Recipe: Apple Spiced Pork Loin with Mustard Sauce

Everything happens to everybody sooner or later if there is time enough. – George Bernard Shaw 

Excellent way to serve pork loin. Spiced and fork tender!

It's Sunday again and, like many Maritime families, dinner will be the "Sunday joint." In Nova Scotia that's a euphemism for a big chunk of meat – usually a roast.

A roast takes time. Why not switch it up slightly and serve a spiced, braised loin of pork? This actually takes less effort than your usual chunk of roast. I believe one of the local groceries even have pork loin on sale this week.

I used a ceramic tureen to mainate and cook in. The loin
just fit and the liquid came up around the side.

This may sound a bit of an odd thing when you read the directions but works amazingly well. My inspiration started out life as a marinade that used an already pickled pork roast. 

Since I didn't have a pickled pork roast – but did have a fresh loin – I started to think. That's always a dangerous proposition!

Why couldn't you do a sort of "quick pickle" using the same sort of spices and ingredients you would if you marinated the meat for a whole week? You can, it turns out. 

Marinating the meat for only 8 hours in the spices imparts the flavours in a gentle way. Cooking in the same spices increases those flavours. This doesn't taste like pickled pork. It's more of a spiced meat, hence the name. It's really good.

Marinating in vinegar certainly made this meat fork tender. Loin is notorious for being dry if cooked improperly. Cooking it in the spices, and substituting the marinade vinegar for apple cider just before cooking, made a moist, delicious main course. 

The mustard sauce is gilding the lily, but well worth the 5 minutes it takes just before serving.

I hope you like this recipe. It's one of those dishes that you can start marinating before you go to work and is ready to go in the oven when you get home.

By the way, the beans in the picture on top are my own pickled beans recipe. They were great. (Recipe here.)

Apple Spiced Pork Loin with Mustard Sauce

Marinade: 8 hours  |  Cook: 1 hour  |  Serves 6-8

1.5 to 2 lb pork loin

12 whole cloves

1/2 med onion, thinly sliced

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp brown sugar

1/4 cup currants

2" cinnamon stick

1 tbsp chopped ginger

1 tsp pickling spice

1 tsp cracked black pepper

1-1/2 tsp salt

1 cup apple cider

Combine all the ingredients except for the pork and apple cider in an oven proof, non-reactive dish with a cover. That means something like glass or ceramic. (Not metal as the vinegar will react with it.) If your dish doesn't have a cover you can use plastic wrap as a substitute.

Mix well. Then nestle the pork into the marinating liquid and refrigerate for 8 hours. Turn once at the halfway mark if you or someone is home to do so.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Drain the pork marinade through a colander to get rid of the vinegar. Add the spices, onions, etc back to the dish. Add the pork and pour the 1 cup of apple cider over the top.

Place the pork in the oven, cover and let cook for 45 min to 1 hour, or until a meat thermometer reads 160°F in the centre of the meat. If your baking dish doesn't have a lid cover it tightly with foil.

Drain the meat, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. 

Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing. During this time make the mustard sauce.

Mustard Sauce

Time: 5-6 minutes

1/4 cup butter

1/2 small onion, diced

3 tsp flour

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup liquid from cooking the pork

1 tbsp Dijon

2 tbsp chopped parsley (optional)

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the onion and cook over low heat until soft. 

Stir the four into the butter and onions. Gradually add the milk and cooking liquid. Let it cook until it thickens. 

Stir in mustard and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Then stir in the parsley and serve over the meat.

.......................................

If you like this post retweet it using the link at top right, or share using any of the links below.

Questions? Comments? Derogatory remarks?

Weekend Baking: Apple Pie “Jelly” Roll

A compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way that everyone believes he has the biggest piece. – Ludwig Erhard 

Apple pie or jelly roll? Now you can have both!

I’ve already hinted at this recipe to my Facebook friends today, so now I guess I have to deliver. I promised I would if it worked. It’s amazing what you can dream up.

This is my filling. Use firm tart apples.
I didn't. It still tastes fantastic, though.

This one came to me when I was at a store last night and saw two things: apple turnovers and a jelly roll. I wondered to myself why you can’t get an apple jelly roll. Well, now you can.

I honestly don’t know why no one had thought of tis before. It’s like an apple pie with cake. I made my own filling but I would do one thing differently. I used Macintosh apples and they cooked to apple sauce. Use firm apples like a Granny Smith. I think it would be better with chunks of apple.

Not saying that anything’s wrong with it the way it is. If you wanted to cheat, you most certainly could use apple sauce, but thicken it with the cornstarch. It needs to “stay put.”

To up the taste I made a cinnamon sheet cake. Move quickly with trimming the edges and rolling the cake up empty. Your chances of it not cracking will lessen dramatically.

You’ll have to spread the batter over the bottom of the pan with a spatula. It’s not too difficult, but try your best to get the batter an even thickness.

The cream cheese is a fantastic touch. Don’t skip it. It’s almost like having ice cream with pie! NOTE: This got better the day after I made it and was even better yet the day after that. Too bad it didn't last longer...

So without further ado, here it is.

This is what is meant by "cream the eggs and sugar." The
result has to be light and very thick. It's miraculous.

Apple Pie “Jelly” Roll

Filling

4 apples, peeled, cored and chopped

3/4 cup water

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/3 cup brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp water

Squeeze 1 tbsp of lemon juice into a medium saucepan. Then add the water. This will help stop the apples from turning brown as you cut them up.

Peel, core and chop the apples into about 1/2” pieces. Add to the water as you go.

Then add the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes or until the apples are softened. Blend the cornstarch with the water and add to the apples. Let cook until thickened.

Mash the apples a little if necessary. I used Macintosh. If you use a firmer apple you may have to do so. You still want to have some soft chunks in the filling.

Let cool. You will have about twice as much as you need. Serve the rest on the side, or just eat it as an applesauce. Mmmmm...

Yes, there IS a cake under that. Make sure you get completely out
to the edges of the cake so the filling is well distributed.

Cinnamon Sheet Cake

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 -1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp milk

8 oz (250 g)  cream cheese, softened and whipped with 2 tbsp milk and 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup icing' sugar

The end result. Unfortunately I did get a bit of cracking..
Check the cake at 7 minutes as opposed to the full 8.

Before you start the cake, make sure your filling is on hand and the cream cheese has been whipped.

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190 °C). Line a 10x15 inch jellyroll pan with parchment or waxed paper.

In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until thick and light, about 5 minutes. Slowly beat in the vanilla, cinnamon and milk. Mix together and then stir in the dry ingredients. Pour into the prepared pan and spread it evenly.

Bake for 7-8 minutes in the preheated oven, until the centre springs back when pressed. Don't over bake, or chances of your cake cracking when rolling will increase.

Dust a clean dish towel with icing sugar. Turn the cake out onto the towel, and peel off the paper. Trim off the edges. This helps it roll without cracking. Gently roll up the cake using the towel, and let cool for 5 minutes.

Unroll the cake, and spread an even coating of cream cheese over the surface. Then do the same with the apple filling. Roll the cake back up into a tight spiral, and remove the towel. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

.......................................

If you like this post retweet it using the link at top right, or share using any of the links below.

Questions? Comments? Derogatory remarks?

Recipes: Chicken Prophesy with Cocoa Dirty Rice

The difference between heresy and prophecy is often one of sequence. Heresy often turns out to have been prophecy. – Hubert H. Humphrey 

A complete fabrication, the result of a mis-heard word.

I must be going deaf. I thought I had overheard a friend at work say “chicken prophesy” a few days ago. Of course there’s no such thing – unless you're into reading entrails…

Photo: Chiot's Run, Flickr ccl

I commented that it sounded like an interesting recipe. And as I do I started thinking about its ingredients. What would a “prophesy” entail? Well, it could be fire and brimstone, or obversely, something good. Two ingredients sprang to mind, jalapenos and cream.

A jalapeno cream sauce, as I discovered, is a marvellous thing. After some slight research I branched off into the unknown. I was determined to make those two ingredients into a cooking sauce. 

It really wasn’t that hard as it turned out. Some ingredients scream to go together. For example, jalapenos are Central American, so why not add cumin and lime to the mix – two common ingredients in that cuisine?

The end result is slightly hot, fragrant and yet smooth and rich. Just what a “prophesy” should be…

The jalapeno amount was just right, but their strength varies so start with 1-1/2 and go up from there. It can be added at the reduction stage if you feel you need to add more. If you add too much, bring it to the table with a smile and call it Chicken Apocalypse!

So that’s what I did. This recipe is a creation based on some mis-heard words in the office. And of course what better thing to serve as a side but dirty rice? The cocoa isn't such a strange ingredient. Think of mole sauce.

I received compliments on this cooking sauce. I’ll be making it again.

This is how the sauce starts – very light coloured.

Chicken Prophesy

Prep: 10 min  |  Cook: 25 min  |  Serves 4

8 chicken thighs, bone in and skin on

3/4 medium onion, finely chopped

1-1/2 to 2 jalapenos, seeded and diced

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp cracked black pepper

2 tsp flour

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup whipping cream

1 lime, chopped rind and juice

Heat a dry frying pan or sauté pan. Place the chicken bone side down and fry until the chicken releases from the bottom of the pan. Fat will render out as it fries. Season with salt as it fries.

This is the sauce when finished. Reduced and darker coloured.

Turn the chicken skin side down and repeat. The chicken should be nearly cooked through. Remove to a plate and keep warm.

Pour off all the fat except for about 1 tablespoon. Add the diced onion, jalapeno and garlic and sauté until the onions begin to soften. Then add the cumin and lime rind and cook for a further minute. Then sprinkle the flour over the top and cook for 1 minute more, stirring to mix well.

Add the chicken stock and cream and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the chicken back into the pot and let it finish cooking in the sauce, about 10-15 minutes. 

Stir often to ensure the sauce doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. If the sauce gets too thick add a little more water. When ready it should easily coat the back of a spoon.

Just before serving squeeze the lime juice into the pan and swirl to incorporate it into the sauce. Serve with cocoa dirty rice.

Lime adds much appreciated "brightness."
Photo: Smabs Sputzer, Flickr ccl

Cocoa Dirty Rice

Cook: 20 min  |  Serves 4

1 cup long grain rice

2 cups water

1/4 medium onion, finely chopped

1 tsp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp tomato paste

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan. Stir well. Bring to a boil and cover. Reduce the heat to simmer and let cook for 15 minutes undisturbed.

Remove from the heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff and serve.

.......................................

If you like this post retweet it using the link at top right, or share using any of the links below.

Questions? Comments? Derogatory remarks?

Recipe: Bolivian Pork & Pepper Soup

We must build a new world, a far better world – one in which the eternal dignity of man is respected. – Harry S. Truman

A father and son in La Paz, Bolivia. Photo: César Angel. Zaragoza, Flickr ccl

This recipe is a good one for a cool evening. It has just enough spice to warm your innards and you can easily adjust the heat up or down, depending on your own taste.

Hot banana peppers. Photo; jenniferworthen, Flickr ccl

This recipe is loosely based on a Bolivian recipe for pork and chillies soup. I substituted dried chillies for hot banana peppers because they looked so good in the grocery store. It wasn’t a mistake.

This soup has the distinguishing feature of having all three of the significant New World vegetables that caused such a stir when taken back to Europe by early explorers.

The culprits? Tomatoes, potatoes and corn. Of all the culinary discoveries made by Europeans in the Americas these vegetables made among the greatest long-lasting impact. 

Can you imagine Italian food without tomatoes, or Northern European diets without potatoes? The failure of the potato crop caused the great Irish famine that caused the death of so many people in the mid 1800s. Corn completes the triumvirate. It spread throughout Europe swiftly due to its ability to grow in so many diverse climates, like potatoes and tomatoes.

These vegetables became important staples of Old World cuisines, as they were in New World diets. Hopefully you will take to this dish with as much gusto as Europeans did to those three vegetables. They’re an excellent combination. 

This recipe is a nutritious, delicious one pot meal with a rich spicy broth and tender pieces of pork. It is quite quick to prepare so can be made with little fuss after coming home from a long day at work.

Add some bread and complete a hearty meal for six!

Bolivian Pork & Pepper Soup

Prep: 10 min  |  Cook: 22 min  |  Serves 6

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1-1/2 lbs pork loin, cubed

1 lg onion, chopped

2 hot banana peppers, diced

5 cloves garlic, finely chopped

4 plum tomatoes, chopped large

2 tsp cumin seed

1 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp salt

1 tsp cracked black pepper

4 cups water

4 medium potatoes, peeled & diced

1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne

1 can (341 ml) corn

Heat the oil in a soup pot. Add the onion, chopped peppers and garlic and sauté until the onions are softened, about 3 minutes.

Add the pork and sauté until it is no longer pink, about a further 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper and water. Bring to a boil and then add the diced potatoes. Let cook for 12 minutes.

Taste and adjust the salt if desired. Add the cayenne if you wish more spicy flavour. Then add the corn and cook for 5 more minutes.

Serve with pepper and crusty bread at the table.

.......................................

If you like this post retweet it using the link at top right, or share using any of the links below.

Questions? Comments? Derogatory remarks?

Recipe: Shrove Tuesday Ricotta Pancakes

Lent is the time for trimming the soul and scrapping the sludge off a life turned slipshod. Lent is about taking stock of time, even religious time. Lent is about exercising the control that enables us to say no to ourselves so that when life turns hard of its own accord we have the stamina to yes to its twists and turns with faith and hope…. Lent is the time to make new efforts to be what we say we want to be. – Sister Joan Chittister

Ricotta pancakes, with just a hint of allspice.

Yesterday was Shrove Tuesday, making today Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday for many Christians is the start of the countdown to Easter. This period of 40 days, culminating in the celebration of the Resurrection, is a time of fasting, prayer and penance. Shrive means “to confess.”

Mardis Gras. Photo: Itinerant tightwad, Flickr ccl

That is the essence of Shrove Tuesday. It’s the last day to get rid of the temptations we may have (food-wise or other) before a period of personal restriction and reflection.

Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day or Mardi Gras) is the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Shrove Tuesday is observed mainly in English speaking countries.

For many English speaking Christians, the day is most closely associated with eating pancakes. Why, you may rightly ask. Pancakes are made of foods – sugar, fat, flour and eggs – whose consumption was traditionally restricted during the ritual fasting associated with Lent.

Carnivale parade, Rio. Photo: JACK TWO, Flickr ccl

Marid Gras, Shrove Tuesday’s hot Latin cousin, is a celebration of decadence that in some countries begins just after Epiphany and lasts until Ash Wednesday. They do it right. It’s not just one day but a whole season of “Carnivale.” Just mention Mardi Gras and images of celebrations in Rio de Janero and New Orleans spring to mind.

Easter is a calendar event that has no set date, unlike Christmas. The First Council of Nicaea (325 AD) established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon following the northern hemisphere's vernal equinox. 

Shrove Tuesday is linked to Easter, so its date changes on an annual basis. Easter itself is tied to the Jewish Passover celebration. The Jewish holiday calendar is based on solar and lunar cycles, so Easter bumps along with it.

The Easter Sunday feast is the ritual end to the 40 days of fasting self-control and pennance.

Hopefully you had pancakes last night. It’s kind of funny, because I believe the last time I ate pancakes was exactly one year ago…

Cook the first side until you see holes left by burst bubbles.

Ricotta Pancakes

Yield: 8-10 6” pancakes

1 cup ricotta

1-3/4 cups milk

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 cups flour

2 tbsp baking powder

3 tbsp light brown sugar

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp salt

Mix together the ricotta, milk, eggs and butter and whisk well.

Mix together the dry ingredients in another bowl. Slowly add the dry ingredients in 4 parts, whisking well between each addition.

Let the batter sit and rest for 10-15 minutes.

Heat a cast iron or non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Cook each pancake separately in the centre of the pan.

Let the first side cook until you see bubbles bursting through the top. Then flip and let cook on the other side until browned.

These pancakes will puff nicely, but because of the cheese are quite filling.

.......................................

If you like this post retweet it using the link at top right, or share using any of the links below.

Questions? Comments? Derogatory remarks?

25 Min Indian Recipe: Chana (Chickpea) Masala

We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are. – Adelle Davis

Chana masala on a bed of basmati rice. Mmmm....

This is a recipe that is really fast and easy to make. In fact it’s so fast if you start boiling water for the rice when you start melting the butter, everything will be ready at the same time. How’s that for fast? 

And it’s vegetarian to boot. We should all strive to eat a vegetarian meal at least once each week. It’s good for the soul.

Chana masala

Chana masala (or chole masala) is an Indian and Pakistani vegetarian dish. It is usually quite dry and spicy with a lemon tang. The dish is found throughout South Asia and is very popular in the Punjab region of India. In certain other areas of India it is commonly cooked very dry. In Pakistan, Aloo Chole is a variation of the dish with chickpeas and potatoes.

My recipe has loads of spicy flavour and a tangy lemon edge, but is certainly not dry because of the yogurt. Purists will be up in arms.

Chickpeas. Photo: Mink, Flickr ccl

A rose by any other name...

Chickpeas go by many different names some of which you may have heard. Other names are ceci, garbanzo, chana, sanagalu Indian pea and Bengal gram. 

Chickpeas are a legume of the family Fabaceae and are high in protein content. They are also one of the earliest cultivated vegetables, evidence of this being 7,500 years old.

What is masala?

"Masala" means a combination of dried spices, or alternatively a paste made from a mixture of spices and other ingredients usually including garlic, ginger, onions and chilli – like this recipe. Masalas are used extensively in Indian cuisine to add flavour.

Essentially you can make a “masala” using many different main ingredients. For example, tiki masala is chicken, masala chai is Indian spiced tea and tandoori (a method of cooking in a special oven) uses chicken, meat, fish or paneer. Each masala mixture is specific to the dish.

This recipe, just to be confusing also uses Garam masala. A basic translation is hot (garam) and spices (masala). It just so happens to be premixed in the spice section of the grocery store, like when you buy curry powder.

You can substitute dried chickpeas for this dish, but they will have to be reconstituted in water overnight and then simmered for about 1 hour. That kind of defeats the "quick meal" aspect of my recipe. Canned, rinsed chickpeas are just fine.

I had to step out of the house for a couple minutes before we ate. When I came back in I felt like I was at the Taj Mahal, an excellent local Indian restaurant. The smell that greeted me at the door was to die for.

This dish tastes authentic, even if it is the product of a few sources and a little “help” from me.

You should try this. You won’t miss not having meat. With some raita (here) and naan bread you’ll have a veritable feast!

This is the dish before the yogurt.

Chana Masala

Prep: 5 minutes  | Cook: 20 min  |  Serves 4

2 tbsp butter (or ghee)

2 medium onions, chopped

6 garlic cloves

1-1/2 tbsp fresh ginger, diced

3 hot green chili peppers, chopped (with seeds)

1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1-1/2 tsp Garam Masala

2 tsp whole cumin seeds

4 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 19 oz (540 ml) can chickpeas, drained

1/2 cup plain thick yogurt* (optional)

Juice of 1 lemon

Heat the butter or ghee in a frying pan or wide sauté pan. Add the onions and allow to fry until they begin to brown. This step is important because the very browned onions impart flavour to the finished dish.

And this is it after. Take your pick.

Once the onions begin to brown add the ginger and garlic. Sauté until the onions finish browning. Total time should be 7 minutes maximum.

Add the spices and fry for 1 to 2 minutes to release their flavour.

Chop the tomatoes and add with their seeds and juice. Reduce the heat to medium high and let the tomatoes soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chickpeas and and let cook for 2 minutes. Then add the lemon juice and cook for a further 3 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the yogurt. Put the pot back on the stove and let the dish come back to heat.

Serve with basmati rice.

* The yogurt is my addition to counteract the heat of the chillies. Of course that makes it slightly less vegetarian. If you don’t want to use it, no problem.

.......................................

If you like this post retweet it using the link at top right, or share using any of the links below.

Questions? Comments? Derogatory remarks?