous day, and had spent the night in the fridge. Chopped into small squares. After three or four minutes at a high heat, the vegetables were added to the wok. Stir-fried at a high heat for three to four minutes, or seven minutes at a medium heat. 

The sweet and sour sauce was added and stirred into the mix for about ninety seconds before serving. Serve in a bowl, or on a flat plate.  

Sweet and Sour Pork Loin Stir-Fry