Pork and Lentil stew with Chorizo, Pimentón & Tomatoes

So I’ve been watching Rick Stein in Spain for the past 4 weeks and wanted to make something this weekend from the series. Once, I started it however, I couldn’t resist tinkering with it and what was originally supposed to be lentil stew with pimentón that he made in episode 4, turned into that combined with the well known Andalucian Magra con Tomate (pork with tomato). So this is Pork and lentil stew with chorizo, pimentón & tomatoes. The pork is cooked really slowly so it crumbles in the mouth. I served it with a char-grilled onion bread to mop up the sauce.

As often with stews, I make too much and freeze portions. This batch got us dinner last night and 6 portions for the freezer.

Dessert was Adriaan Bartell's Raspberry Creme Brullee from the Cliff House Hotel cookbook. Love using my blowtorch!

Recipe

250g green lentils washed and hard boiled for 10 minutes to start the cooking process
1200g shoulder of pork cut into big cubes
6 large cloves of garlic sliced
2 large onions chopped
1 large carrot chopped in big dice
5 celery stalks diced
100g Serrano ham chopped
Glass of Sherry or wine
1 large chorizo (from Lidl) sliced into chunks
2 tins of tomatoes (I used tinned cherry ones)
3 tbps pimentón
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil

Method

Slowly soften the garlic in a few good glugs of olive oil for a few minutes
Add in the onion and let that get translucent and sweet
Add in the celery and carrot and soften that for a few minutes
Add in the Serrano ham and Chorizo and cook for another minute or 2
Increase the heat and add the pork and brown it slightly
Add the pimentón stirring to coat all the ingredients in this beautiful smoky powder
Tip in the glass of sherry and let that gather up all the paprika and cook out a little
Season for the first time
Finally add in the 2 tins of tomatoes and bring to the boil
Reduce the heat to just on and let it bubble very slowly for about 2 and a half hours
Let it cool a little and then check the seasoning

Carlingford Foodie Weekend

Warning - this is not a diet type post, this is all about me falling off the weight loss wagon in style and enjoying what there is to enjoy! Today, Monday, it's back to the plan...more of that later.

Myself and my wife Yvonne enjoyed a little road trip this weekend just past in Carlingford County Louth. A lovely part of the world it was indeed as it overlooks Carlingford Lough, is a medieval heritage town and contains a surprisingly large number of pubs and eateries all within a short walking distance.
We stayed in Belvedere House which contains The Bay Tree restaurant.
http://www.belvederehouse.ie/index.htm

We did a stay/meal deal on the Saturday which was €150 for 2 people bed & breakfast and a 3 course evening meal at the restaurant. The extra night was €90 and with a bottle of wine at dinner and a glass of port, the bill was €273.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and headed straight to one of my favourite pubs, PJ’s Anchor Bar...voted Louth’s best gastro pub in both 2010 and 2011. http://www.pjoharescarlingford.com/

We had a little tapas portion of oysters and baby back ribs to go with our pints which were extremely tasty. The ribs absolutely melted in the mouth and thankfully the obligatory BBQ sauce was on the side. I preferred the natural flavour of the slow cooked meat.

For dinner we went to the Kingfisher restaurant http://www.kingfisherbistro.com/  which I was reliably informed was Carlingford’s best by a good local source.  My wife opted for the special set menu @ €26.95, pretty good value but the options were of course a little on the cheaper side. She started with a pea risotto which was nice, but criminally under seasoned. She followed up with Thai Spiced Pork in light crispy batter, Asian sticky rice, Roast curry oil & sweet soy. Hot & sour onions, which was also quite good...healthy amounts of five spice, sweet and sour notes, chilli heat...but overall, I thought it was lacking something and Yvonne was quite under-whelmed. Her dessert was a Strawberry Pavlova which was very nice.  I ordered off the specials menu, a scallop, pea puree, and risotto and bacon starter @ €9.95, Turbot @ €26.95 and a very nice sticky toffee pudding at €6.95. The starter was really nice ... scallops well cooked and pretty much a classic and often done combo with the peas and bacon.

The main was quite disappointing. I love a nice moist thick turbot fillet but what I got was several of the thin tails which were pretty overcooked.

It came with a fresh tomato sauce which was nice and fresh but a little bland. The accompanying carrots, broccoli and new potatoes were buttery and still firm so pretty good but overall I expected quite a bit more from the most expensive item on the menu. I generally don’t send food back...I just don’t come back. I did mention that the fish was overcooked and they kindly gave me a free glass of wine so I have to say that was nice. We had a bottle of the Panul Chilean Sauvignon blanc and the bill came to €91 so €100 with a tip. I’d really be hoping for a lot more for that money these days.

For lunch the next day, we ate at Food for Thought on Dundalk Street... http://www.carlingford.ie/index.php/dining/food-for-thought

I had a golden onion and Emmental tart with a side of absolutely steaming hot and very delicious cheesy creamy garlic potatoes. Tart was very tasty and served with a salad, coleslaw and sticky chilli jam. Very nice. Yvonne had a deli ham and cheese sandwich with some Ballymaloe relish which was also lovely. Very nice lunch for €24 including a cup of tea.

Dinner was in The Bay Tree and part of our deal. It was the best meal of the weekend. We both had a Crab Crème Brule which essentially was a creamy fresh crab mayonnaise (but light and unctuous), a parmesan Tuile acted as the Brule and it came with a nicely dressed fresh leaf salad (with a couple of interesting leaves, I’d say partly foraged), some sweet pickled cucumber which really cut through the creaminess of the mayo and some thin toast.

We both really enjoyed this. For main, I had a fresh succulent monkfish deep fried in Kadayif pastry and fresh tartar sauce. It came with a gorgeous warm crab adn potato salad...very good!!

Yvonne had a very nice Halibut with prawns in a cream sauce. It was really good and perfectly moist juicy fish.

I had a cheese board with some port and Yvonne had an iced nougatine with strawberries.

The cheese was billed as artisan and my only complaint was that I would have loved to know what each one was. A little card with a printed explanation would have been great. All in all, a really good meal.

Breakfast the next day was a little average. The bacon seemed to have been cooked in a batch at the start of service and it was pretty dried out by the time I got mine at 9:45. The 2 poached eggs I had were a little watery but the toast and coffee was lovely. Would have liked some homemade jam or artisan rather than a branded plastic tub.

Carlingford is a great spot. Loads of bustle, live music in most of the pubs, we had great cocktails in Magee’s bar, pints in the Anchor, a good live country 3 piece and some great food. Added to that a quick shopping trip to Newry which is only 18km away and it was a nice little break. Highly recommended.

Mediterranean Sunday Lunch

I think we all loved yesterday's sunny weather. I'm not into tennis or hurling so instead, we set up the canopy and table outside, opened a bottle of rose, lots of sparkling water, warm crusty bread and I made...

Two types of Alioli
Smoked Paprika and plain roasted garlic. I love roasting a whole bulb of garlic in the oven with maldon and good olive oil and then squeezing out the mushy smokey garlic. Considering the healthy option, I went pretty easy on tbhis stuff!

Mini Paella, Pan fried Squid
I just left a fish stock with saffron and smoked paprika to infuse for a couple of hours, sweated an onion and some garlic and made the paella risotto style. Quickly pan fried the squid with some chilli flakes

Wild Salmon, Saffron potatoes, Samphire and Asparagus
Beautiful wild Irish salmon...leave well enough alone I say. The saffron potatoes and alioli made it seem very Mediterranean though.

and my son loved it too!!

Martijn Kajuiter Night

So tonight I cooked 3 dishes from the Cliff House Hotel Ardmore cookbook...3 very clever and extremely tasty dishes from head chef  Martijn Kajuiter. I've got to give big kudos to my friend @ConalM who introduced me to this food.

All of these are what I would describe as healthy food. In the first course, I didn't use cream as per the recipe and just used full fat milk instead. It was delicious.

1st Course - Wild Mushroom Bread and Butter Pudding, Baked Wild Mushrooms, Truffle Oil and Micro Greens



2nd course - Scallops with Asparagus 3 ways...boiled, tempura and in a jelly, with a scallop roe foam, some prawn dust as seasoning



3rd Course - Strawberry Plate - Strawberry Shot with Mint foam, Stawberry tempura on a chocolate paint, Strawberry sorbet with dehydrated strawberry slices, marinated strawberries in balsamic and black pepper, strawberries in caramel.

Yvonne (my wife) loved this meal. We had a bottle of Sancerre to go with it and the whole thing was lovely. I would say that the recipes were very good but they do assume a certain base knowledge...not for beginners!!

I just loved the ideas. I've discovered Soy Lechitin. I normally just use gelatine and a nitro canister...this is a good new technique. The agar agar asparagus jelly was also very good, it worked very well and was easy to handle.

Myself and Yvonne will grab a weekend in the Cliff House this Autumn, can't wait to try....and I hope I get to meet Martijn, a real food hero.



Ice cream...well sort of

Found this idea for ice cream substitute which actually was really very nice. Take 2 or 3 bananas and slice them up. Put them into a freezer bag along with some berries of your choice. (I used summer fruits) and freeze over night. Next day, take the bag out of the freezer and let it thaw for about 25 to 30 minutes. Put the fruit into a blender and whizz until smooth. I added a little bit of water to get it going.

The result is a smooth soft scoop type ice mixture which is quite like ice cream, except without any of the calories!! A bit of honey might be nice too...I think I'll try that next time. Definitely a great way to get at least 1 of your 5 a day!

My Lower Fat Chicken Tikka Curry

I love curry but a Chicken Tikka Masala or Korma type curry from the takeaway is 650 calories just for the meat and sauce. When you add in rice, Nan bread, papdoms etc, you're going to hit well over the 1200 calories mark. My curry here is about 300 calories per portion. Add in a portion of rice, some low fat yoghurt riata, a little onion, tomato and cucumber salad...half a Nan bread and you're looking at 600 calories without losing too much taste.

I make it at least once a week and it does take a bit of time. My Dad had Indian business partners for 20 years and he also loves Indian food, so Sunday dinners or family occasions were mostly an Indian buffet feast with loads of meat and vegetarian dishes spread out on the table along with riata, chutneys, salads and Indian breads. I've also been lucky enough to visit India about 5 times now and as a foodie, I loved trying dishes and talking food with the locals, who were always happy to share.

The secret to a great Indian curry, apart from the obvious spices, is the onions! Browning the onions at a decent heat for about 10 minutes till they are caramelised, nutty brown, with little burnt edges is the basis to any Masala or gravy. The other thing is marinating the meat overnight. I cook my meat and sauce separately so the sauce is reduced and complex and the chicken juicy and not overcooked.

I make this recipe to serve 10 to 12 portions. We use 2 straight away and freeze the rest in individual portion bags...really handy for a busy day at work or in anticipation of a Friday night craving. If you don't care about calories, then go for it and triple the amount of Ghee, Coconut milk and Cashew nuts being used and add in a big dollop of mango chutney to get a much richer flavour.

Recipe (makes 10 to 12 portions)

Chicken Tikka

Marinade overnight in a sealed container in the fridge

·         1.5 kg Chicken breast cut up into decent sized chunks that won’t dry up in the oven

·         150g Glenisk Low Fat Yoghurt

·         3 tbsp Tandoori Masala powder

Masala Sauce

·         3 tbsp Ghee or clarified butter

·         400g Onions, sliced

·         2 medium red Chillies (deseeded and finely chopped)

·         3 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

·         3 big cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

·         4 cardamom pods, crushed and green husk removed to leave the seeds

·         2 bay leaves

·         2 inch piece of cassia bark or cinnamon stick

·         800g chopped tomatoes (this is 2 standard tins)

·         165g can of coconut milk

·         50g cashew nuts

·         1 portion of Home-made curry paste

·         750ml Chicken Stock

·         80g fresh coriander

Home-made curry paste

·         1 tbsp Vegetable Oil

·         2 tsp Tomato Puree

·         1 tbsp ground cumin

·         1 tbsp ground coriander

·         2 tsp turmeric

·         1 tsp Garam Masala

·         ½ tsp Chilli Powder (less or more according to degree of spiciness required)

·         ½ tsp salt

Mix everything to a reddish brown paste

Method

Make the Masala or curry sauce by heating the Ghee over a medium to high heat, add the bay leaves, cassia bark and cardamom and fry off in the oil for a minute. Add the onions and brown for ten minutes, stirring often until golden nutty brown. Add the chilli, garlic and ginger and cook for another 2 or 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the curry paste and cook out for 2 to 3 minutes stirring constantly. You can add a little stock to the pan to loosen the mixture if it starts to dry out in the pan. You should be left with a fragrant, reddish brown pasty onion mixture. Add in the tomatoes and cook until boiling, add the stock and reduce for about 15 minutes on a medium to high heat to concentrate the flavours and let the spiced onion mix infuse into the stock and tomatoes. Mix in the fresh coriander. Important - Take out the cassia bark and bay leaves before blending. Using a stick blender blitz the sauce to a smooth think consistency. Taste and season with salt and more chilli powder if that’s your thing. Put the cashew nuts into a food processer (or use a stick blender), add a little water and blitz to a smooth paste. Add these to the sauce. Add the 165g can of coconut milk. Finally, taste the sauce again and correct the seasoning for a final time.

Whilst the stock is reducing you can be cooking the chicken Tikka. Heat the oven to its highest setting, mine is 250 degrees C but higher would be better. Place the marinated chicken on a baking tray, evenly spread out with space between each piece. Use 2 trays if you’re doing the full recipe. It’s important not to crowd the tray. I normally pre-heat my trays whilst the oven is heating up. Cook the chicken for about 10 minutes but check the biggest chicken piece by cutting it open after about 8 minutes just in case your oven is a bit hotter. The chicken should be cooked through (no pink) but you should still be able to see plenty of moisture in the meat. There’s nothing worse than dry over-cooked Tikka.

To serve I just do a little basmati rice, some low fat Glenisk yoghurt riata (made with yoghurt and shop bought mint sauce), a chopped red onion, tomato and cucumber salad and a Nan bread (I get Taza brand Tandoori Nan from my local Asian supermarket, the supermarket big brand Nan breads are terrible. I also don’t make them myself as you really need a Tandoor or Pizza oven to do them any justice at all)

Hope someone tries and enjoys this. Please leave a comment and let me know.

Day 2 - Smoked Mackrel for lunch

Ok, so that was one of the tastiest lunches I've had in work for ages. I used to get a sandwich from a great local deli called McCabes.. good value in comparison to other places as well...€3 for a basic sandwich, €3.80 for home cooked rare roast beef and 3 salads. But, the bread's too nice & thick, I'd always get coleslaw and I'd get a bag of crisps as well, way too many calories. And anyway, €3.80 times 5 days equals €19 a week on lunches, plus the crisps and never mind the 8 or 9 coffees at €1.70 a pop...I digress.

Last night I spent 15 minutes making up a lovely salad of watercress, rocket, organic beetroot, celery, tomatoes, fennel, radish, a spoonfull of pureed avocado and some smoked mackrel. Dressing was just a table sppon of olive oil, some red wine vinegar, dijon, dash of honey, salt and pepper. I had one slice of wheaten bread. I brought the bits in seperately and assembled in work....ok, so my photography via blackberry doesn't show it off to it's best, and the avocado was partly rescued from the slightly brown stage but it was bloody nice!

Had porridge again for breakfast, a few blueberries thrown on top. Suppose I better keep track of the cost of all of this as well...I wonder how much eating healthy and tasty will cost versus convenience and calories.