Honey roast pork

Fit for a king!
I found this recipe here, but I adjusted it a little bit.

Time of preparation: 2 hours
serves 6-8

1kg pork belly (or any other cut that roasts and crackles|)

I used ginger chopped like match sticks (as much as you like)
cloves (a bunch, about a handful)
1 tbsp cracked coriander seeds
340g runny honey
1 stock cube
4 medium brown onions
1 bunch of sage
4 bay leaves
Olive oil
Rock Salt
200ml cold water

Preparation

Stab the pork with a sharp long knife and place cloves and the match stick like ginger in the meat. Rub a little olive oil into the pork and season with salt. Place the pork on to a wire tray and then place into the roasting dish. Roast in the oven for approximately 2hrs on the bottom shelf at 160C.

Meanwhile, make the honey glaze by adding the rest of the water, honey, coriander seeds, and 1 stock cube to a saucepan and simmer until reduced by a third. The mixture will thicken and become syrupy

Cut the root off of the onions and cut in half (take the outer skins off if preferred). Add a little sunflower oil to a frying pan, heat then place the onions in the pan flat side down. Add the bay leaves, sage and leave for a few minutes until they start to brown and caramelize. Then place the pan in the oven for 25 minutes until onions are golden brown.

To serve, using a pastry brush glaze the pork with the honey reduction. Then slice lengthwise into (about 1in wide) and arrange onto a large plate. Place the roasted onions around the meat and garnish with the roasted sage leaves.

In the recipe, the chef makes his own gravy, but since I prefer to use rock salt the juices that run from the meat are too salty and I prefer to use regular gravy that I buy at the supermarket.

It was absolutely delicious for a New Year's dish!

Borscht

It's been some time I've been trying to find a good Borscht recipe, especially because my husband has been to Russia and had the real thing. I was afraid to disappoint him. So I decided to try this recipe, that I found here and, what do you know?, he loved it. He said it's just like what he had there (which is not the chef's soups, that all is mixed up and blended). Apparently Borsch has to have chewable pieces.

Here's the recipe.
Time of preparation: 2 hours

INGREDIENTS

4 fresh or vacuum packed beetroot approx 600g
White cabbage 4oz 100g
4 Small potatoes
1 Medium carrot
2 Medium tomatoes
1 Medium size onion
Beef (any cut) 14oz 400g
Fresh dill 8 sprigs
Garlic 2 cloves
Parsley (garnish only) 8 sprigs
Vinegar 1 teaspoon
Butter or margarine 2 tablespoons
Sour cream (optional) 2 tablespoons 2 tablespoons
Salt and pepper to taste - -

COOK'S NOTES: The backbone of this meal is beetroot so try and get some fresh, it does make a difference. Fresh beetroot is sweeter than any other type. Failing this, the vacuum packed beetroot is a very good alternative.

The use of beef is traditional in Russian Borsch but poorer Russians would make this dish with just the vegetables. Alternative vegetables to the carrot, potato, cabbage and tomatoes include parsnips and turnips, in fact any root vegetable can be used. The beef is a good addition, but by no means necessary.

The cut of beef is not important, in fact the cheaper cuts give the dish more flavour. If the cut is too fatty, simply remove it before serving the Borsch.

1 large pan
1 frying pan (small)
1 pan (small)

PREPARATION
If using meat off the bone, cut into cubes (see picture below).
If using meat on the bone, cut so that it can fit in the pan.
Roughly chop the onions. Finely chop the dill.
Top and tail the beetroot and peel it (if using fresh beetroot). Slice beetroot into strips and then cut them in half (see picture below).
Chop up the tomatoes.

One hour after starting the meat broth:
Roughly chop the carrots. Finely cut the garlic.
Finely cut the parsley. Cut the potatoes into strips.
Peel the layers of the cabbage apart then slice into strips

METHOD

Put the beef, dill and the chopped onion into a large pan and cover with 3 litres of cold water. Cook for 1½ hours in low heat. I put the potatoes on too, because I prefer them very soft if on soup.
Half an hour after starting the beef broth cooking, melt a tablespoon of butter in a pan. Add the beetroot, tomatoes and vinegar to the pan. Simmer at low heat for 1 hour stirring occasionally. If there is not enough liquid, add some of the broth.

A quarter of an hour before the beef broth is finished cooking melt 1 tablespoon of butter or margarine in a frying pan. Add chopped carrots and garlic. Cover the frying pan and sauté for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When the beef broth is cooked (after 1½ hours) remove any fat floating on the top (use a spoon). Add the chopped cabbage, potatoes, sautéd carrots and garlic. Stir well. Cook for 15 minutes.

Add the cooked beetroot. Stir well and cook for another 5 minutes.

Lancashire hotpot

I found this recipe here and it's sooo good! Just cooked it last night.


ingredients
serves 4

1 kg (2 lb) potatoes, peeled and sliced into rings
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Beef dripping or lard for frying
1 kg. middle neck lamb chops
2 lamb's kidneys, cleaned and chopped
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme
600 ml (1 pint) hot beef stock

method

1. Put half the potato rings in a layer on the bottom of a deep ovenproof casserole. Season well with salt and pepper.
2. Melt a knob of dripping or lard in a frying pan. Add the chops and kidneys and brown quickly on all sides. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon.
3. Lay the chops and kidneys on top of the potatoes, add the onion and sprinkle with the thyme. Pour in the hot stock. Put the remaining potatoes in a layer on top.
4. Season again, cover with a lid and place in a moderate oven (180‚°C/350‚°F or Gas Mark 4). Cook for 2 hours, then remove the lid and return to the oven to brown the top layer of potatoes for 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Serve immediately, straight from the casserole, with a seasonal green vegetable or buttered carrots.

Pasta with canned sardines

Easy
Time of preparation: 20-30 min

1 pack of pasta (I prefer spaguetti)
1 can of sardines (I think the ones in olive oil go best)
1 cup of double cream
1 cup of milk
1 tbspoon of corn flour
1 shrimp stock cube (I didn't have one and used vegetable and it was good!)
1 onion, finnely chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 pepper chopped
1 tbspoon of butter
2 cloves of garlic, finnely chopped
coriander and parsley (a pinch of each)
salt and pepper

On a pan, add the onion and garlic, heating up with the butter. Let if golden. Add the sardines WITH the sauce, add the other ingredients (apart from the double cream). When everything is cooked (around 10-15 min later, add the double cream. If its still thin, mix the corn flour with the milk and add it to the mix. Mix it all up until it thickens.

Cook the pasta  al dente.
Distribute the pasta on plates or a big bowl and add the sauce. Mix it all up. Sprinkle some parmesan on top.

OBs: I didn't have double cream when I cooked it, so I just used the milk and corn flour. It was delicious anyway.

Collard green pancakes with mozzarela and mince

10 leaves of collard green
1 litre of water
3 ripe tomatoes, peeled
1 medium onion, chopped and mashed
1 pinch of oregano
salt/pepper
1 pinch of cumin
1 pinch of grond nutmeg
2 tbspoons of olive oil
200g of olives, sliced and no seeds
500g of mozzarela
500g of mince
1 tbspoon of butter
1 tbpoon of tomato extract
1/2 cup of milk
1/2 tbspoon of flour

Boil the collard green leaves (do not break them) in the water for 15 min. Drain them and fry them, both sides, in a frying pan with a bit of heated olive oil and the butter. Open them over a chopping board.

Season the meat with the cumin, nutmeg, salt, pepper and tomato extract. Cook it (medium heat).

Open one leaf and remove the tip of the stalk. Put one slice of mozzarela and 1 tbspoon of the cooked mince. Sprinkle with oregano. Roll it like a pancake, hiding the corners inside. Do the same to all the other leaves. Put the "pancakes" in a oven proof glass or ceramic tray.

Sauce:
Chop the tomatoes and add them to a pan with salt, olive oil, the onion, olives, the milk and the flour. Let it boil and thicken. Throw it on top of the collard green pancakes. Put it on a pre-heated oven (medium heat, 180C) for around 10 min. You can sprinkle parmesan on top if you want.

Serve with white rice.

Chicken breast in spinach sauce

Chicken breast (the recipe asks for 10 steaks of chicken breast, but it's just 2 of us, so I just made 4)
1/2 lime or lemon
salt/pepper
butter

Spinach sauce

1/2 a pack of spinach (supermarket packs) or 1 bunch of spinach, cooked and drained
1 tbspoon of finnely chopped onion
1 clove of garlic, finnely chopped
2 tbspoons of butter
1 tbspoon of flour
700ml of milk (I used less, since I made half the recipe for just 2 people...so I used around 300ml)
salt and pepper
parmesan to sprinkle on top of it all
double cream (about 2 tbspoons) - optional...I made mine yesterday without and it was really good (I didn't have any at home and my spinach wasn't going to last another day)

Blend the spinach and the milk. In a pan, fry the garlic and onion in the butter. Add the spinach and milk mix. In a small glass, mix the flour in a bit of milk. Add to the pan stirring well. Let it thicken and check the salt and pepper. If you are adding the double cream, turn off the hob and add it.

Season the chicken breast with the lime/lemon, salt and pepper. Fry them in butter. Serve the chicken and put the sauce on top. Sprinkle it with (a lot of) parmesan.