Crispy Pork Belly with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes on Vine

CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! Oh how I love that crunchiness of pork cracklings, its so tasty and full of aroma. It may not be the healthiest option but I am sure having a treat now and then cannot hurt do the cholesterol level too much damage... Balancing it with some health vegetables seems to be all justified in the end! 

Serves 2

2 slices of free range pork belly, scored the skin

4 vines of cherry tomatoes

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

2 potatoes, peeled and diced

1/2 tsp of Chinese 5 spice

1/4 tsp of dried thyme

Salt & pepper to taste 

1. Preheat one oven to 220 degree and another to 180 degree. 

N.B. If you only have one oven, you may wish to cook the diced potatoes half way through then turn the heat up to 220 degree for crisping the crackling.

2. In a baking tray, season the diced potatoes with salt and pepper, dried thyme and a splash of rapeseed oil. Place it in to the lower heat oven and cook for 40 minutes or until golden.

3. Place the cherry tomatoes in a roasting tin, sprinkle a dollop of oil and salt, cover with foil and put into the lower heat oven. Cook for 40 minutes or so.

4. For the pork belly pieces, massage the Chinese 5 spice, a pinch of salt an a dollop of oil into the flesh. Pat dry the skin and score. 

5. Place belly pieces in a baking tray, sprinkle a generous pinch of salt all over. 

6. Cook the belly in the higher heat oven for 10 - 15 minutes or until the skin starts to crackle. 

7. Turn the heat down to 180 degree and cook the belly for a further 15 minutes or until the belly is throughly cooked. 

8. Meanwhile, steam the sliced carrots until cooked but not mushy. 

9. Serve! 

de Buyer Mineral B Element

Like post household, I've lalways had non-stick frying pan for the obvious reason. Nonetheless, they never last for more than couple of years despite using the correct utensils and following the correct cleaning instruction. The non-stick layer would begin to fade and eventually it goes into the bin. I've tried all the famous and not-so-we'll-known brands but, in my opinion, they are much the same.

When it was time to look for a replacement pan, I wanted to try something different, perhaps an alternative to non-stick. The options are endless: stainless steel, ceramic, copper, you name it. Then I came across de Buyer, a French brand that's has been manufacturing gastronomy cookware since the early 19th century (must say something if they're still standing 2 centuries later?). They have a wide range of product, and after much research, I've finally gone for the Mineral B range. 

The frying pan from this mange is made with 99% pure iron with beeswax finishing, and is Eco and environmental friendly because it has not added chemical. 

The packaging is simple and elegant. 

Apparently the more it is used and the darker the pan becomes, the better it is for the nonstick properties. This range may not be for those who likes to keep their cookware squeaky clean!

"Made in France" - always gives a level of quality reassurance.

A cute engraved bee logo in the centre of the pan.

I really cannot wait to put this frying pan through a good test and see if it lives up to its name! :D

Korean Spicy Pork (Daeji Bulgogi)

The last of summer sunshine has faded and autumn has creeped in. There is no better season to consume hot and warming dishes but during autumn and winter time.

This Korean Spicy Pork dish is an alternative to chilli con carne, and is best accompanied by some hot steamed rice. You may add Amy vegetables you like but I would recommend to choose varieties that do not have much flavour, so they can absorb the marinade better. 

A trip to your local Asian store is required for this recipe, as the key ingredient is Korean pepper paste (Gochujang) and there is no substitute. There are many different brands of pepper paste, but I personally think they're much the same. So, go for whichever one suits you in terms of price and size. 

Serves 4

2 slices of free range pork belly, freeze until they're hard then thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 cm of fresher ginger, crushed

1/2 apple, puréed 

3 tbsp Korean pepper paste

1 tsp sugar

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sake wine

1 tsp corn flour

1 courgette, thinly sliced

1 red onion, thinly sliced 

6 small sweet peppers, sliced

2 stalks of spring onions, sliced 

1 cup of Basmati rice, steamed

1. Put the pork belly into the freezer and freeze till they're harden then thinly sliced them. This method will keep the fat layers intact. 

2. In a mixing bowl, marinade the pork belly slices with apple puréed, crushed garlic and ginger, soy sauce, sugar, Korean pepper paste, sake wine and corn flour at least 3 hours. Ideally, leave to marinade overnight. 

3. In a frying pan, heat some oil and cook the onion until they're soft.

4. Add in the pepper and courgette. Cook until they're soft but still have a crunch. Dish them up onto a plate.

5. In the same frying pan, cook the pork for 10 minutes and mix in the vegetables. Cook for further 5-10 minutes until the pork is cooked through.

6. Serve up the steamed rice and dish up the pork, sprinkle the spring onion on top. 

Bon appetite! 

Steak Fondue - Alpine style

I have had many Asian steamboat/ hotpot but never an Alpine style fondue until my recent snow holiday to Austria, where I sampled a divine steak fondue and am determined to recreate this in my own kitchen. 

On the chalet host's day off, we were booked into Kitzloch in Ischgl for a fondue night. Between the cheese and steak options, I opted for the latter and it most certainly did not disappoint. To get our appetite going for some tasty meat, we were served grilled ribs, garlic bread, chips and plenty of fine wine to begin with. A huge plate of thinly sliced fillet steak was then brought to our table, along with 5 different dipping sauces: cocktail, curry, mustard, horseradish and herbs. We forked our slices of steak, dipped them into the tasty beef broth and cooked to our individual taste. I prefer mine quite rare so a quick 10 second dip was good enough.

In the UK, fondue was a popular choice for entertaining guests in the 80s but the enthusiasm soon faded, as most found the preparation arduous. The American popularised chocolate fountain in the 2000s which was originally designed to use in the hotel and resort industry. This trend has indirectly helped to revive the fondue scene: instead of purchasing yet another kitchen novelty, this gives most of us a great reason to blow the dust off that fondue set given by Aunt Bessie some years ago and has been sitting in the attic since. Moreover, dipping fruits into warm, melted Belgian chocolate has made consuming 5-a-day a more enjoyable experience.

The set I have uses methylated spirit burner. There are a variety of fondue set available on the market to suit your preference. Electrically heated ones would be most convenient of all and as for the tea light ones, well I never quite grasped the concept of that.

I made the below simple beef broth the day before. Alternatively, good quality read-made beef stock or consomme are just as good.

1 beef bone marrow
1 carrot, halved
2 stalks of celery, halved
1 onion, halved
2 bay leaves
3 cloves of garlic
6 whole peppercorns
1 leek, halved
0.5l good quality beef consomme
1L boiling water

1. Heat a drizzle of rapeseed oil in the stockpot. Brown the vegetables for 5 minutes.

2. Add in the bay leaves and peppercorns along with the bone marrow. Cook for a further 5 minutes.

3. Pour in the beef consomme and bring it to simmer.

4. Pour in the boiling water. Bring it to boil and let it simmer on a low heat for a couple of hours. Season with sea salt to taste.

As for the dipping sauces, I compared a number of recipes and generally can't go wrong with the following combinations. Of course it all depends on your own taste and the number you're catering for.

Horseradish Sauce

3 tsp of horseradish
1 dash of Worcester sauce
1 dollop of sour cream
1 dollop of mayonnaise
Pinch of cayenne pepper

Curry Sauce

2 tsp of curry powder
1 tsp of cayenne pepper
1 dollop of sour cream
1 dollop of mayonnaise

So, the key ingredient that is fillet steak. I bought 550g of fillet steak from a local butcher and asked them to be thinly sliced.

I also made some potato wedges to go with the meat:

And here we have a steak fondue feast :)

Ratatouille with roast chicken legs

Ratatouille is a colourful Provencal vegetable dish that is flavorsome and wholesome enough to serves as a main dish, with a rustic French baguette; or it would make a fantastic side dish to go with any roast meat. It is debatable as what an authentic and traditional ratatouille should contain, but having studied various recipes, the key ingredients are aubergine, courgette, onion, tomato and garlic. Do avoid chopping the vegetables too small or risk them being dried up.

I served mine with a whole corn fed free range chicken leg. This dish would go nicely with a roast leg of lamb or pan fry fish. It is a hassle-free dish, great for entertaining friends and family over this Easter weekend!

Serves 2

Courgette, roughly chopped

Red onion,  roughly chopped

Red pepper,  roughly chopped

Yellow pepper,  roughly chopped

Leek,  roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, leave whole

Punnet of button mushrooms, halves 

Tomato passata 

Pinch of Herbes de Provence 

Lemon, thickly sliced

Pinch of thyme 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degree.

2. Prepare all the vegetables and place them onto a roasting tin. Drizzle a generous amount of rapeseed oil, season with salt & pepper and Herbes de Provence and massage the vegetables gently. 

3. Place the lemon slices in a separate roast tin and put the chicken legs on top. Drizzle rapeseed oil, season with salt & pepper and sprinkle a pinch of thyme over the meat. 

4. Place the vegetables and chicken into the oven for approximately 45 minutes or until cooked through. Check them periodically and turn the vegetables over every 20 minutes or so. If the chicken became dry, spoon the chicken and lemon juice over the skin to dehydrate. 

Enjoy!

Italian Kitchen - Homemade Pizza

The proper traditional Italian pizzas usually have a very few toppings and not dripping with cheese like the one we have in the UK. Nonetheless, I must admit I love to overload mine with everything, especially cheese! Being with someone who is lactose-intolerant means I seldom have pizza as dinner, unless it is homemade, of course. Yes, 'His & Hers' pizza is the best way, no arguments over who should have the last slice or how much olives should go on it etc.

This one clearly is a 'Hers' pizza :D 

Making your own pizza is rather therapeutic process: choosing ones favorite toppings and leaving out the capers and pineapple (yuck)! The dough was machine-made by bread maker following its manual. Depending on individual's preference, my base was rolled out as extra-thin. The tomato sauce was made by the ex-pizza chef (the other half) and as for the toppings I opted for: sliced mushrooms, sliced onion, roasted red pepper, sliced black olives, spinach, tinned anchovies and A LOT of grated extra matura cheddar AND parmesan! 

I was in pizza heaven that evening :) 

Courgette Noodles with Avocado Sauce

It depends how you interpret the name of this dish, it can be read as 'courgettes one of the noodles' ingredients', similar to that of spinach pasta; or, 'noodles entirely made out of courgettes'. In this case, it is the latter. Please do not be put of by the greenness of this dish (in colour and in health), it is surprisingly flavorsome, with an in depth creamy nutty taste. 

Our body deserves a little detox now and then!

Serves 4

2 courgettes, chop into matchsticks (I used a mandolin slicer) 

Punnet  of chestnut mushrooms, thinly sliced

Dozen of brazil nuts

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 lime, juiced

Handful of pumpkin seeds

2 avocados, de-stoned and diced

Bunch of fresh parsley, roughly chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1. Heat oil in frying pan, add in crushed garlic and mushrooms. 

2. Meanwhile, place the brazil nuts in food processor and blend until smooth-ish. Add in the avocado cubes, olive oil, lime juice and a pinch of salt and blend again. If the sauce is too thick, dilute it with some water to the right consistency. 

3. Add the courgette noodles into the frying pan, cook till half cooked and pour in the source. Season to taste.

6. Sprinkle with parsley and pumpkin seeds. Serve.