Proscuitto Wrapped Pork Loin with Apples

1 pork loin, butterflied

Salt and pepper

1 head chard, whole leaves blanched

1 cup dried shitake mushrooms

3/4 cup dried apples

1 onion, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp butter

1 1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary

2 tbsp Calvados

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 lb ground veal

3 ounces thinly sliced proscuitto

5 sprigs fresh rosemary

4 apples, quartered

1 cup hard cider

1/2 cup water

Pound the butterflied pork loin to an even thickness with a mallet.  Season with salt and pepper, then cover with the blanched chard leaves.  Set aside.

In two separate bowls, pour boiling water over the mushrooms and apples to soften for about 30 minutes.  Drain and finely chop together in food processor.

Cook the garlic and onion in the butter until the onion is soft.  Add the chopped mushrooms and apples, then continue to cook for about 5 minutes.  Stir in the thyme and rosemary, cooking for 1 minute.  Add the Calvados and cook for 1 minute.  Finally, add the 2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp pepper, blending well.  Set aside and allow to cool completely, then blend in the ground veal.  Spread the stuffing on top of the chard leaves and tightly roll the pork loin.  Wrap the rolled pork with proscuitto and tie with kitchen string.  Tuck rosemary springs underneath the string.

Place the quartered apples in a roasting pan, top with rolled roast and pour the cider and water into the pan.  Roast for 30 minutes at 450 degrees F.  Lower the oven to 350 degrees F and continue to cook for 1 hour.

This is a quick and easy dish I put together using one of my stove top tajines.  A skillet with a cover would work as well.

Veal Chops Smothered in Onions and Grilled Peppers

4 veal chops

Salt and pepper

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, sliced

3 garlic cloves, slivered

2-3 grilled bell peppers, cut into strips

1/2 cup white wine

2 tsp tomato paste

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Season the chops with salt and pepper, then brown in the oil and butter.  Remove and set aside.  Add the onion and garlic, cooking until the onion is soft, then add the bell peppers, wine, tomato paste, salt, pepper, stirring to blend.  Place the chops on top of the vegetables, cover and cook for 15 minutes.  Serve with fresh spaghetti.

Wine suggestion:  Brouilly

This morning Daisy at Cool Cook Style http://coolcookstyle.com/ informed me that my blog had been featured at What’s Cook In http://www.whatscook.in/articles/what-weve-been-reading-3091/.   Mah-velous!  Thank you Daisy.  Thank you What’s Cook In!  Okay, one more Jamie from the budget issue.  Only 1 pound 19 per serving.  I can’t help it.  I think I’ve become, gasp, a Jamie Oliver groupie.

There are several things I liked about Jamie’s fish and chip recipe; No frying, 3 different chip flavors, an opportunity to try mushy peas which I’ve never had and I just happened to have some unopened malt vinegar languishing in the cupboard since my last “buy everything that you think you might ever need” shopping trip.  See, I was right!

I like peas and mushy peas are good!  The yogurt and mint really compliments them.  Don’t use those sugary sweet peas.  Bleah!  For the fish, I used cabillaud or cod but use whatever you like for fried fish.  My chips were really big.  I think I need a chip cutter or something.  But they were fabulous!  Roasted carrot, sweet and plain potato.  Brilliant  Sunday lunch!

Fish, Chips and Mushy Peas

1 lb frozen peas

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 bunch mint leaves

1/2 cup plain yogurt

2 sweet potatoes, 2 carrots, 2 potatoes cut into wedges

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper

4 cod fillets

2 eggs, beaten

Flour

Bread crumbs

Cook the peas in boiling, salted water for 2 minutes, then drain.  In a food processor, blitz the peas, lemon juice and mint until mushy but still with texture.  Just before serving, reheat and stir in the yogurt.

Toss the potatoes and carrots with the olive oil, salt, pepper and roast in a preheated 400 degree F oven for about 45 minutes, stirring half way.

Season the fillets with salt and pepper, coat with flour, beaten eggs then bread crumbs.  Put on an oiled baking sheet and put in the oven with the vegetables for the last 15-20 minutes.

Serve with malt vinegar.

Wine suggestion:  I’ve had a number of corrections on my wine choices for my blog meals. Of course I don’t pretend to be a wine connoisseur, far from it.  Ask M. Parret.  My suggestions are based on what I’m drinking and enjoying with the food.  Today I’m drinking Veuve Cliquot.  Joyfully.  My husband’s coming tomorrow!  If you would really like to know the “correct” wine to have with one of my recipes, ask Roger   http://stowell.wordpress.com/, he knows.

I went to the market today to get a 2.5 kilo (about 5 lbs) pork belly so that I could make Jamie’s crispy, budget pork belly(under 2 pounds per serving, Frugal).   But to my dismay, they only had small pieces.  Disappointed, I went over to my friend Jacque’s cafe for an early morning coffee and whined to him.  He gave me a sugar cube soaked in Mirabelle liqueur and sympathized.  It was 7:30 a.m. and by 8:15 a.m. I had my pork belly  Jacques removed the small strip of rib bones from the bottom and scored the skin for me.  As an ex-butcher, he has a wicked set of knives!

In keeping with this month’s relative frugality, I put the rib bones in a separate roasting pan, rubbed them with dried rosemary, garlic powder, salt and pepper, then roasted them for an hour and a half, along with the pork belly.  I then painted them with my home made barbecue sauce http://cookinginsens.wordpress.com/2012/01/28/oven-barbecued-chicken-with-tagliatelle-carbonara/ and returned them to the oven for 15 minutes.

I only changed one thing in this recipe, I put down some shallots along with the thyme and garlic on the bottom of the pan to make a nice bed of vegetables for the pork.

I shredded some daikon, carrot and cabbage, adding rice vinegar, salt and sugar for a quick pickle while the pork was roasting.  When it was finally done (Hello!  The light was fading from the sky!), I slathered some garlic mayonnaise on slices of fresh country bread, mounded that with the vegetable pickle and topped it all with not so crispy slices of pork belly.  Why, why, why can’t I get the skin to crisp?  Why Jamie, why?  Never mind, it was good.  Just not crispy.  Thanks Jamie.

Roasted Pork Belly

5 lb pork belly, skin on

1 tsp red wine vinegar

Salt

Sea salt flakes or fleur de sel

6 sprigs fresh or dried thyme

6 garlic cloves in skin, crushed

5 shallots, sliced vertically

1 1/2 cup hard cider

Score the pork belly skin at 1/2 inch intervals.  Rub with the wine vinegar and refrigerate for 2 hours uncovered.  Rub some salt into the cracks of the skin, then sprinkle with sea salt flakes.  Place the garlic, thyme and shallots on the bottom of a roasting pan and put the pork on top.  Put the roasting pan in a preheated 450 degrees F oven for 20 minutes.  Pour in the cider, being careful not to wet the pork.  Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue to roast for 3 hours until the skin is as crispy as it’s going to get.

This roasted red pepper, fennel and onion casserole with optional bacon makes a satisfying light lunch, especially if you’ve had a large breakfast

Quick and easy with crisp, tender roasted vegetables, the casserole is also perfect as a side dish with either chicken, pork chops or steak.

Roasted Fennel, Red Pepper and Onion

2 fennel bulbs, sliced

2 red bell peppers, cut into squares

2 small onions, quartered

3 large cloves garlic, slivered

1 tsp sage leaves

Salt and pepper

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

Crisp fried bacon batons(optional)

In a large bowl, mix the vegetables, seasonings and oil together.  Pour into a roasting pan and roast at 425 degrees F for about 35 minutes, stirring half way.  If using the bacon, sprinkle on top of the roasted vegetables.

Steak and eggs for breakfast reminds me of all night diners in the wee hours of the morning.  They don’t have those in France.  Bummer.  Somebody should open up a breakfast restaurant here, not chain.  Or build a 5 star Sheraton on the outskirts of Sens that serves Sunday brunch, with champagne and the odd necessities.  There’s one in Ethiopia.  Rambling.  My husband’s coming on Monday!

Steak and Eggs

1 rib steak

1 egg

1 piece of country bread, toasted

Butter

Fry the steak to taste in butter, plate with the toast and set aside, keeping warm. Fry the egg in a clean skillet with butter and put on top of the toast.

Don’t eat lunch.

The new Jamie magazine is billed as the “budget issue”(February 12, Issue 26).  Frugal, go out and buy this, it can’t be that expensive and you are going to love it!  The front cover says, “Packed with brilliant and thrifty ideas for eating well”.  I like the eating well part.  ”Give up nothing!  Seafood! Meat! Booze!  Cut costs, not flavour”.  I like the give up nothing part.  Anyway, penny pinching aside, this is a great issue with wonderful and delicious meals.  I will be making several.

We begin with the Cullen Skink which I had never heard of, but did immediately like the name.  The fishmonger had beautiful fillets of smoked haddock and plenty of fresh mussels.  I also purchased some nice dos cabillaud fillets for future consideration.

I wouldn’t change a thing about this soup, so that’s why I made a parsley and garlic vinaigrette to drizzle on top  True Scots will skip the vinaigrette.  Just 1 pound 35 per serving!  This was so good!

Cullen Skink with Mussels

3 garlic cloves

Leaves from 6 parsley branches

Juice from 1/2 lemon

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp red wine vinegar

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp water

Pepper

2 tbsp butter

1 onion, finely chopped

1 leek, finely sliced

1 lb potatoes, chopped

2 bay leaves

1 lb smoked haddock fillets

3 cups milk

Water

1 lb fresh mussels

In a food processor or blender, puree the garlic and parsley.  Add the lemon juice, mustard, vinegar, olive oil, water, pepper and blend until smooth.  Refrigerate.

Cook the onion, leek, potatoes and bay leaves in the butter for 5 minutes, until the leek is softened.  Add the haddock to the pan, about half the milk and water to cover.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the fish flakes.   Remove the fish from the pan, discard skin and flake into chunks.  Set aside.

Add the remaining milk to the pan with black pepper and continue to simmer for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.  Add the haddock and mussels, then cover and and cook for 3-5 minutes until mussels have opened.

Ladle the soup into bowls, drizzle with the vinaigrette and serve with fresh country bread.

Wine suggestion:  Muscadet

This was really supposed to be duck breast with a sweet potato rosti, or so the people at BBC said http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/roastduckwithsweetpo_84214. I have to say, it tasted very good but I think they should have included eggs or something else besides corn starch to make this thing stick together.  Where did I go wrong?

Good thing you can’t ruin a duck breast but I almost did by cooking it longer than I like, so distracted by the “rosti”.

I made this duck salad to sooth myself.  And there was that glass of Chablis….

I’d forgotten about chicken korma until I visited one of my favorite sites Rasamalaysia  http://rasamalaysia.com/chicken-korma/2/.  This is a wonderful Indian recipe and I can’t believe that I didn’t remember it.  So many good things to eat and so little time!

I pretty much followed the recipe, only adding a little more of some spices and working in quail eggs and my tajine.

Chicken Korma

1 tsp salt

2 tsp fresh garam masala

1/2 tsp tumeric

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

2 tbsp chili powder

1 1/2 cups plain Greek yoghurt

2/3 cups deep fried onions

10 chicken thighs

2 1/2 tbsp butter or ghee

1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 cinnamon stick

2 cardamons

4 cloves

2 large bay leaves

6 black peppercorns

1 inch fresh ginger, skin on, chopped

2 large garlic cloves, chopped

20 quail eggs, hard boiled

Mix together the first 8 ingredients and pour over the chicken, stirring to coat.  Allow to marinate for 2-3 hours.

In a large pot, cook the cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamons, cloves, bay leaves, peppercorns, ginger and garlic in the butter until fragrant.  Add the chicken with the marinade and cook on high for 10 minutes.  Put the chicken and sauce in a tajine, cover and cook in a 375 degree F oven for 30 minutes with the top on.  Remove the top and continue to cook for another 15 minutes.  Stir in the quail eggs and serve with chapatis or tortillas or rice and mixed vegetables.

Wine suggestion:  Cote du Rhone, the tractor of fine wines

I’m not a big sweets eater.  I think it was childhood overload.  My parents always had a lot of parties, and when the guests arrived they would always bring cookies, Hostess cupcakes, Twinkies, candies and soft drinks for us.  I’m talking huge, brown paper sacks!   After a while, the thrill was gone and now I will only occasionally binge on a very few favorite sweets.  English toffee is one of them.  Not all the time, but when I get the craving, I can eat an embarrassing amount of English toffee.

There is no English toffee in France, or I haven’t discovered it.  France has a lot of beautiful, artisanal chocolates and candies that make great dinner party gifts but don’t excite me beyond that.  I’ve been craving English toffee for the last 3 months.  That’s why I, no candy/cookie/cake maker, decided to make my own.  I had to buy a candy thermometer.  I bought the almonds with that brown skin on them and had to de-skin and sliver them before roasting and chopping.  I looked for almond slivers (hello?!) but they only had thin slices or whole.  I live in a small town, practically a village, but I chose it and there it is.  Still, I was slightly annoyed.

The candy making was sort of fascinating and interesting; if I hadn’t have been so nervous about it, I would have taken more pictures of the process but I lacked confidence in the outcome.  The “hard crack” stage was an intimidating definition.  However, the toffee turned out beautifully with that heavy butter taste and mega almond crunch.  I will probably make it again but will ask my husband to bring several family sized bags of almond slivers from Costco when he goes to the States.  They can sit in the freezer with the pecans, pine nuts and walnuts.

English Toffee    http://www.joyofbaking.com/

2 cups slivered almonds

1 1/2 cups good, unsalted butter

2 cups sugar

1/4 cup water

3 tbsp light corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla

6 ounces chocolate chips

Toast the almonds for about 10 minutes in a 350 degree F oven, then coarsely chop 1 cup.  Finely chop the other cup in a food processor.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, then stir in the sugar, water and corn syrup.  When the mixture boils, stop stirring and cook until the syrup reaches 300 degrees F.

Remove the pan from the flame and stir in the vanilla and coarsely chopped almonds.  Pour onto a buttered baking sheet and spread evenly.  Sprinkle with the chocolate chips, wait a few minutes, then spread the melted chocolate over the toffee, then sprinkle with the finely chopped almonds.