pork

Easy Pork Fillet Recipe

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Pork fillet is one of my favourite cuts of pork. That is despite the fact that it has no rind. It’s easy and quick to prepare and usually retains a degree of moisture that will disappear in other cuts with sloppy cooking (although see my recent pork chop post for a way of avoiding that problem!).

I’ve previously blogged a pork fillet recipe, where the meat is served with a white wine and cream sauce. This time I give you something which is very much a one pot meal – it’s both easy and easy on the washing up.

This Rose Prince recipe comes from the Telegraph where it’s called “peppered pork fillet”. That’s because in the UK what we in Australia call a “capsicum” is called a “pepper” – not because this is a spicy dish.

Begin by preheating your oven to 180°C (fan, 200°C convention).

In an oven safe frying pan, heat some light olive oil and fry up about 500g of pork fillet. The original recipe says to cut the fillet into small dice but I cut it into discs a cm or so thick. I think this way you run less risk of the meat overcooking and you get satisfying pieces of meat on your plate. I also note that in the photo that accompanies the original article the pork hardly looks like small dice!

When the fillet is browned nicely, add half a red capsicum, finely chopped, a clove of garlic (chopped) and a pinch or two each of paprika, ground coriander and allspice. Give this all a stir around, then add 5 tbsp of risotto rice (the recipe specifies Carnaroli, but I always use Arborio because that’s what I have in the cupboard). Then add stock to the pan – I use one of the little pots of stock jelly and top up with water. You need add enough water to cover the rice by a cm or so.

Bring this all to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook on the stove top for 8 minutes (and yes, I do actually time this!).

When the 8 minutes is up, cut a cartouche from baking paper (that means “cut a circle of baking paper to cover your pan”) and cover the pan with it (no lid required) before putting it in the oven.

Cook in the oven until the rice is done and the stock has been absorbed. The recipe says 10 minutes, but I never find that quite long enough (more like 25!) – but I do like to make sure plenty of the stock has been absorbed so that the finished product isn’t too soupy.

Serve straight away, with a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil.

I love this dish – it uses so few ingredients, it tastes fantastic (which suggests to me that allspice is underused in my kitchen) and it takes very little time to put together. I have used other cuts of pork – such as pork loin steaks – and while they will do in a pinch they do end up a bit tougher and drier than fillet.

A perfect mid week supper.

Marcus Wareing’s Pork Chops

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Pork Chops & Cabbage

I get a bit annoyed when people go on about pork being dry. It’s only dry if you overcook it.

Modern pork can also be a bit lean (and sometimes it is sold without rind – I’m convinced that’s a sign of the decline of civilisation), and, of course, fat helps keep anything moist.

This excellent way of cooking pork chops comes from Marcus Wareing’s How to Cook the Perfect…. I’m a huge fan of Wareing’s books – I’ve had very few failures and even bothered to make his Gâteau Opéra more than once.

Wareing credits his mum with this recipe. I say, my goodness, these Lancastrians have no fear of fat. If you are on a diet of some sort … don’t bother reading further!

Preheat your oven to 160°C (fan, 180°C conventional).

Take your pork chops – I used three (one each for everyone, including the baby). If they have rind on them, remove it with a sharp knife and keep it for later.

Lay the pork chops in a baking dish that will fit them reasonably snugly. You need a dish with a close fitting lid, or you will need plenty of tin foil. You don’t need to grease the pan.

Cover the chops with finely sliced (brown) onions. For our three chops I used 2 small-medium onions – I would argue in this case that more is better. Grab some fresh thyme and spread it across the onions, a sprinkling of dried sage and then dot generously with unsalted butter.

Now you need to seal it up. As I wouldn’t describe my lid as ‘tight fitting’, I used a layer of tin foil followed by the lid. Cook for an hour and a half (yes, you read that correctly!) and baste with pan juices (butter and fat!) during cooking (I basted every half hour). Always ensure that you lift the lid/foil so that it opens away from you, because it will all be hot!

Erm, that’s it – how easy is that? The chops will look a bit anaemic but they taste fantastic and they are moist! However, this doesn’t reheat well, so I’d recommend only cooking what you need and ensuring you have plenty of sides for topping up extra hungry tummies.

Serve with vegetables – for extra porcine goodness, try my favourite way of dealing with white cabbage!

Crispy Parmesan Pork

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Crispy parmesan pork

Apologies for the colour issues in this photo! I’ll stop taking pictures with a camera phone!

Another foray into a rogue cooking magazine, another quick supper.

This time it’s the April 2011 UK Delicious, brought as a present by my best mate when she visited for a couple of weeks earlier in the year. The recipe comes from the “Shortcut suppers” section, which makes use of various store cupboard standbys and ready made bits and pieces.

This recipe is so simple I’d suggest that only the laziest of cooks would need to resort to store bought mash or sauce.

Now, the recipe calls for “pork loin medallions”. I wasn’t sure what this translated to in Australian (although I have found Australian recipes using the same terminology), but my butcher sells what he calls “pork schnitzels” which are vaguely round, reasonable thin pieces of pork (they’ve not been put through the tenderiser or crumbed). Basically, you’re looking for a piece of meat that will cook quickly, that is lean and is without bone.

To cook the pork, dip the medallions in egg and then crumb with a mixture of breadcrumbs, finely grated parmesan cheese, pepper and herb of your choice (sage, thyme or oregano will all work well). Pan fry (in plenty of hot oil) until cooked and the topping is golden and crispy.

Remove the meat from the pan and keep warm.

As there’s no Waitrose for any of us to nip to for the cider and mustard sauce you have to make your own. Fortunately, this isn’t difficult: remove the pork from the pan and deglaze with either dry cider or white wine. Add a teaspoon of grainy or Dijon mustard (I prefer grainy, as I find Dijon can be a little too vinaigery), stir well and finish with some cream. Allow it to thicken a little and … sauce done!

Serve with a quick colcannon. In advance, pan fry a finely sliced leek and some finely sliced white cabbage until soft. Make mash your usual way and mix through the greens. This is great way of making mash a bit more interesting, as well as getting a few extra veggies on your plate.

All too easy and this makes an interesting meal out of relatively simple ingredients. Just remembering to add some parmesan cheese to breadcrumbs is enough to jazz up pretty much anything you end up crumbing in future!