Still indulging my fondness for the Orient, express style! - Glazed Pork Fillet with steamed rice and stir fry vegetables

 

 

I'm loving the fact that I have rediscovered my wok and tapped into those half bottles of Asian ingredients that I bought on a whim, used once or twice and then being the culinary butterfly that I am, decided that I wanted to cook Italian (or insert Mediterranean country here) or something after a few stir fry sessions. Anyway, the fact is I am back rocking the wok for a short time at least and it's great, not least because it is quick, healthy and Lola and Finn seem to be enjoying it.

 

Anyway, whilst the wok isn't compulsory equipment here, a tablespoon or two of some of those aforementioned bottles of Asian ingredients certainly was and the result was a speedy dish of burnished, sticky citrussy pork which the children really enjoyed. Even Finn. Though he did leave the vegetables, because they are vegetables, and therefore evil.

 

The recipe I used is a Trish Deseine recipe, which I found on the RTE website. From the cookbooks I have that she has written, I never even thought of consulting them for something oriental, but then if I had been more thoughtful at the time, I might have thought of 'Indochine' and the fact that there's eastern influence in French cuisine too. I have much to learn.

 

Anyway, the only alterations I made to this was that I upped the sauce content because we like sauce here and I would rather have too much than too little. And I used palm sugar instead of Demerara, mainly because the Demerara is right at the back of the cupboard which is the one I have to boot shut, such is the amount of cramming of random ingredients therein. If I wasn't so feckless I'd sort it out. Anyway, enough of my inadequacy, here's the recipe:

 

Glazed Pork Fillet, adapted from 'Glazed Pork Fillet' by Trish Deseine, from the RTE website

 

My adaptions in red

 

Serves Lola, Finn, Mum and Dad

 

Ingredients:

 

1 pork fillet (Mine was about 400g)

Juice of four large oranges with a little zest (I used six, with the zest from one of the oranges) You may need extra juice.

a little garlic (I used one large clove, finely diced)

a little bit of ginger (I used about half a thumb's worth)

Thai fish sauce (I used 2 tsp)

soy sauce (I used 2 tsp)

Demerara sugar (I used a little palm sugar)

 

Method:

 

 

Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and then pour into a pan that will be big enough to hold your pork fillet. Bring the sauce to the boil.

 

 

 

Wheen the sauce has been boiling for three to four minutes, drop the fillet carefully in and seal it on one side.

 

Once it’s evenly coloured, turn it over gently to do the same on the other side. Then just look after it and keep basting it in the sauce for 15 or 20 minutes, until the meat is cooked through. (I also turned mine around reasonably often and the cooking time was just over 20 minutes).

 

 

 

The sauce will reduce during the cooking of the pork until it has almost caramelised and the fillet will be covered with a lovely sticky glaze.

 

If it is in danger of drying out, make sure you have extra freshly squeezed orange juice standing by (which I did use just to loosen the sauce a little).

 

Pre sauce addition, I should say.

 

 

Slice and serve with rice and something crunchy like green beans or snap peas. (I served with rice, mange tout and baby corn).

 

So many names! - Poulet Basquaise, or Basque Chicken, or chicken with peppers and paprika

I really like this dish. It is rustic and tasty and makes me smile, and importantly, the children like it. Pretty crucial in this house! It's also easy and tastes even better the next day. I don't know if I inadvertently turned this into 'Vasco de Pollo' by my addition of chorizo (A great favourite in this house) but I think it worked well and gave another meaty dimension to this warming dish. Either way, whatever side of the border this happens to be, I should be calling it 'Euskal Oilaskoa' (Thanks Google Translate!!) to be faithful to that little fraction of me that is Basque and I should be recommending you try this, as it is pretty damn good.

The original recipe is from 'Trish's French Kitchen' by Trish Deseine, (I love her recipes, and her book 'Chocolate' is amongst my favourites, but that is a subject for another blog). Her recipe contains the spice piment d'espelette which is not the easiest thing to find around here, so I substituted smoked paprika. I am sure that whichever spice you use, this would be a welcome meal after a wander in the Pyrenees on a winter's day. Her recipe does not contain the chorizo. That is my addition.

One more note. I halved the recipe and below is the quantity I used. This was enough for 2 generously, plus Lola and Finn. I also used chicken breasts, instead of 'pieces'. Anything with a bone in would require longer cooking towards the latter stages of the recipe.

Poulet Basquaise, adapted from 'Trish's French Kitchen' by Trish Deseine.

1 tbsp olive oil
4 chicken breasts

150g chorizo (about half a ring) sliced
2 large onions, peeled and cut into quarters.
2 big cloves garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped, or a decent pinch of dried thyme

400g tin tomatoes (I used my favourite cherry tomatoes. I think they have better flavour).
120ml dry white wine, or water. I used wine.
1 red and 1 green pepper, sliced
A handful of pitted olives (which could be omitted I suppose but we love them! I used green olives).

1 tsp piment d'Espelette, or smoked paprika, which is what I used.

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Put the olive oil into a suitable casserole dish and then brown the chicken pieces. Remove to a dish.

 and then add the chorizo. Fry until the chorizo releases its juices then add the onion. Fry for a couple of minutes, then add the garlic. Cook briefly until fragrant then add the tomatoes, wine, and green herbs.

Cover and simmer for about 40 mins, then add the peppers, the olives and the paprika, then cover and simmer for a further 20 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked. Taste and adjust the seasoning accordingly.

On this occasion I served this with some probably not so authentic rice cooked with a chicken stock cube for my harshest critics. This is also good with some crusty bread.