Category: Meat

Pork cheek confit with sage sauce

Published on by Hanna5 Comments

Unusual cuts of meat have been popular for a while, probably a lot thanks to Fergus Henderson, and it is almost comical that we now pay lots of money for what used to be peasant food for our grandparent’s generation.

To me it seems like the general public only eat chicken breats, salmon fillets and beef mince. There are so much more to fish, meat and poultry than that, and as much as I enjoy different cuts for the variety I also like to buy them because they are a lot cheaper than i.e. chicken breasts.

Fresh food is expensive, but with cheaper, unusal cuts of meat you can get a wonderful tasting meal if you just learn how to cook them. Most unusual cuts are tougher but full of flavour and therefore need a slowcooking approach.

My paternal grandmother for example, cooked and ate pig’s trotters quite a lot, because it was cheap and tasty. Now I eat pig’s trotters in Michelin starred restaurants, which is nice, but a bit twisted, you must admit.

One increasingly popular cheap cut of pork is the cheeks, and I bought some in Waitrose for £2.99 a kilo. I used google to do some research on how to best cook them and found that the most common way was a confit.

The day before I made the confit, then refridgerated the pork cheeks over night, sliced them in thin slices the next day and fried them until crispy. Together with roasted vegetables and potatoes and a sauce with sage and garlic, this was a delicious yet cheap meal for two.

The pork cheeks were absolutely lovely and I will definitely cook it again soon. At the dinner table we started thinking about how else to serve it. Maybe as a starter with a salad, or with a mushroom creme, or perhaps in an indulgent sandwich? The sky is the limit!

Pork cheek confit, with sage sauce and roasted vegetables, serves 2

500 g pork cheeks

300-400 ml goose or duck fat

butter and olive oil for frying

salt & pepper

Vegetables:

5 potatoes

1 large parsnip

1 red bell pepper

1 courgette

Italian herbs

olive oil

salt och pepper

Sauce:

olive oil

2 tbsp chopped fresh sage

1 small garlic clove, pressed

100 ml creme fraiche

200 ml single cream

2 tsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tbsp Heinz chilli sauce or ketchup alt. a pinch of brown sugar

concentrated beef stock

salt & pepper

colouring agent

Place the cheeks in an ovenproof dish and cover with the fat. Place in 125C oven for 2-3 hours until the meat has browned and is tender. Take the meat out of the tray and place on a plate. Refrigerate.

Peel the potatoes and parsnip and cut into wedges. Place in a roasting tray. Slice the courgette, cut the peppers into large(ish) pieces and place in the tray. Add olive oil and Italian herbs, salt and pepper. Bake in 200C for 30-40 mins, stirring occasionally.

When the vegetables are almost cooked, start making the sauce. Heat up some olive oil in a non-stick sauce pan, on medium heat. Fry the sage and garlic for a minute or so. Add cream, creme fraiche, mustard, chilli sauce and soy. Bring to the boil and season to taste with salt and pepper and stock. Colour the sauce light brown and let it thicken.

Slice the cold cheeks into 2-3 mm thick slices. Heat up butter and olive oil on high heat in a frying pan and fry the slices until crispy. Serve with the sauce and vegetables and marvel over how wonderful this is. 

Peking duck

Published on by Hanna1 Comment

Do you like Chinese food?! Before I moved to London and encountered real Chinese, I was not a fan. Chinese food in Sweden is not the same at all. As it is cheap and instead of other dodgy take aways it is basically anything covered in batter, deep-fried and served with sweet and sour sauce. That’s miles away from soft dumplings, the lovely turnip cake, succulent ribs or Peking duck.

Peking duck or crispy and aromatic duck, as it is also called is exactly that; duck with crispy skin and soft tender meat, seasoned with five spice, a certainly aromatic spice blend.

When I was cooking this at home, I thought I had five spice in my cupboard, but no. But after googling the spice blend I realised I had all the ingredients at home and with the pestle and mortar it took me only a minute to mix the spices together.

At first I rinsed the duck and placed it in a colander. I poured the water from a recently boiled kettle over it and let it drain. I then placed the bird on a wire rack in a large roasting tin, covered with tin foil in the bottom and placed it in the oven for about 40 minutes on a low temperature to crisp up the skin. I then brushed the duck lightly with olive oil and rubbed it with the spices. Back into the oven on a higher temperature and after an hour and 15 minutes it was ready. Just like with pulled pork, you pull the meat off the bone with forks serving it with the crispy skin.

The complusory condiments are plum sauce (hoisin sauce), sticks of cucumber and spring onions and chinese pancakes.

As usual I had ordered my food from Waitrose but they failed to deliver my pancakes. After a tour around the local shops I realised I had to go to China town to find them. It was certainly a pleasure to walk around a large Chinese food shop and of course I ended up buying more than what I intended.

It was a lot easier to cook the peking duck than I expected. I found inspiration from fellow food blogger Hanna, and actually Jamie Oliver, but still cooked it my own way. Hanna’s approach to crispy skin was certainly more hard core than mine, but both methods worked. 🙂

Peking duck, serves 2-4 portioner

1 duck

water from a recently boiled kettle

olive oil

salt

bought five spice blend or your own mix (2 star anise, 1 part sechuan pepper, 1 part fennel and slightly less of cinnamon and clobes. I also added some freshly grated nutmeg. Blend together in a pestle and mortar. )

Accompaniements:

1 cucumber

1-2 bunches spring onion/ salad onion

hoisin sauce

Chinese pancakes

Rinse the duck and place in a colander. Pour a recently boiled kettle over the bird, turn so all of the bird gets in contact with the water. Drain for a minute or two. Take a large roasting tray, cover the bottom with tin foil. Place a wire rack on top and place the bird on it. Place in 120 C oven for 40 minutes. Take the roasting tray out of the oven and brush the bird all over with olive oil. Add salt and five spice. Turn the temperature up to 175C and put the duck in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn occasionally so the bird crisps up all over.  You want the duck to have crispy golden brwn skin and the juices to be clear.

Leave to rest for a few minutes, then pull the skin and meat off the bone using two forks. Serve with the accompaniements and steamed pancakes.

A nice get together in the summer house

Published on by Hanna7 Comments

Our summer house has survived many dinner parties and parties through the years, but the one we had during this holiday in Sweden was probably the best one so far. The weather was good, it was a nice group of friends and the perfect amount of people, and even the food seemed to be appreciated. 🙂

And it is so nice to have a party among old friends sometimes. Friends who without even asking just start helping you. All of a sudden Carina was doing the washing up, Linus carved the meat, Maria made coffee and Claes took charge of the camera. Thanks, guys!

I also had both Malin and Emma to help me in the kitchen with the canapés (and the gossip) and they did a great job (followed orders, I mean).

We started off with two canapés, both found on a lovely Swedish foodblog: Pyttes. We had fried halloumi with grilled peppers and crustades with girolles. Both adorable and extremely tasty!

As a starter I chose a dish I have made before and love; the salmon tartar with cream cheese topping. It is a great summery dish that looks more difficult to make than it is, plus you can prepare it in advance.

For the mains we had barbecued chicken with lemon and rosemary and barbecued leg of lamb marinated in red wine, garlic and rosemary. With this we served celeriac gratin, tomatoes provencale and small carrots.

The dessert was prepared in advance as well, the best way to do it for a large gathering I think. I had made an elderflower pannacotta with passionfruit on top, and it was really nice actually, made with mothers homemade elderflower cordial.

I poured the panna cotta into disposable plastic cups, not very sexy, but nice to skip the washing up, when there is 17 of you!

Thank you to all my great friends for coming!

Halloumi canapés with grilled peppers, serves 20 if combined with another canapé.

2 packets of halloumi

5 bell peppers

1 bunch of basil

crema di balsamico

olive oil for frying

cocktail sticks/small scewers

Cut the peppers into big chunks. Rinse and place on a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season. Put the tray in the oven until the peppers are soft and has got some colour, about 25 minutes, 200C, this step you can do in advance.

Slice the hallomi and fry in olive oil until golden, just before serving. Place a piece of pepper and a piece of halloumi on a cocktail stick with a basil leaf in between. Place on platter and repeat until it is all used up. Drizzle crema di balsamico on the platter. Serve with napkins.

Crustades with girolles, serves 12-18 together with another canapé

2 packs (48 pieces) of crustades (you find them in Waitrose)

500 g girolles

butter for frying

150-200 g garlic and herb cream cheese

50 ml sourcream or creme fraiche

1 tsp honey

1 tsp dijon mustard

salt, white pepper

chives to decorate

Clean the mushrooms and chop them. Fry in butter on high heat. Remove from pan to a bowl and add the cream cheese, sour cream, mustard and honey. Season to taste. Fill the crustades with the mixture just before serving (otherwise the crustades go soggy). Cut the chives and sprinkle on top. Serve and enjoy!

Barbecued whole chicken with rosemary and lemon, 8-10 people at a buffet

2 medium chickens

50 g softened butter

rosmary

1 lemon

4 garlic cloves

Rinse the birds. Mix the butter with lemon peel and rosemary leaves. Season the birds and cut pockets in the skin above the breasts. Fill the pockets with butter and smear the rest of the butter around the birds. Cut the lemon in half and place each half the the bird’s cavarties. Place the chickens in a cooking bag each. Place 2 garlic cloves in each bag. Cut a small whole on the top of the bag (as a chimney) and place the chickens in the oven on 200C for about 45 minutes or until almost done. Remove from the bags and place on the barbecue and cook until done (clear juices at the joints).

Barbecued leg of lamb with red wine, rosemary and garlic, serves 12

2 legs of lamb

1 bottle red wine

1 bunch rosmary

garlic

Season the meat on all sides and place in a cooking bag each. Add rosemary sprigs and garlic to the bags and pour half the bottle in each bag. Let the meat marinate for 24 hours, make sure to turn the bag a few times so it marinated evenly. Cut a small whole on the top of the bags (as a chimney) and place the bags in the oven (200C) for about an hour. A meat thermometer is a great tool here, but unfortunately our old one in the summer house didn’t work. Take the meat out of the bags and barbecue at the end to get the crisp and sooty outside. Let the meat rest before carving.

Tomatoes provencale, serves 2-4

2 large tomatoes

3-4 tbsp grated parmesan

5 tbsp breadcrumbs

1 garlic clove

chopped parsley

olive oil

Cut the tomatoes in half (nicest if you cut vertically). Place with the cut side up and brush with oliv oil. Bake in 200 C for 15 minutes. Mix parmesan, breadcrumbs, garlic and parsley in a bowl. Add enough olive oil for the mixture to soak it up. Season the tomatoes and place a spoonful of the mixture on each halve. Bake for another 10-15 minutes. Serve warm.

Elderflower pannacotta, serves 6

700 ml cream (I mixed  single and double)

4 tbsp concentrated elderflower cordial (preferrably homemade)

40 g caster sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

3 gelatine leaves

Decoration: 2 passion fruits + 2 tsp icing sugar

It is best to make this dessert the day before serving so it has time to set properly. Cover the gelatine leaves with cold water in a bowl. Mix sugar, cream and vanilla in a non-stick saucepan. Bring to the boil and remove from heat. Squeeze the water out of the gelatine leaves and add them to the cream mixture. Stir so they dissolve evenly. Add the elderflower cordial and leave the mixture for 30 minutes to cool down. Pour into plastic cups or small bowls. Leave to cool completely before putting them into the fridge. Leave them overnight to set.

On the same day, scoop out the passionfruit and mix with the icing sugar. Divide the mixture between the pannacottas and spread it out over the top. Serve and realise with the first spoonful that you have gone to heaven.

Barbecue and canapés with girolles

Published on by Hanna1 Comment

The second day in Southern Sweden we spent the day in Falsterbo, a lovely little town by the seaside because Christopher was playing golf with Claes there all day, at a links course with insane amounts of water but nice views. I don’t play golf, so I spent the day with my best friend Emma (Claes’s fiancée). We gossiped a lot, had lunch at a nice café and prepared dinner for the boys. When they got back feeling tired after a day outside, we bribed them with beer to light the barbecue, while we took care of the rest of the cooking.

When we went to the supermarket I was pleased to see that they had lots of fresh girolles, that are in season now. It is my favourite mushroom and I find it really sad that I can’t buy them in a normal supermarket here in the UK. Girolles are best paired with butter and garlic and they make out a simple, but delicious, canapé.

We also had souvlaki, a nice salad with cucumber, tomatoes, leafy mixed salad, red onions and plenty of feta and another salad with giant couscous, pitta and homemade tzatsiki.

Emma gave the sauce top marks! It tastes fantastic with fat yoghurt and a big glug of olive oil. Yu-um…

I prefer giant couscous to the smaller variety, it is chewier and tastes better I think. In the salad above I kept it really simple, adding just thin slivers of red onion, herb salt, olive oil and chopped parsley. Simple yet delicious.

Girolle canapés, serves 4

100-150 g girolles, brushed and chopped

1/2 solo garlic or 1 garlic clove, pressed

a large knob of butter (enough to coat the mushrooms generously but not enough for them to bathe in)

chopped parsley

a bag of readymade brushettinis (garlic and herb if available

Fry the girolles on high heat in some of the butter. Add more butter as well as the garlic and lower the heat (so the garlic won’t burn). Season and mix in the parsley. Scoop up onto the biscuits and serve.

Pork souvlaki

Published on by Hanna4 Comments

At this time of year, I want to barbecue every meal, but living in a small flat without garden or balcony I can only dream. And invite myself over to other people with outdoor space and a barbecue.

But some dishes work quite well in a frying pan, although they won’t have the smoky taste a barbecue provides.This dish worked really well on the hob, and because I fried in I didn’t bother to put the meat on scewers, but I would advise you to do that if you are barbecuing.

This souvlaki is made with pork and absolutely lovely. The lemon juice tenderises the meat, and adds flavour together with garlic, olive oil and plenty of oregano.

Served with feta cheese and homemade strong tsatziki and pitta, this is a fab summer summer. A nice Greek salad would be a nice addition as well.

Pork souvlaki, serves 2

320 g pork shoulder, diced

50 ml olive oil

juice from 1 lemon

1-2 tbsp oregano (it needs a lot)

1 small garlic clove, pressed

black pepper

salt

Mix all the ingrediens in a bowl and leave to marinate in the fridge for ideally 48 hours. Fry on high heat in a frying pan or put on scewers and wack them on the barbecue.

Tzatsiki, serves 2

200 ml thick Greek yoghurt, 2 % fat

8 cm cucumber, peeled and grated

3 tbsp olive oil

1-2 garlic cloves, pressed

salt

white pepper

more olive oil to drizzle

Squeeze the water out of the grated cucumber and mix with the yoghurt. Add garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Leave for at least 20 minutes to develop flavour. Drizzle some olive oil on top before serving. 

Stuffed peppers my way

Published on by Hanna1 Comment

As my brain is always on food mode, sometimes dinner ideas pop up in my head as a rough sketch and then when I stand in the kitchen with my nippy on it all just comes together.

A few days ago I was planning to make stuffed peppers and lamb mince seemed like the obvious choice. And just about to start cooking the seasoning just came to me. Sumac, garlic, cumin, a hint of chilli, paprika to further enhance the peppers. And it really worked. I prebaked the peppers on their own while cooking the mince separetly, then stuffed the peppers and topped them with grated strong cheddar. Baked for a while longer and served with rice and a cold sauce with sambal oelek. Perfect weekday bliss!

Stuffed peppers my way, serves 2-3

3-4 bell peppers

500 g lamb mince

olive oil

1 tsp sumac

2 tsp sweet paprika

1 tbsp cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp turmeric

2 tsp concentrated beef stock

1 tbsp mild chilli sauce

1 handful grated sharp cheddar

Cut a lid off each pepper. Clear out the seeds and membranes. Rinse and place on parchment paper in a tin. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and white pepper. Bake for about 20 mins in 200C. Fry the mince in olive oil in a frying pan. Add the spices, garlic, chilli sauce, stock, salt and pepper. Season to taste.

Pour the liquid away from the peppers. Fill them with the mince. Add the grated cheese on top. Put them back in the oven for another 15 mins. Place a pepper on a plate and put the lid on a bit ascew. Serve with rice and the cold sauce below.

Cold sauce with sambal oelek

200 ml creme fraiche

2 tsp sambal oelek

1 tbsp mild chilli sauce

salt

white pepper

Mix all the ingredients. Leave for half an hour before serving. 

Another version of pulled pork

Published on by Hanna2 Comments

If you have not yet gotten around to cooking (and eating) pulled pork, I urge you to get on it straight away. It is so incredibly easy to make, and it basically cooks itself and most of all, it tastes amazing. Amazing. Is that not enough to convince you?!

OK, add a squirt of lime, a sprinkle of cheese, maybe a dollop of tangy creme fraiche and serve it all on a tortilla wedge fried in butter with a side of slaw. It is utter heaven. Heaven.

I have cooked pulled pork once before, and it was really nice, but this time I played around a bit more and it turned out even better. I had to alter the recipe though, because I didn’t get the chipotle I had ordered with my food shop. Instead I used Reggae reggae sauce, added more spices and a splash of cognac to it, smeared the chunk of meat with it, added onions and garlic, and let it cook itself for a good few hours, before tearing the meat apart with forks, it is that tender, and reducing the sauce to a more syrup-like sauce and mix it in with the meat. Then I just stuffed my face and was even a little sad that I started to get full and couldn’t eat anymore. That’s how good this is.

Pulled pork – a second version, serves 4

1,1 kg boneless pork loin joint

1 onion, sliced

2 garlic cloves, sliced

100 ml Reggae reggae sauce or other BBQ sauce

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp ground coriander

salt

black pepper

a splash of cognac/whisky

Place the meat in a casserole dish. Mix all ingredients apart from onions and garlic and smear it onto the meat. Place onions and garlic on top of the meat. Turn on the slowcooker on low heat for 3 hours, and then turn it up to high heat for 1-1,5 hours or in a 125C oven for 4 hours. Just make sure the casserole dish isn’t dry, if so, add some water. Let the meat rest for a while in tin foil, then pull apart with two forks. Pour the liquid from the casserole dish into a sauce pan and reduce on high heat until syrupy. Mix it with the pulled apart meat. Serve and enjoy!

Bacon-wrapped pork patties with za’atar

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

As you might recall, we went to Syria on holiday before all hell broke loose over there, in March. And I still found myself so grateful for the experience. Especially the food experience, of course. Like za’atar, and especially the great blend we managed to get our hands on thanks to the food tour that showed us this spice wholesaler in Damascus. They had three different blends of za’atar, they were all really nice and we had trouble choosing. But then they pulled out another blend; a mixture of the three blends according to an old secret recipe and the result was amazing.

I deeply treasure that bag or Syrian gold, and I don’t want to waste it, but I don’t want it to sit in my cupboard either, so once in a while I get the bag out and cook with it.

This is a very simple weekday recipe made so much more interesting with the za’atar, and the sesame thyme blend works really well on pork. It was utterly delicous! I served it with potato wedges and some halloumi that joined the potatoes for 5-10 mins in the oven and some asparagus. Simple and lovely.

Baconlindade fläskfärsbiffar med za’atar, 3 portioner

500 g pork mince

1 egg

100 ml breadcrumbs

1 tbsp za’atar

a pinch of salt

white pepper

1 packet streaky bacon

Mix all the ingredients apart from the meat in a bowl. Let it swell for a few minutes. Add the mince and mix thoroughly with a wooden fork. Shape to patties and wrap in bacon. Fry until golden on both sides in a frying pan, then transfer to the oven until cooked through. Serve with potato wedges, halloumi and asparagus, and maybe a nice cold sauce. 

Four course dinner

Published on by Hanna4 Comments

Our friends Malin and Martin have been staying with us Wednesday to Sunday last week, and we did the most of eating and drinking during that time. 🙂

On Friday we met up with them after work and walked to our favourite Terroirs for a glass or two. OK, two. We take most our visiting friends here for drinks as it is such a nice a place. We were a little hungry so we nibbled on bread and nice green olives before we headed home to eat dinner.

While I was cooking we had some Pimm’s and snacks and after half an hour or so we were ready to eat properly.

We had Delia’s smashing halloumi with lime vinaigrette as a starter, followed by lamb neck fillet with French potato salad and asparagus.

For dessert we had vanilla pannacotta with strawberries and raspberries and a pinch of icing sugar, followed by a cheese board, sourdough bread, crackers and port.

Yep, we were very sleepy and full after all this. The next day the gluttany continued with a big brunch and Henley Regatta, which I will post tomorrow.

Aubergine gratin with mozzarella and pancetta

Published on by HannaLeave a comment

Before I made the absolutely gorgeous aubergine lasagne, I came up with this – its predecessor. And boy, this was good too! Can it be anything but delicious when combining aubergines with buffalo mozzarella and pancetta, I wonder? NO!

I really enjoyed this calorific dish, but on its own it was not enough. At least my body was craving carbs and not just salad. I would recommend perhaps a mixed bean salad, garlic bread or rice with this, although it is lovely on its own as well.

Aubergine gratin with pancetta and mozzarella, serves 2

2 aubergines

olive oil

100 g pancetta

400 g chopped tomatoes

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

plenty of Italian herbs

a pinch of brown sugar

salt, pepper

1 buffalo mozzarella

cheddar

Peel the aubergines and slice them lengthways. Fry them until soft in plenty of olive oil. Make a tomato sauce by letting chopped tomatoes, balsamic, sugar and herbs reduce. Fry the pancetta crisp and drain on kitchen towel. Slice the mozzarella. Pour some tomato sauce into a gratin dish, place a layer of aubergines at the bottom, then mozzarella and pancetta. Continue layering, topping it with tomato sauce and cheddar. Bake for 25 mins, 200 C.