Roast Loin of Pork Stuffed with Peaches and Garlic

We went to the wholesalers today and got a cracking load of garlic and a big 2 kg loin of pork.

I have done a variation of this many times over the years. Using fruit with meat is not widely enough used as the natural sugars combine well with the meat and any herbs - when roasting like this cutting a cavity to allow the fruit to get into the meat does a wonder.

Ingredients

a 2kg loin of pork
one tin of peaches in syrup
2 cloves of garlic
one teaspoon of oregano
olive oil

Method

Slice a slit into the loin (make sure you don't go all the way throughand ensure not to go to the ends.

Add the peaches, some salt and pepper, the garlic (crushed) and the oregano. I re-used the elasticated string that the meat came in but if you don't have this tie with butcher's string.

I roasted, wrapped in foil, for about an hour and a quarter and served with roast butternut squash and courgettes.

Sweet and Pepper Parsnips

Sweet and Pepper Parsnips

Ingredients
2 pasnips
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp sunflower oil
2 tsp golden syrup

Method

Place the parsnips, sea salt, black pepper and sunflower oil in an oven proof dish. Place in an oven for 15 minutes. Then remove the dish from the oven, give a quick mix then drizzle with the golden syrup. Place back in the oven for 5 minutes.

Spiced Roast Chicken

This is an own creation that relies on a good dry spice rub to flavour the chicken with.

I use free range, corn fed chicken - it costs more than a battery bird but is well worth the additional expense.

Ingredients

1 corn fed free range chicken
a lemon
2 kafir lime leaves
2 pieces galangal
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp ginger powder
6 cloves
1 star anise
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp fenugreek
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt

Method

squeeze half the juice of a lemon over the chicken. Put the other half inside the bird with the galangal and kafir lime leaves (this helps keep the bird moist).

Mix the dry spices in a mortar and pestle. Rub the spices over the bird (if you want to avoid hands that look jaundiced either don't add the turmeric or use a piece of clingfilm over your hand!

Drizzle with olive oil and wrap in tin foil. Place in a preheated over at 180 degrees for about an hour and a half (remove the foil for the ast 30 minutes) - to check whether the bird is cooked prize a leg from the breast and check that the juices run clear.

Let the bird rest (wrapped in foil) for 10 minutes before carving - this lets the meat relax and absorb juices in the cavity.

I served with my curried potatoes, French beans and sweet and peppered parsnips (see previous post).

Gammon Ham with Spiced Black Pudding Crust

Gammon Ham with Spiced Black Pudding Crust

This is a bit of a labour of love. The flavouring starts right from the off with the boiling liquor.

Ingredients

One Gammon Ham (sized for the number of people to feed)

For the pot

12 peppercorns
6 juniper berries
2 bay leaves

For the Glaze

2 tablespoons of thick cut marmalade
2 tablespoons of cinnamon cranberry sauce
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
12 cloves
50 grammes black pudding


Take the Gammon Ham and place in a pot filled with water until it is covered. Add the peppercorns, juniper berries and bay leaves.

Boil the gammon as the size requires. Mine was for an hour and a half. My cook book suggests for hams up to 2.25kg/5lb boil for 30 minutes per 480g/1lb; for hams weighing 2.5 to 5kg/5.5 to 11lb boil for 15 minutes per 480g/1lb and those over this weight boil for 10 minutes per 480g/1lb.

When the boiling is complete remove the ham from the pan - retain the stock for a risotto.

Remove the skin with a sharp knife - make sure to retain the fat layer though.

Cross cut the fat and stud with the cloves.

Mix the glaze ingredients together and cover the meat before roasting in a hot oven for 15-25 minutes. The black pudding adds texture and the cranberry/orange mix is luscious.

I served this with:
- a baked sweet potato (cross cut a sweet potato and rub with olive oil and sea salt, wrap in foil and bake for 45 minutes).
- boiled carrots and roast Jerusalem artichokes method as per the sweet potato above).

The next day's ham sandwiches were exquisite - the flavour penetrates the meat marvelously.

Chorizo Roast Chicken

Chorizo Roast Chicken

A roast Chicken is a great meal. If you are sensible enough you can get 3 meals for 2 from a medium size bird. Recently in the British media there has been a big push to promote the use of organically reared birds rather than use of battery chickens. Personally I support this movement, the taste is superior and it is a better life for the bird.

This recipe uses a trick that I often use to add flavour and keep the breast moist. I insert the sliced chorizo between the skin and the breast. The fats from the chorizo baste the breast and the paprika-y spicey flavour permeates into the meat.

Ingredients

One organic chicken
8 slices of chorizo sausage
6 small dried red chillies
salt & pepper
olive oil

Method

Insert the chorizo slices under the skin of the chicken.
Drizzle the bird with olive oil.
Season with salt and pepper.
Scatter the dried chillies over the bird.
Cover with foil and roast in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C for about an hour and a half. For the last half hour remove the foil so that the skin crisps. Check the bird is cooked by making sure the juices run clear.

Serve with whatever you like. Either traditional Sunday roast style (roast potatoes and a couple of veg)or perhaps with some rice and roasted peppers.

Lamb Shoulder

Lamb Shoulder

I don't really know what to call this recipe as its a bit of a mish mash of flavours that I think go well together. Its simply a roast lamb dish.

Ingredients

1/2 shoulder of lamb
3 cloves of garlic
a bay leaf
a star anise
tin of tomatoes
1/2 pint of boiling water
2 carrots
potatoes (as many as you want for each portion)
1 apple
2 tbs cumin powder
lamb stock cube
1 tbs coriander powder
1 tbs turmeric powder
salt and pepper
good handful of parsley
zest and juice of a lemon

Method

In a roasting tin place the garlic cloves (skinned and bruised with the heel of your hand), bay leaf, star anise (broken in the hand), tin of tomatoes, water, the apple (core removed and cut into quarters), the carrot cut into big chunks (about a third of a carrot at a time).

Place the lamb shoulder on top and put cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, lamb stock cube and salt and pepper.

Cover the whole tin in foil and place into a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C.

After 45 mins remove the foil and baste the meat with the juices. Return to the oven for 15 minutes then remove and baste once more, before placing back in the oven add the potatoes. Return to the oven for an hour - baste half way through.

Remove the meat from the tin and leave to rest. Whilst the meat is resting remove the carrots and potatoes from the tin and mix into the remaining liquid the parsley (roughly chopped), lemon zest and juice. This makes a lovely sauce to serve the meat with.

Pot Roast Pheasant

Pot Roast Pheasant

Game season is in its full throw so the Farmer's market in Preston City Centre is overflowing with all sorts of Game.

Not being certain as to the age of the bird always makes choosing a Game recipe a bit tricky, only if you get a bird not yet plucked will you be sure of the age and sex.

For pheasant a good way of being sure of not ending up chewing on a tough bird for an evening is to pot roast it. This is my recipe:

Ingredients

1 whole pheasant
8 dried apricots
a large glass of red wine
a double measure of cooking brandy
6 smoked garlic cloves
salt and pepper
3 carrots
a large handful of oyster mushrooms
a bay leaf

In a large casserole dish place the pheasant (make sure all the bits of feather ends are removed).
Add the apricots, garlic cloves, red wine and brandy and bay leaf.
Season and place in a pre-heated oven at 160 degrees C for an hour, basting half way through.
Add the carrots, cut into rough batons
cook for a further 15 minutes then add the oyster mushrooms, taking the opportunity to baste the bird again. Leave in the oven, uncovered, for a further 15 minutes.

Let the bird rest before serving, the left over cooking liquor makes a wonderful sauce straight from the pan.

Roast Rabbit with Sausage Stuffing

Roast Rabbit with sausage stuffing

Take a fresh rabbit - we got ours at the local farmer's market and drizzle with olive oils and a crushed clove of garlic.

Make the stuffing using sausage meat. We just took some black pepper sausages (with a sprinkle of crushed chillies) and removed from their skins - about 3 was enough to amply fill the rabbit.

Wrap the stuffed rabbit with parma ham, drizzle with olive oil and season

Put in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for an hour basting every 15 mins and turning over half way through.

I should have taken a photo of the rabbit before I took the meat off as it looked quite impressive, was just keen to devour it.