Archive for November, 2009
Pork with prunes in mustard sauce and cheesy mash
Posted: 09 November '09 by Niall
Pork with prunes in mustard sauce
While I was flicking through the channels on television a couple of weeks ago, I saw that one of the contestants on MasterChef had made Pork with prunes in a creamy mustard sauce and thought that it looked pretty tasty, and a change from our usual Italian cuisine.
We were also lucky enough to receive a “roasting plank” to review, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Pork chops slow-roasted on a oak plank – tender and smoked – what could be better!
The dish is extremely easy to make and extremely tasty. The rich, figgy prunes are a nice contrast to the more delicate flavour of the pork and the creaminess of the mustard sauce. And when you add cheesy mash and French beans, you have a delicious dinner on your hands.. or your plank..
You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4Image 5Image 6Image 7Image 3Image 4Image 5Image 6Image 7Image 8Image 10
Ingredients:
- 4 pork chops
- Fresh thyme
- 1 bag of ready-to-eat prunes
- 150ml double cream
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Butter
- 200ml of dry white wine
- 2 tsp of Dijon mustard
- 1 lemon
For the cheesy mash:
- 5 large potatoes (I prefer Maris Pipers)
- 50g/2oz butter
- 125g/41/2oz mature cheddar cheese, grated
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 150 degrees
- Peel and chop your potatoes, adding them to a saucepan of water and bring to the boil
- Cut off any skin along the side of the chops and remove all but a small amount of the fat
- Rub the flesh with olive oil. Shred the leaves from 2 bushy sprigs of thyme and scatter over both sides of the pork, then season
- Heat a large frying pan until it’s really hot. Add the pork chops, press down and cook for about 1 minute on each side, searing the outside
- Take your plank and pat down the surface – then rub more olive oil into the cooking surface, massage some of your thyme leaves into the oil, and place the seared pork chops onto the cooking surface
- Place the plank in the oven for a good hour
- Test the potatoes with a fork – if the tines easily pass through the flesh, they’re done. Drain the potatoes and mash them
- When the potatoes have been mashed, take a large spoon and beat them with the butter (LOTS of butter) until you have a rich, creamy texture
- Stir in the grated cheese, and then place the potatoes into a casserole dish, covering the mash with buttered foil and place in the oven at a very low temperature
- Add a big knob of butter to the frying pan, then throw in 2 handfuls of prunes and the leaves from 1 more sprig of thyme. Stir for 30 seconds, then add 200ml wine and 2 tsp mustard. Bubble for about 4 minutes until reduced and sticky
- Stir in the cream and season well, allowing the sauce to bubble for 1-2 minutes to thicken
- Add the pork, spoon over the sauce, and warm through for a few seconds
Categories: Featured Post > French Food > Main Course > Pork > Recipes
1 Comment
Easy Raspberry Tart
Posted: 05 November '09 by Kelly
Raspberry tart
Niall and I went to my mum and dad’s house for some Hallowe’en celebrations at the weekend. Everyone was bringing a dish and I decided to make a dessert. This raspberry tart was delicious and surprisingly easy to make.
You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2
Ingredients:
- 220g (1 cup) caster (superfine) sugar
- 300g fresh raspberries
- 50g unsalted butter
- 500g mascarpone cheese
- 150ml of cream, lightly whipped
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Method:
- To make a raspberry syrup, put the caster sugar in a pan with 60ml (¼ cup) of water and stir over low heat to dissolve the sugar.
- Increase the heat and bring to the boil. Cook until golden, then remove from the heat. Mash 100g of the raspberries and stir into the syrup. Leave to cool.
- To make the base blitz a packet of shortbread biscuits (around 500g) in a food processor. Heat up 50g of unsalted butter in a pot and add the shortbread, stir until butter has mixed well with shortbread.
- Take out of the pot and add mixture to a cake tin. Make the base as thick or thin as you want and then pat the mixture down tightly and place in fridge to set for around 30 minutes.
- Mix together the mascarpone, cream and vanilla bean paste and spoon on top of the shortbread base. Arrange the rest of the raspberries on top and drizzle with the raspberry syrup.
Enjoy
Categories: Biscuits and Cakes > Dessert Course > Featured Post
No Comments - Click to Add Yours
Left room for dessert? Giant Tiramisu makes a world record
Posted: 04 November '09 by Kelly
Tiramisu world record
Chef’s rustled up the world’s biggest tiramisu at a food festival in France on Friday 30 October 2009. The dessert was assembled in an ice rink set up specifically to keep the tiramisu chilled at the fair in Villeurbanne near Lyon.
A dozen chefs worked through the night on the dessert, whipping together buckets or eggs, cream, sugar and cocoa into a tonne of the finger-licking Italian treat.
Weighing in at 1,075.92 kilograms (2,367 pounds) the giant Tiramisu was logged as a new Guinness world record. The recipe used up 300 kilos of mascarpone, 60 kilos of cream, 192 of sugar, 180 of boudoir biscuits, 4.8 of cocoa powder and 12 kilos of chocolate. Chefs also cracked in 72 kilos of egg yolks and 108 of whites – the equivalent of 4,000 eggs, as well as 120 liters of water, 9.12 of coffee and 18 litres of marsala wine.
The French tiramisu will be dished up and sold for charity, and takes over the previous record held by Switzerland for a 782.4 kilo dessert.
Other information:
Tiramisu is an Italian dessert and means “pick me up”.
Categories: News
No Comments - Click to Add Yours
Gnocchi with blue cheese sauce and pancetta
Posted: 04 November '09 by Niall
Gnocchi with blue cheese sauce
After reading Sarah’s recipe for Gnocchi Piedmontaise, I had decided to make our own gnocchi, and was just waiting for the opportunity.
With plenty of left-over mashed potatoes from the previous night the time had come – and I was amazed how easy the process is – and how tasty the results! Seriously, the little gnocchi pillows are wonderfully light and make a delicious meal out of those potatoes which were destined to be thrown out.
Needless to say, Kelly loved this recipe – but I have the feeling that I could cover an old tyre in blue cheese sauce and Kelly would ask for seconds! But give it a go – you definitely won’t be disappointed.
You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4Image 5
Serves 4
Ingredients:
For the Gnocchi:
- 150g warm mashed potato
- 1 egg yolk
- 15g unsalted butter
- 55g plain flour
- Maldon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Fresh nutmeg, grated
For the blue cheese sauce:
- 2 tbsp of good quality olive oil
- 200ml of double cream
- 180g blue cheese (preferably gorgonzola)
- 100g fresh grated parmesan
- freshly ground pepper
To serve:
- Grated parmesan
- 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
- Some good quality olive oil to drizzle
- Thinly sliced pancetta (optional)
Method:
- Make your mashed potatoes – I’ll assume you know how to do this
- Warm the mashed potato, which can be prepared in advance, gently in a saucepan adding the butter once warmed enough to melt the butter. Once the butter has fully incorporated add the seasoning, a good couple of pinches of nutmeg and the egg yolk. Mix again well. Finally, fold in the flour using your hands to finish the mixing whilst taking care not to over-mix as this shall toughen the dough.
- Split the mixture into three batches and roll into finger thick long sausage shapes on a lightly floured surface. Cut into one inch long pieces and squeeze the middle to create bow-tie like shapes (this helps the middle of the dough to cook through properly).
- Bring a large pan of salted water to a simmer and poach the gnocchi in batches of 8-10 until each rises to the surface of the water. Remove and drain on a clean tea towel. Allow to cool, preferably in the fridge. The gnocchi can be frozen at this stage and pulled out in batches once required.
- Once required, heat a frying pan and add a dash of clarified butter. Gently fry the gnocchi until they are a pale golden colour, seasoning if required.
- Add the cream to a saucepan and bring to a simmer over a low heat
- Add your chopped blue cheese, a pinch of black pepper, a good glug of olive oil, and the parmesan and turn off the heat, mixing the ingredients
- Put some olive oil into another saucepan along with the chopped pancetta and place over a medium heat. When the pancetta has coloured and started to crisp, lower the heat and add the sliced garlic, sweating gently until the garlic becomes translucent
- Place the gnocchi onto your plate, scatter the pancetta and garlic on top, add the blue cheese sauce, dust with the grated parmesan and drizzle some olive oil on top
Buon appetito!
Other information:
Lots of people have trouble pronouncing “gnocchi” – but it’s not that difficult..
- The “gn” makes a “ny” sound with a silent “g”
- The “occh” is pronounced as a hard “k”, as in “ock”
- The “i” is an “ee” sound, as in “three”
Which gives you “nyockee”.
Gnocchi is the plural form of the word. The singular is “gnocco.” So you might order a plate of gnocchi and devour every gnocco on that plate.
Categories: Featured Post > Italian Food > Main Course > Pasta > Recipes
No Comments - Click to Add Yours
Restaurant review: Made in Belfast
Posted: 02 November '09 by Niall
Made in Belfast
After doing some serious food shopping in St. George’s Market on Saturday, Kelly and I dropped in to “Made in Belfast” for a bite to eat. We’d both heard (largely) good reviews about the restaurant – or “resto-lounge” as they dub themselves – and thought it was high-time that we tried it for ourselves.
Stepping inside the doorway was a sensory experience in itself – Julie London was singing in the background, and amidst the mis-matched and haphazardly hung wallpaper, exposed pipe-work, grafitti, sofas, and assorted bric-a-brac, we found ourselves slightly disoriented. It works though – “Made in Belfast” has a relaxed, bohemian vibe that is at odds with the hussle-and-bustle of the city-centre at the end of the street, a small bubble of relaxation.
As much as the decor, I think the waiting staff make or ruin a good first impression – although they were relatively busy, one of the waiting staff came over to us straight away and showed us to our table – a small, painted table and (typically) mismatched seating – a metal-framed chair for Kelly, and plastic patio furniture for me. The staff really did add to the welcoming and relaxed atmosphere – nothing was a hassle, they were attentive, and were more than willing to talk about their personal recommendations for dishes and drinks.
From the fairly impressive day-time menu (which had some really appetising and quirky dishes on there: venison pie with root chips, chicken liver parfait, and fish finger sandwiches to name a few) Kelly chose the Belfast crab on toasted wheaten bread, while I opted for the pint of prawns. The crab was really delicious – lots and lots of sweet white meat held in a crisp lettuce leaf, with a generous dollop of lemon mayonnaise, on a doorstep of wheaten bread. As usual, Kelly gave me a forkful of hers, and I have to admit, I was disappointed I only got one. My prawns were served on thick chopping-block of a wooden tray on which was balanced a pint glass stuffed with rocket leaves, six of the plumpest prawns that I have ever seen, a slice of soft black olive bread, and more of the fresh, zingy lemon mayonnaise. There are times when having to extricate a prawn from it’s shell is just too much like hard work – but not in this case! You’ll find yourself attacking the meaty crustaceans and discarding heads, shells, and serviettes with abandon.
We enjoyed a very leisurely lunch, and never once felt like we were being hurried out of the door, much to the restaurant’s credit.
| Lunch: | |
|---|---|
| Belfast crab on wheaten bread | £6.95 |
| Pint of prawns | £7.95 |
| Sundries: | |
| Glass of pure orange | £1.70 |
| Bottle of peroni | £3.00 |
| Total: | £19.60 |
Our verdict:
A quirky, distinctive restaurant in which you could happily while-away the afternoon – or spend a night enjoying.
MIB isn’t perfect – We ordered a dessert which never materialised, and I thought that the food was slightly over-priced, but nothing that should discourage you from visiting, and is quickly forgotten when you sample the delicious food and feel yourself unwinding. Having said that, the helpings are fairly generous – while both Kelly and I could have eaten more, it was nothing to do with the size of the portions!
There are lots of positive things, however. We’ve already decided to return some evening, and are planning to bring friends from England who are visiting – which speak volumes. A definite “Chilli and Chocolate” recommendation.
Our rating: 3 out of 5
Made in Belfast
Units 1 & 2 Wellington Buildings,
Wellington Street,
Belfast
BT1 6ET
T: +44 (0) 28 90246712
E: emma@madeinbelfastni.com
W: www.madeinbelfastni.com
You can also see Made in Belfast on Google Maps.
Categories: Northern Ireland > Restaurant Reviews > United Kingdom
