Pork with Celery in a Cream Sauce

The pressure of photographing a plated meal and getting it to the table piping hot, the only way the Darling likes his food, has been a bit of a hurdle, so am trying a different approach.... 'Take a pic in a pot'........

Firstly, brown the pork pieces in a heavy based casserole or fry pan in oil. transfer pork to a plate.

Add onion and celery to pan and cook until soft and onion is just translucent.

Add the stock to the pan, stir well to scrape up all the pork brownings.

Add cream, stir well and place pork and any juices back into pan.


Cover and cook until pork is done and sauce has started to thicken approx. 7 - 10 mins


Plate and serve with your choice of vegies.



We had these,

The potatoes were boiled in salted water until just soft, drained and returned to the heat for a few seconds to dry off.

Pour over the herbs & olive oil that have been whizzed together in a mini blender.




The carrots were also boiled in salted water, drained and returned to the heat with a little maple syrup poured over and allowed to reduce and caramelise.






The freshest of fresh purple and green beans, grown by a neighbour, along with the brocolli, were steamed over the carrots and served just as they were.

We had our No. 1 Grandson for dinner last night, he was quite entranced with the magic of beans that change colour when cooked.


Pork and Celery Casserole Serves 4

1kg pork fillet, trimmed and cut into serving sized pieces
2 - 3 sticks celery, sliced thickly
1 onion coarsley chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
150 mls stock or water
100 mls cream
salt and pepper.

This recipe is also successful using a 1kg piece of loin pork, but the liquid needs to be increased by adding another 150mls of stock or white wine, increase the cream to 150mls and cook in a covered casserole in moderate oven for approx. 40 mins.

Summer Salads

Bought a new cookbook the other day, just to inspire me away from the same old dishes that I had recently fallen into the habit of preparing.

It's "fresh + fast" by Michele Cranston, A Marie Clair cookbook, and it certainly lives up to its name, you can check it out here http://www.murdochbooks.com.au/mcfreshfast.htm .

I got my copy from Big W for just over $20 and I know that it is going to supply some new family favourite recipes.

I made the Ham Salad with peach and pecans but instead of whole pecans I ground some and sprinkled them over the top.

I peeled the peaches and put them in the balsamic and olive oil dressing about an hour before the Darling got home, so the peaches are a little coloured by the balsamic, but the flavour was wow!, I also pulled the mozzarella cheese apart ahead of time, so at the last minute was able to layer the rocket, mozzarella, peaches and ham and then sprinkle the pecan meal over the top. A fast but tasty and satisfying meal for the end of a busy day.

The Apple & Crasin Salad is my own creation and the potato salad is inspired by Stephanie Alexander, using olive oil and herbs instead of a mayonnaise dressing.

APPLE CRASIN SALAD:- so fast and easy, just finely slice half a crisp apple, I used Granny smith but any other apple would be fine. Half a celery stick, finely sliced and about a Tablespoon of crasins, for a dressing I mixed a dash of apple cider vinegar into a Tablespoon of plain yoghurt, Tossed the apple,celery and crasins through the yoghurt and done.

The POTATO SALAD was peeled and steamed Kipfler potatoes, chunked and while still hot,coated with a dressing of olive oil, Thyme, Oregano and Parsley all whizzed together in the mini-processor, put into a serving bowl, covered and left to come to room temperature.

For some reason every new line is a double line so have had to type the recipes as above, otherwise this post would be so long you would fall asleep getting to the bottom.

Wednesday night we had Minted Lamb Kebabs from the butchers and a lovely Watermelon and feta Salad from 'fresh + fast',

It was so easy, just the watermelon, feta, olives, mint leaves and celery with dressing.

Roast Pork Fillet with Creamy Mustard Sauce

Too busy enjoying my early birthday pressie to shop, so another quick grab from the freezer, thawed a pork fillet while the Darling was teaching me the odd thing or two (or ten) about download, uploads or even side loads, boy am I confused.........
Yep you guessed, clever you, I got a new computer, my old one had 40 thingies and this one has 360 thingies, so it is expected that there will be no more screaming conniptions about lack of storage space or operating space, or whatever.
Now I know you will find this hard to believe, but somehow or other between retrieving the recipe and then activating the net, I have actually lost the recipe for this dish, so this is what I did, not an actual recipe.

Mustard Crumb Coating
1 45grm egg, whisked with
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Process together in mini food processor
1 1/2 slices white bread,
1 large sprig curly parsley
1 small clove garlic
salt & Pepper

Trim the pork fillet from all sinew and fat, cut into 2 serving portions, coat each portion with egg-mustard mix, then coat with the crumb mix.
Place in oiled baking dish and bake for 30 mins.

Creamy Mustard Sauce
1 tiny onion, finely chopped,
1 teaspoon oil
1 Dessertspoon Sherry Vinegar or White Wine Vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
2 Tablespoons Light Sour Cream

Soften onion in oil over medium heat, add Sherry Vinegar and simmer until reduced a little, add Mustard and Sour cream, stir over heat until combined. Serve over Pork Fillet.

I served the pork with roasted Vegies at the Darlings request, but as a little extra for Moi, (like I need any extra) I did a cauliflower crisp dish which is just little cauli flowerettes, a teaspoon of each oil and butter, 1 tablespoon fresh breadcrumbs and a pinch of finely chopped parsley, salt and peper, Mix all together in a hot pan, then into a small gratinee or other dish, pop it into the oven with Pork and Vegetables for 15 mins. Crispy and nicely flavoured.

Lunch with a young man

Lunch at Merlots Cafe in Buderim with youngest Grandie ordering pancakes with Maple Syrup, the rest of us opted for a selection of Burgers, all nice, fresh food and certainly lots of it









Breakfast and Lunch in one meal. Dinner tonight will be something very simple.

Minced Beef Curry with Vegetables.

End of the week and not fussed on cooking, but wanted something warming, so scratched this together with what was in the fridge. Surprisingly it came together quite well, would have been so much better with cubed beef but the mince worked quite well.

Grandson's 7th. Birthday

Tonight is Party Night, lots of kiddies party food, lots of yummy chicken nibblies, on sticks and in other guises.
But what took the cake was...........the cake. His Mum made him this great cake, only a few crumbs left it was such a hit.

Blue Jelly stars in Lemonade makes for very glamorous drinks for the younger folk.

Not a Keeper..........Linguini with Chicken and Semi- Dried Tomatoes

Got this little Gem off the net. The flavour, which should have been so good was a little flat. So not a keeper, the Darling said it wasn't bad, in fact he would be happy to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow, but really not under the heading of "Lets have that again"

Beef and Mushroom Casserole - A Blessed Meal

Today was present shopping day for our Grandsons 7th. Birthday. Started out at 9a.m., we managed to pull into the driveway at 2.30 p.m. I was pooped and he wanted to open "just one Pressie", which, after a phone call to Grandad he did. He then helped prepare dinner, very, very, carefully learning how to handle a sharp knife and cutting meat into cubes. Another milestone moment in his life. He has always sat on the bench by the stove and helped to cook, and when his baby brother joined him on the bench, he was the one to show the way, just how you hold a spoon to carefully stir, just how quick you give a burst of power to the mini food processor and then a longer burst and then just let it go until the job is done. Ahh, wonderful memories.

Beef and Mushroom Casserole
1 slice round steak, trimmed and cubed
5 mushrooms, quartered
1 onion cut into large chunks
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
1/2 cup red wine
1 - 2 cups stock or water
Salt and Pepper
2 teaspoons plain flour
1 tablespoon olive oil

Heat oil, add onions and garlic and saute until onion is translucent. Remove to casserole dish
Add beef in small lots to fry pan and brown well, removing each batch to casserole dish
Deglaze fry pan with red wine, add a little stock if needed and scrape up all browning's, add to casserole. Add remaining stock. Season and place in oven for approx. 1 hour., 15 mins prior to serving, mix plain flour with extra water or stock and stir into casserole, allow to thicken and then serve.

Crumbed Parsnips
2 baby or small parsnips
1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 slice white bread, crumbed in processor
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh parsley

Peel and cube parsnips, steam until beginning to soften
Melt butter in pan, add parsnips and breadcrumbs, stirring and turning until browned, add half of the parsley.
Keep warm and when served top with a little extra chopped parsley.

A Melding off Cullinary Tastes

Just didn't want to venture forth this arvo so made do with what was in the fridge. So what do you do with Purple Congo Potatoes and Round Steak??

Found a recipe that takes round steak from casserole meat to pan fried steak, and I have to say that the flavour was great. The purple congo potatoes were not such a hit, the Darling was not impressed at all, as you can see from the pic above, the potatoes tended to fall apart easily and were quite mealy in texture. Maybe I chose the wrong way to cook and present them.
The round steak on the other hand was quite a success. Loved the flavours and the sauce.

Steak Au Poivre (Round Steak Style) - 2 Servings
2 serving size pieces of round steak, trimmed
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon of Mixed Peppercorns, Black, Green, Pink & White
2 teaspoons butter
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup red wine
salt
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

Place the garlic, peppercorns and butter in a small food processor and whizz until peppercorns are coarsely ground
Spread pepper butter on both sides of steak and allow to sit for a few mins.

Heat heavy pan, add steaks and cook until done to your liking, approx 4 mins, remove to plate to keep warm.
Add wine to pan to deglaze, add cream and mustard, continue cooking until reduced to a thicker sauce and test for seasoning.
Cut the steak diagonally across the grain into thin slices and pour gravy over. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.

The purple congo potatoes were done as a potato bake with onion and garlic, and mozzarella slices on top.

Fettuccine with Prawns and Roasted Tomato Sauce

Found the biggest prawns we have seen in a long time at the local fishmongers, Ocean Wares in Buderim, so collaborated with the Support Team for dinner, I shopped, Support Team worked together to produced a beautiful meal and the Darling entertained the Grandies while the cooking was done. Great system. The recipe is based on one of Stephanie Alexanders.

The first step is the oven roasted tomato sauce










The prawns hit the pan, the sauce is quickly added and simmered for a few mins, well drained fettucini is then tossed through and Viola...
The finished dish



With some beautiful crusty bread to soak up the juices

and a bowl of Parmigiano-Reggiano, very finely grated on a Microplane zester, the cheese was so light and airy, like picking up a cloud. I'm sure it improved the flavour of an already great cheese.

Roasted Tomato Sauce
8 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 onion, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
1 red chilli, toped and tailed and split open
1/3 cup olive oil
salt

Place tomatoes, onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, chilli and oil into a med sized baking dish, so that ingredients are about 4cm deep. Roast in 180deg. C oven for approx. 1 hour, until onions is soft and tomatoes are browning a little on edges but there are still plenty of juices, remove bay leaf and chilli. Add salt if needed. Return sauce to oven but turn heat off.

Prawns
20 large prawns (approx. 2kg), heads removed, shelled and deveined
1 Tablespoon olive oil
grated zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
400g fresh fettuccine
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped plus extra for decoration.

Cook fresh pasta according to directions, drain

Quickly saute prawn meat in oil in a frying pan, Scatter over parsley, zest and lemon juice. Add tomato sauce and simmer over a brisk heat for a few mins, add fettuccine, toss well and transfer to serving bowl, scatter chopped parsley over and serve.

Sweet and Sour Lamb

Table all set for dinner.

When I first made this dish I thought it would be a good "do ahead" dish for entertaining. Today was the day to try it out, and as it was for entertaining those I love, I chose to use a boned leg of lamb, the dish was really well received, but in all honesty was it twice as good (reflecting the doubling of the cost), as the first time using lamb shoulder chops? I really don't think so. The presentation of the dish isn't spectacular, it is after all a casserole and its charm is in its complex flavours, so if it turns into an oft used recipe I wouldn't hesitate to use shoulder chops or a boned shoulder of lamb.

A basket of assorted fresh rolls to soak up the juices.












The side dishes were steamed tiny cocktail potatoes tossed in olive oil and parsley, Peas, and Glazed Root Vegetables including parsnips. Now parsnips have unpleasant childhood memories of nasty woody things that had to be eaten and Sis (one of the dinner party) flatly refused to have one touch her plate, fair enough as I was a bit nervous myself. However we were all very pleasantly surprised, with Sis relenting and trying a piece.

Glazed Root Vegetables Serves 4
1 bunch of dutch carrots, peeled and tops trimmed back to aprox. 1 1/2 inches, or 3 - 4 cm.
8 Shallots, trimmed close to the root and peeled
2 baby or young parsnips, peeled and halved lengthwise
1 medium sized beetroot, steamed until tender, skin slipped off and when cooled, cut into quarters
1 1/2 - 2 cups, approx. stock or water. The stock gives a richer flavour.
a knob of butter, approx 1 Tablespoon
pinch of salt.

Select a pan or baking dish that will hold all the vegetables in a single layer without crowding. Add the stock and knob of butter, heat slowly until butter has melted into stock, add vegetables except beetroot, sprinkle with salt and place in oven until just done, there should be just a little syrupy stock left, add more stock as vegetables cook if necessary. When just done turn off heat and leave to cool in oven. This can be done several hours in advance.
To serve, place pan on stove top and reheat, turning the vegetables in the glaze until heated through, about 5 mins. transfer to shallow serving dish, add quartered beetroot to pan and turn in glaze until heated through, add to other vegetables in server.

We finished off the meal with a lovely Apple Crumble, made by Sis, Yum. Very fond of Apple Crumble. We had it with cream and Ice-cream which was served in its own little dish. Another do-ahead tip

Winter Night, Moroccan Warmer

Warm flavours and warming food needed tonight. Found a very elaborate 4 page recipe on the net for a Moroccan pork dish that gave me inspiration.
I used a pre-packaged rub from Zest foods on a fillet of pork, left it at room temperature to absorb the lovely flavours for half an hour.

The pork fillet was to be served with a red cabbage side dish, cardamon glazed carrots and potatoes drenched with a parsley olive oil dressing. All of which turned out rather well, what didn't turn out well was the fact that yet again, I lost the pics, rats...rats...rats... the Darling is searching Twit as I type, he knows of a free program "out there" to recover lost sd cards, at the moment we are still searching. So, on to how I made these dishes.

Oven Roasted Moroccan Pork
Pork Fillet
Chermoula Moroccan Rub
1/2 cup stock, pork, or chicken

Trim the pork fillet of all fat and sinew, rub rather liberally with the Chermoula Moroccan Rub and leave covered at room temperature for about 30 mins. to absorb the flavours. It was so cold here I guess it I left it for more like an hour, especially as the pork was still a little icy from thawing from the freezer, if it was warm weather I would pop it into the fridge for more like 2 hours, then leave it out for about 15 mins.

Pre-heat oven to 180 deg. C.
Heat a heavy baking dish on stove top, with a little oil. When hot add pork fillet, turning to brown, place baking dish in oven for 10 mins to cook pork until still a little pink in the center, remove from oven and place fillet on plate in a warm place to rest. Return baking dish to oven top, pour in stock to deglaze pan.
Slice pork and plate, add any juices to deglazed pan, and pour over pork slices.

Moroccan Red Cabbage
2 teaspoon olive oil
2 handfuls very finely shredded red cabbage
1/2 half finely sliced pink lady or other sweet apple
1/2 red onion, finely sliced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon butter
1 small clove garlic, finely chopped
pinch each of cinnamon, ground cumin, cayenne pepper
1/4 cup chicken stock

Heat the oil in a heavy based pan, add onions and let sweat for 5 mins to soften, add the apple and sweat for another 5 mins, add the rest of the ingredients, except the chicken stock, and cook over a very low heat until cabbage has wilted and softened, adding a little chicken stock as needed. Turn off heat and allow to rest, 1 min prior to serving cabbage, reheat on med heat, add a sprinkle of chicken stock if needed.

Cardamom Glazed Carrots
1 cardamom pod, hulled and ground
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon butter
1 tablespoon orange juice
a little water or stock

Heat oil and butter in pan, add freshly ground cardamom, shake to incorporate into oil/butter mix, add carrots, toss to coat, add orange juice and cook, covered over low heat, adding a few drops of water or stock as needed.

Cottage Pie

Really felt the need of some comfort food last night, and so Cottage Pie filled the bill.

Served it with sauteed mushrooms, steamed corn with red capsicum, steamed beans and broccolini.

There are many recipes for Cottage Pie, this one is just the same as everyone else's, only I added a large broccoli stalk, very finely chopped, in with the minced beef and onion at the browning stage, and a splash of Worcestershire sauce.

Sauteed Mushrooms
5 medium button mushrooms, cut into narrow wedges
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon plain flour, approx
1 tablespoon stock
1 teaspoon olive oil

Slightly heat olive oil, add garlic and wedges of mushrooms, fry over medium heat until almost done, keeping mushrooms from browning too much, add the Worcestershire sauce and sprinkle just enough flour over to take up juices, stir until flour has taken up juices and cooked a little, add stock and stir. The mushrooms will be nice and tender with just a little sauce clinging to the wedges.

Veal Cutlets with Tomato and Fetta Cheese Sauce

Tuesdays dinner was Veal cutlets, pan fried served with a Tomato and Feta Cheese sauce with Cheesy Potato Wedges, bacon stuffed mushroom cap and steamed beans.

Make your favourite tomato sauce using fresh or canned tomatoes. Cut a slice of Feta cheese into cubes.

Steam the potato either peeled or unpeeled, cool slightly then cut into wedges
Whip egg white until just frothy, add potato wedges and allow to sit for a few mins.

Pre heat oven to 200deg C.

Heat a heavy based baking dish on stove top, cook finely chopped bacon and mushroom stalks until just beginning to crisp, turn off heat and remove bacon and mushroom to bowl with breadcrumbs, parsley and Worcestershire sauce. Mix and stuff into mushroom caps.

Reheat baking dish.

Add Veal cutlets and turn as soon as sealed,
add stuffed mushrooms to baking dish,
Remove potatoes from egg white wash and dredge with Parmesan cheese, add to baking dish, sprinkle any left over cheese over wedges.
Place baking dish into hot oven for 5 - 7 mins, the chops will cook, the potatoes crisp and the mushroom will be nicely done.

Plate the Veal, potatoes and stuffed mushroom, top the Veal with the warm tomato sauce and Feta cheese, serve with a steamed green vegetable or a simple green salad.

Cheesy Potato Wedges - 2 Serves
1 large Coliban potato
1 egg white
1 - 2 Tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese

Stuffed Mushroom Caps
1 rasher bacon, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 medium mushroom caps, cleaned and stalk removed, finely chop mushroom stalk and add to bacon.

Merlots Cafe

Our usual Monday catch up lunch with our youngest was a simple affair today, for son an omelet for a late lunch and we had coffee and cake.

Buffet Lunch at Crown Plaza, then Lamb on the Spit for Dinner.

Looking back over the pools toward the resort, the restaurant is on the same level as the Palm Trees, and overlooks the reflection pools and canal. The Golf Clubhouse is the building on the right of the picture. Unfortunately, too far away for me to capture, there were 3 kangaroos sunning themselves further down on the green in front of the clubhouse.

We were invited by youngest son to try the new Buffet Lunch and were most impressed, the service is excellent and the food was wonderful and plentiful, every dish had a faint addition of herbs or spice for extra flavour, almost unnoticeable and not readily identifiable, very cleverly done.
We started with thin slices of roast beef with a Pommery mustard rub served with a red wine jus, carved for us by Chef Michael, then on to the ever so tender roast loin of pork and crackling with caramelised apple rings and apple sauce. The hot vegetables were tiny new potatoes, roasted pumpkin and sweet potato, braised asian greens with just the tiniest hint of chilli. The salads were a light fluffy cous cous with moroccan spices and yoghurt dressing, a lovely wild rocket with finely shaved fuji apple, a tomato and parmesan salad and a potato salad with a light creamy wholegrain mustard dressing, there were beautiful breads, fresh rolls straight from the oven, fresh fruits and lovely torts and cheesecakes. All in all, more than you could try in one sitting.

The view from the edge of the restaurant out over the reflection pools to the canal with its abundance of water fowl and on to some very expensive real estate.

On the way home we got a call from the Support Team (middle son) inviting us to dinner. He was roasting a leg of lamb on the B.B.Q, well that's a treat we wouldn't want to say no to. The lamb was meltingly tender with just the right amount of pink and a wonderful flavour. He did a red wine marinade that he used to continually baste the lamb while it turned over the flames. The remainder of the marinade made a very nice red wine gravy.

A large platter of roasted vegetables to go with the lamb, crisped and fluffy potatoes, onions, zucchini, carrots and pumpkin and a dish of cauliflower and brocolli cheese, nicely browned around the edges. Yummo.
So in all we had 3 separate meals with our 3 sons this weekend. Surely a record for us and very enjoyable. Guess who's on a diet next week? .....again.