Category: pork

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Roast Pork Belly

I really do like a nice piece of pork belly, especially when roasted in the oven.

I use to be only be able to buy pork belly in slices, but more recently it has become much easier to buy pork belly in one piece. This makes it much easier to roast whole in the oven, not that it isn’t nice to roast small cubes of pork belly.

I use kitchen towel to dry the pork belly before cooking. Then when cooking, to start in a very hot oven (to ensure you get nice crispy crackling) before turning down to a much lower temperature , say 160℃ for a couple of hours. This way you get a wonderfully crisp crackling, tender moist meat and great flavour.

Now in terms of flavour, I do much prefer using “proper” pork as opposed to the mass produced stuff you can buy.  The pork pictured was “outdoor reared” and tasted really good.

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Griddled Pork Medallions

The griddle is a nice way of cooking medallions of pork.

It chargrills the surface, adding flavour, whilst keeping the meat moist and tender.

Very nice.

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Pork with Borlotti Beans

This pork dish was a throw together type of dish and alas the pork was not as tender as I hoped. Though I think that was more down to the pork I used. I had some diced pork and I think it would have been better with medallions of pork fillet, or possibly cooked for a lot longer.

In a large frying pan I browned off some diced pork. Once this was browned it was removed from the pan and I cooked off some diced onions and mixed peppers.

To this I added Sainsbury’s Boeuf Bourguignonne paste from their new Ingredients for Cooks range. I then added some water, on the assumption that the concentrated paste would have sufficient flavour and salt already added.

This I then let simmer for about thirty minutes, before adding a small tin of cooked borlotti beans.

I served this with some plain boiled rice.

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Roasted Pork Belly

The traditional way of cooking pork belly is to slow roast it in the oven for a couple of hours.

I placed the belly pork on the root vegetables and seasoned it. I then placed this in the really hot oven, turning the temperature right down to 160. I then left the pork to roast for about two hours. This may not seem long, but it wasn’t a huge piece of pork like a leg joint.

Sometimes though you don’t have the time…

Another method I use is to score the skin on the belly and then cut the pork belly into one inch cubes (3cm). Place the cubes of pork on a roasting tray, and cook for about 30-40 minutes in a hot oven. Ensure that the pork belly is really dry before putting it in the oven. I seasoned mine with black pepper. You don’t need to add salt, but it does help to remove some of the moisture.

The end result is tender pieces of tasty pork with a crispy crackling.

I served mine with salad and crusty bread.

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Chicken with Lentils

This is my simple and quick way of cooking a wonderful French peasant style dish of chicken, pork, sausage and lentils.

Place some chicken thighs and drumsticks in a roasting pan, add some chunks of pork belly. You could use a jointed chicken if you wanted. Drizzle with olive oil and place in a hot oven and roast for about 25-30 minutes.

Cook some large pork sausages in the oven, as these take less time, put them in a little later.

In a large pan, soften some pancetta, diced onions and peppers. Once soft, add a knob of butter and some flour, stir well. Now add herbs, wine and stock. Cook for about ten minutes.

In a hot frying pan, cook some chopped mushrooms.

Prepare the dish.

Take the cooked liquid, add the roast chicken and pork. Slice the sauages and add them and the mushrooms to the pan. I used tinned Puy Lentils, but you could use cooked lentils or a tin of another kind. Mix well and heat through.

Serve with crusty bread.

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Pork in a creamy apple sauce

Cooked and enjoyed Marks and Spencers’ Pork Medallions with a cider and shallot sauce last night

I normally prefer to cook my own sauces than use shop ones, but this Marks and Spencers isn’t too bad.

Whatever you fancy for dinner and whatever the occasion, M&S’s NEW The Cook Menu has something to offer. You’ll find a variety of exciting dishes, inspired by flavours from around the world, which all use the very best ingredients: fresh vegetables, sustainable fish and quality cuts of meat from M&S-approved farms. The preparation work has been done for you, so you can concentrate on the enjoyment of cooking and add an individual touch.

So what do you get?

Well you get some pork fillet sliced and a sachet of sauce, not enough sauce really, more would have been nice.

So you pan fry the pork and then remove from the pan and heat through the sauce.

I served mine with some fresh pasta and steamed vegetables.

It wasn’t that bad actually, quite good really.

Yes you could do this all yourself, however I didn’t have a huge amount of time, and nor did I have the ingredients for the sauce and that’s the real time and money saver with these.

Would I buy it again, yes I would.

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Slow Roasted Pork Belly

You don’t always have to use expensive cuts of meat to make a wonderful meal, sometimes the cheapest cuts cooked really slowly can have fantastic flavour and texture.

Turn on your oven to its highest temperature.

I chopped some root vegetable, onion and carrot, added some mushrooms and potatoes and placed it in a roasting pan.

I placed the belly pork on the root vegetables and seasoned it. I then placed this in the really hot oven, turning the temperature right down to 160. I then left the pork to roast for about two hours. This may not seem long, but it wasn’t a huge piece of pork like a leg joint.

As it cooked I did add some wine and water now and again to the bottom of the roasting pan, so it didn’t dry out.

The result was a fantastic moist, tender wonderfully flavoured piece of pork. Which I sliced and served with vegetables.

Overall very tasty and a well received on the table.

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Marks and Spencers Pork Medallions

Cooked and enjoyed Marks and Spencers’ Pork Medallions with a cider and shallot sauce.

I normally prefer to cook my own sauces than use shop ones, but as I was in Marks and Spencers and looking at their The Cook Menu range decided to give it a go.

Whatever you fancy for dinner and whatever the occasion, M&S’s NEW The Cook Menu has something to offer. You’ll find a variety of exciting dishes, inspired by flavours from around the world, which all use the very best ingredients: fresh vegetables, sustainable fish and quality cuts of meat from M&S-approved farms. The preparation work has been done for you, so you can concentrate on the enjoyment of cooking and add an individual touch.

So what do you get?

Well you get some pork fillet sliced and a sachet of sauce, not enough sauce really, more would have been nice.

So you pan fry the pork and then remove from the pan and heat through the sauce.

I served mine with some rice and steamed vegetables.

It wasn’t that bad actually, quite good really.

Yes you could do this all yourself, however I didn’t have a huge amount of time, and nor did I have the ingredients for the sauce and that’s the real time and money saver with these.

Would I buy it again, yes I would.

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Slow roasted pork belly

You don’t always have to use expensive cuts of meat to make a wonderful meal, sometimes the cheapest cuts cooked really slowly can have fantastic flavour and texture.

I do have a passion for pork belly, and remembering a dish I had my local pub, when I saw a slab of pork belly on sale at Marks and Spencer decided to create my own version.

Turn on your oven to its highest temperature.

I chopped some root vegetable, onion and carrot, added some mushrooms and potatoes and placed it in a roasting pan.

I placed the belly pork on the root vegetables and seasoned it. I then placed this in the really hot oven, turning the temperature right down to 160. I then left the pork to roast for about two hours. This may not seem long, but it wasn’t a huge piece of pork like a leg joint.

As it cooked I did add some wine and water now and again to the bottom of the roasting pan, so it didn’t dry out.

The result was a fantastic moist, tender wonderfully flavoured piece of pork. Which I sliced and served with vegetables.

Slow roasted pork belly

The pan contained the cooked root veg and the juices and made a wonderfully rich sauce.

Slow roasted pork belly

Overall very tasty and a well received on the table.

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Roast Pork

Today we had a lovely piece of roast pork. It was quite a large leg joint roasted on a bed of vegetables (and apple).  It was lovely and tender and covered in crispy crackling.

My secret to lovely crisp crackling is as follows. Ensure that the surface of the skin is dry, if it is wet then you will get soggy crackling. Now some cookbooks tell you to rub some salt into the skin. This is not only not necessary, it also makes the cracking too salty! All it needs to be is dry.  I also score the skin, this allows heat to get in and crisp up the crackling as well. Makes it easier to carve as well. My cooking technique is relatively simple, set oven to the highest temperature. Place the pork on some root vegetables (this time I used carrot and parsnip). I do add some olive oil onto the skin of the pork. Once I have put the pork in the oven, I turn the temperature down to about 160℃.

This will ensure you have nice and crispy crackling.

Cook for about an hour per kilogramme, I  baste the pork about every 40-50 minutes and add more chopped vegetables and chopped apple to the pan when there is about an hour to go; the veg can be  onion, carrots, mushrooms and parsnips. Put it in too early it will burn.

When the pork is cooked, allow to sit for a while to rest.

I served the pork with roast potatoes, roasted  parsnips and some steamed vegetables.

I made a delicious gravy using the cooking juices and beef stock.