Chinese pork and beans is an easy working day dinner, coming together in the time it takes to steam the rice.
The flavours are akin to mapo tofu, though the crisp green beans and peanuts make it a crunchier affair. Continue reading
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Pork and cabbage gyoza
8 Oct
Gyoza are a family favourite, and the four of us can easily get through a large panful for dinner.
They are both steamed and pan-fried, resulting in a juicy interior, silky soft sides and a crisp, golden bottom.
I usually go with the classic pork and cabbage filling, but they are also very good with minced raw prawn substituted for the ground pork.
Continue reading
Pork bits Hawaiian
13 Mar
“Are we having Hawaiian pizza for dinner?” my daughter asked when she got home from school.
She was in the zone – I was making pork bits Hawaiian, a childhood favourite of mine that I hadn’t thought of in years. Continue reading
Choripán with chimichurri
4 Jul
Choripán – or grilled spicy sausage in a toasted baguette – is Latin America’s take on the hot dog.
Argentinians make their choripán with chorizo sausages and slather them in fresh chimichurri sauce – definitely a winning combination.
Choripán are ubiquitous at football matches, making them an obvious choice for our World Cup 2018 cook-off. Continue reading
Pljeskavica (Serbian hamburgers)
27 Jun
These enormous hamburgers were a no-brainer to represent Serbia in our World Cup 2018 cook-off.
They’re super-easy to make as well – the only tricky bit was flipping them.
I found it helpful to form the patties on squares of grease-proof paper. I placed them meat-side down on the grill before peeling off the paper. Continue reading
Trinxat
23 Jan
Trinxat is a homely Andorran dish of potatoes, cabbage and bacon.
While the recipe differs little from bubble and squeak, frying in olive oil rather than butter, and the addition of garlic and thyme, results in something distinct. Continue reading
Pork, chicken and cranberry pie
29 May
In the excitement of last year’s Great British Bake-off, I rashly committed to baking all of the signature bakes.
Each week, I watched with growing dread to see what overambitious baking project I’d have to tackle next. I was fine with the drizzle cake, iced biscuits and Yorkshire pudding, and managed to turn out a passable chocolate babka.
But the thought of making Danish pastries from scratch stopped me in my tracks for months.
However, I’m nothing if not an “completer-finisher” (eventually)… Since the show ended, I’ve gone on to make lemon meringue pie and Swiss roll. And at long last… pork, chicken and cranberry pie.
Strictly speaking, I seem to recall the brief was individual meat pies, but it seemed simpler to make one large pie instead.
Thai meatball noodle soup
1 Aug
Meatballs are always a safe bet with my girls – as are noodles – and we all enjoy Asian flavours, which makes this Thai meatball noodle soup is a no-brainer.
I’ve been making versions of this soup for years, and don’t follow a recipe as such. I just add the elements of a Thai broth – lemon grass, lime leaves, fish sauce and so on – then adjust the balance of flavours until I hit on something that will suit our four palates. Continue reading
Pinchitos morunos (little pork skewers)
8 Jul
There is a lovely brightness to the marinade for these pinchitos morunos. We have enjoyed these many a time in Spain and as Moro is one of my favourite London restaurants, I was happy to see this recipe in their first cookbook.
As long as you avoid overcooking it, pork loin is an excellent meat to barbeque. Served with a tossed salad, this made a lovely, light evening meal, eaten outdoors. Continue reading
Schnitzel
18 Jun
Schnitzel was on the menu pretty regularly when the girls were small. Kids generally love breaded food, and it was a safe dinner option for playdates. (I once made a little girl cry by serving her a bowl of chickpea pasta soup…)
While veal is the traditional schnitzel cut in Austria, I’ve never used it myself. Chicken, turkey, or pork – they’ve all been pounded flat, dipped in egg, and rolled in crumbs and shallow-fried round here. Continue reading
Cabbage rolls (holubtsi)
16 Jun
Cabbage rolls are the most Ukrainian of dishes, but they are also very Canadian. After all, Canada is home to more than 1.2 million Ukrainian-Canadians, – the world’s third largest Ukrainian population (after the Ukraine itself and Russia).
Where I grew up, buffets and potluck suppers always featured platters of cabbage rolls alongside the baked ham, potato salads, scalloped potatoes and tuna casseroles topped with crushed potato chips. Everyone seemed to adore them – everyone except me… Continue reading
Ulster fry
12 Jun
Along with champ, the Ulster fry is Northern Ireland’s main claim to culinary fame. What sets it apart from the usual British fry-up is the griddle breads – soda bread and potato farl – that are cooked along with everything else in a single pan, absorbing flavour (and fat) from the meat. Continue reading
Vietnamese grilled pork balls
24 Nov
These Vietnamese grilled pork balls (nem nuong) are surprisingly light, and make a nice meal with an Asian slaw or this warm glass noodle and edamame salad. Continue reading
Pork saltimbocca with asparagus and cannellini bean salad
5 Aug
Saltimbocca means ‘jumps into the mouth’ in Italian, presumably because it’s so delicious. It is good! Traditionally made with veal, I came across this recipe for pork saltimbocca in an issue of Waitrose magazine.
Actually it was the asparagus and cannellini bean salad that first caught my eye. The meat and salad combine beautifully to make a quick, tasty summer meal.
Mum’s meatloaf
4 Apr
Mum’s meatloaf is my dad’s favourite meal, and he’d always request it for his birthday supper. I included her recipe in Fern’s Food, but over the years I’ve made a couple of changes. I doubt my dad would approve, but this is the way we like it. Continue reading
Thai sausage rolls
15 Jan
These Thai sausage rolls are the pretty much the only ones I make these days. With the fresh herbs and Thai flavourings, they seem lighter and less greasy than the regular kind.
I always make a batch at Christmas, and a couple of other times throughout the year. I’ll often freeze some, to be baked from frozen on another occasion. Continue reading
Swedish meatballs (köttbullar)
11 Dec
I’ve never eaten Swedish meatballs in the IKEA café, but I have bought bags of frozen köttbullar from their food hall once or twice. They were nice enough, but these homemade Swedish meatballs are in a different league – crispy on the outside, soft and juicy within, and coated in a velvety cream sauce. Continue reading
Mapo tofu
20 Oct
Mapo tofu stirs up a lot of memories for me… Many years ago, I spent the best part of a month in China. It had only recently opened its borders to independent travellers, and hadn’t quite worked out what to do with them. This resulted in a mind-bending mixture of bewildering petty controls and anarchic freedom.
Prevented from disembarking with the other passengers on a long-distance bus journey because a particular town was off limits, we were left free to wander off along the Great Wall with a sack full of bedding and sleep overnight in a watch tower. Continue reading
Spaghetti and meatballs
16 Oct
Spaghetti with meatballs is one of the girls’ favourite suppers. It’s a bit time-consuming for a weekday meal, so it doesn’t feature as often as they would like.
After trying various recipes, I’ve pretty much settled on the one in Nigella Eats. I like the simplicity of the tomato sauce, and cooking the meatballs directly in the sauce means one less pan to wash up afterwards.
Kimchi meatloaf
28 Sep
My first thought on seeing this recipe for kimchi meatloaf was “why didn’t I think of that?” I tend to find meatloaf a bit meh – too often it’s dry and lacking in flavour. Because meatloaf is my dad’s favourite meal, mum would serve it for his birthday every year. Otherwise, it seldom made an appearance. Continue reading
Prawn and pork wonton soup
10 Sep
A steaming bowl of wonton soup is a very satisfying supper on a cool autumn evening. I put Lyra to work assembling the wontons – her little fingers are very good at pinching the wrappers together. The recipe makes enough filling for about 50 wontons. Leftover filling can be formed into meatballs and dropped into broth unwrapped, or else saved for another day. Continue reading
Banh mi sandwich
23 Aug
We’ve been making banh mi sandwiches for a while now, and have eventually settled on a house version. It calls for little meatballs instead of grilled meat, doesn’t include paté, and features cabbage in the pickle instead of the usual daikon radish – works for us! Continue reading
Mexican pork wraps
9 Aug
These Mexican pork wraps appears in Fern’s Food. As I’ve never come across Cajun seasoning in my local supermarket, I went with a mix of oregano, chilli powder, cumin and garlic instead. I’ve also used jerk seasoning when I have it. Otherwise, I was pretty much true to the original recipe.
I served the pork wraps with a watermelon feta rocket salad. Only when it was on my plate did I notice that both dishes featured the colours of the Mexican flag. Continue reading
Slavinken with appelmoes
9 Jul
It wasn’t that easy finding a Dutch World Cup meal I thought we’d all enjoy eating, especially as a lot of the food seemed more like winter fare. I eventually settled on slavinken — ground meat seasoned with herbs and wrapped in bacon before being panfried – which I served with appelmoes (applesauce). If I make these again, I’ll cook six and freeze six for another meal — Adam ate two, but the rest of us were fine with one. Continue reading
Albondigas
1 Jul
Albondigas, tortilla and gazpacho are on the menu for our Spanish World Cup meal. I don’t remember where I got this albondigas recipe from – I have a vague memory of copying it from a magazine. At any rate, I’ve been making it for years. Continue reading
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