Caribbean pork with pineapple rice salad

https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/caribbean-pork-pineapple-rice-salad-recipe/t318v875

Ingredients

250g (1 1/4 cups) white long grain rice; 1 small pineapple, peeled, quartered and cored; 1 red onion, finely chopped; 1/3 cup shredded mint, plus extra to serve; 1 Lebanese cucumber, sliced; 1 red capsicum, chopped; 80ml (1/3 cup) lime juice 2 tbsp peanut oil; 500g pork mince; 2 tsp ground allspice; 2 tsp dried thyme; 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper; 2 tsp brown sugar; 250g cherry tomatoes, halved; 2 tbsp chopped salted roasted peanuts

Method

Cook rice for 8 minutes or until just tender (don't overcook). Drain in a large colander and cool slightly, separating the grains with a fork to release the heat. Meanwhile, chop 3/4 of the pineapple and finely dice remaining 1/4. Combine the finely diced pineapple, 1/4 of the onion and 1 tbs of the mint in a small bowl and set aside.

Combine the remaining pineapple, onion, mint, cucumber and capsicum in a large bowl. Drizzle with lime juice and 1/2 the oil, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Use a large metal spoon to gently fold mixture together.

Heat remaining oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add pork. Cook, using a wooden spoon to break up into bite-sized lumps, for about 5 minutes or until pork changes colour and most of the liquid evaporates. Reduce heat to medium. Add the spices and sugar and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add tomato and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until tomato has softened slightly. Season with salt.

Mix the rice with the pineapple and capsicum mixture. Spread rice salad onto a large platter or shallow bowl. Pile the mince mixture on top, then scatter with the pineapple salsa and peanuts. Serve immediately.

Cooking from the Market - Fruit 2009 Sydney   

Coriander pork with fresh pineapple    

Serves 4 

400g (14oz) pork loin or fillet, trimmed; ¼ pineapple; 1 tblsp vegetable oil; 4 garlic cloves, chopped; 4 spring onions (scallions) chopped; 1 tblsp fish sauce; 1 tblsp lime juice; 1 large handful coriander (cilantro) chopped; 1 large handful mint, chopped; steamed rice, to serve

Place the pork in the freezer for 15 minutes, or until it is just firm, then slice thinly. Cut the skin off the pineapple, then cut the flesh into bite-sized pieces.

Heat the oil in a wok or heavy-based frying pan. Add the garlic and spring onions and cook over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Remove from the wok.

Heat the wok until very hot, then add the pork in batches and stir-fry for 2-3 minute, or until just cooked. Return the garlic, spring onions and all the pork to th wok and add the pineapple,      fsh sauce and lime juice. Toss together, then cook for 1 minute, or until the pineapple is heated through.

Toss the coriander and mint through and serve immediately with steamed rice.

I made this without the garlic and spring onions and it was still delicious! Anne     

Sweet and Sour Pineapple Pork

(Abbreviated from) The Key to Chinese Cooking, written by Irene Kuo, drawings by Carolyn Moy, Australia 1978

Ingredients: 

1/2kg/1 pound boneless loin of pork, cubed; 4 cups of oiI; ¼ cup cornstarch mixed with ¼ cup all-purpose flour

Marinade:

½ tsp salt; 2 tspn light soy sauce; 1 tsp sesame oil; 1 tblsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 tblsp water; 1 egg yolk, beaten

Seasonings:

5 tblsp sugar; ½ tsp salt; 4 tblsp distilled white vinegar; 3 tblsp light soy sauce; 2 tblsp dry sherry; 3 tblsp catsup; 1 large clove garlic, lightly crushed and peeled; 1 tblsp cornstarch dissolved in 3 tblsp water; 1 tblsp sesame oil; ½ cup water; 1 cup canned pineapple cubes

2 tblsp oil

Method:

Trim excess fat from the pork cubes. Toss in marinade.

Sauce:

Mix the sugar, salt, white vinegar, soy sauce, sherry and catsup in a bowl, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Crush and peel the garlic. Dissolve 1 tblsp cornstach in 3 tblsp water and add 1 tblsp sesame oil, set aside. Measure out ½ cup water and set it aside. Drain the pineapple cubes and set aside.

Heat a large heavy skillet over high heat until hot, then turn heat to medium. Add 2 tblspn oil, swirl, and toss in the garlic, flipping and pressing it in the oil a few times. Then pour in the sauce seasonings slowly as you stir with the back of a spoon in a circular motion until the liquid comes to a boil.

Turn heat low, add the cornstarch mixture, stirring circularly, until the sauce begins to thicken. Then add the water slowly as you stir in circular motions until the sauce is smooth and bubbly. Turn off the heat.

Final cooking:

Heat a wok or large heavy saucepan over high until hot; add 4 cups of oil and heat until it foams a cube of bread snappily, about 350°F/175°C. While the oil is heating, dredge the marinated meat cubes in the cornstarch and flour mixture. Shake off excess flour and drop them into the hot oil and fry for about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Lower the heat slightly and continue to fry, stirring, for 2 more minutes. Turn off the heat and scoop out the meat with a skimmer or slotted spoon to drain on paper towels for about 1 minute. (If you haven’t made the sauce yet, use this lull to do so). Heat a small amount of this oil in a fry pan, return the pork cubes to the oil and stir fry until crisp and brown.

Bring the sauce to a simmer over low heat; discard the garlic. Turn heat to medium high, add the pineapple cubes, and stir for 30 seconds or so to heat them through. Scoop out the meat from the oil with a skimmer or slotted spoon, pause over the fry pan to drain, then scatter the cubes into the sauce; turn heat to high and stir in fast, using flipping and turning motions with a spoon or spatula to glaze the meat. Pour immediately into a hot serving dish.

A bamboo cookout with pineapple

Always keen to experiment in the kitchen and the garden Les and I recently watched a couple of youtubes on cooking in bamboo and had good fun testing out the technique on Ella and Rob. 

All delicious - we filled lengths of bamboo grown in our yard with rice and vegetable mixtures of -  sweet and sour pork with soy sauce, pineapple and ginger; beef and broccolini with soy sauce and oyster sauce; and chicken with chili, soy sauce and sesame oil. We plugged the top ends with foil and cooked them over an open fire. Hard to say which was my favourite!!

We also enjoyed home brewed cider in bamboo drinking vessels, Anne

Cheers! 

Hawaiian patties

http://unusualcoleslaw.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the inspiration Unusual Coleslaw, Anne

Hawaiian Patties

1 lb. minced pork fillets; 1/2 lb. minced veal; 12 thin pineapple slices; 3 level tablespoons apricot jam;1 egg; Pinch nutmeg; Salt and pepper; 6 bacon rashers

Method: Mix together the minced meats, 2 tablespoons of the jam, beaten egg, and seasonings. Using a little flour, shape into patties same size as pineapple slices, place one between each two pineapple slices, wrap in a bacon rasher, and secure with a cocktail stick. Brush over with remaining jam. Place patties on greased baking dish; bake in moderate oven 45 minutes.

Source: Delicious Pork Recipes. Presented by the Australian Pig Society (S.A. Branch) & United Farmers & Graziers of S.A. (Adelaide: c1968-70), n.p.

Sweet and Sour Pork

The Shortland County Council Recipe Book Show Issue 1973 Newcastle Show NSW

Recipes for the Freezer: Sweet and Sour Pork

3 lb pork; tblsp soy sauce; 1 ½ tblsp dry sherry; 5 tblsp plain flour; 100ml vegetable oil

Sauce: 6 green peppers; 2 red peppers; 3 onions; 8oz frozen (I used fresh) green beans; 8oz frozen (I used fresh) baby carrots; 6 slices pineapple; 100ml vegetable oil; 3 tblspn dry sherry; 3 tblspn lemon juice; 6 tbslp tomato sauce; 3 tblsp soy sauce; 1 cup sugar; 1 ½ tblspn rice flour; 1 ½ cups water

Cut pork into 3cm cubes, mix with soy sauce and dry sherry. Drain off any excess liquid, toss pork in plain flour. Fry in hot oil until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove pork from pan, drain well.

Sauce: For sauce, remove seeds from peppers, cut into thin strips. Chop onions, cut beans and carrots into strips and pineapple into cubes. Fry vegetables in heated oil in large saucepan until slightly brown. Mix together sherry, lemon juice, tomato sauce, soy sauce and sugar. Add to vegetables, along with pineapple cubes and bring to boil. Blend rice flour with water to smooth paste, add to mixture in pan, bring to boil, stirring continuously. Cool rapidly.

To Freeze: Spread partly cooked pork onto flat trays to cool. When cold, freeze on trays for 2 hours. Package in plastic bag, remove air, seal well; label and freeze. Pour cold sauce into plastic container, allowing 3cm headspace. Seal well, label and freeze.

To Serve: Thaw sauce for 6-8 hours and pork for 2 hours at room temperature. Heat 100ml oil in large frypan and fry pork until brown and hot. Drain well and place in warm serving dish. Bring sauce to boil, but do not simmer, pour over hot pork. Serve with boiled rice.

I didn’t freeze ours – we ate it straight away!

Pineapple stuffed with pork and wrapped with bacon!

Lizzie D and Jess R both let me know about this amazing creation – a pineapple stuffed with marinated or spiced pork and wrapped in bacon known in some places as “swineapple”!

Les helped me cook it! Anne

Marinate some pork in the fridge for about an hour

Peel and hollow out a fresh pineapple

Stuff the pineapple with the marinated pork

Wrap the stuffed pineapple with strips of bacon – hold them on with toothpicks and/or string

Bake in the oven or a Weber for about 1 hour, then wrap in foil and bake another 1 ½ hours

Styled by Brad

For more instructions check this out:

http://kitchen.nine.com.au/2017/08/09/13/12/swineapple-is-the-latest-food-hybrid-to-invade-instagram?ocid=Social-9Kitchen

Jackson Pollock, with added pineapple

Six friends capturing the spirit of abstract expressionism with . . .

Dinner with Jackson Pollock: Recipes, Art and Nature, Robyn Lea 2015 New York

This is a fabulous cookbook, a stunning publication, highly recommended, Anne

Tablecloth and wine label appropriated by Sue in ink from Pollock’s c1950 ink on paper work ‘Untitled'

Phyl and Anne’s cheese splatter

Jackson’s Famous Spaghetti Sauce (Rita Benton’s recipe) with applied pineapple rings - Anne

Serves 4

2 tblsp olive oil; 1 onion, finely chopped; 1 lb (450g) pork tenderloin or pork chops, finely cut by hand; ½ lb (225g) mushrooms, sliced; 6 oz (175g) can tomato paste; 1 can water; 1 bay leaf; salt and pepper, to taste; 1 lb (450g) spaghetti; 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated, for serving

In a heavy-bottom skillet, heat the oil and brown the onion. Add meat, mushrooms, tomato paste, water and seasonings; cover and simmer 30 minutes or until pork is tender.

Meanwhile, cook spaghetti in salted water 8 – 10 minutes, drain.

Toss spaghetti with sauce, and serve with cheese.

No food was wasted in the making of this entrée

French-Style Roast Chicken with Herb Stuffing (Arloie McCoy’s recipe) – Greg and Phyl

Serves 4

FOR THE CHICKEN: 3 lb (1.5kg) organic free-range chicken; ½ cup olive oil; 2 ½ tsp sea salt; ¼ tsp black pepper; 2 tblsp fresh thyme leaves; 12 cloves garlic, skins on and rinsed well; 12 shallots or small onions, peeled ad kept whole; 1 lemon, zest and juice

FOR ARLOIE’S STUFFING: 2 tblsp butter; 2 medium onions, finely chopped; 2 stalks celery, finely chopped; 2 cups rough-cut bread crumbs or crumbled dry bread; 1 tblsp each fresh sage, rosemary, and thyme; parsley, chopped; 1 pinch powdered ginger; salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350°°F (180C). Remove giblets from chicken, rinse the bird inside and out, pat dry. Rub all over with ¼ cup olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and thyme leaves. Set chicken aside to come to room temperature while making stuffing.

To make the stuffing: In a heavy-bottom pot, melt butter, add chopped inions and celery, and cook until soft. In a large bowl, combine all stuffing ingredients and moisten with a little water.

Fill chicken cavity loosely with stuffing and tie the legs together with kitchen string.

In a large cast-iron casserole, Le Creuset pot, or roasting pan, on the stovetop, warm the remaining olive oil, add garlic and shallots or small onions, and cook about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and place chicken in pot, breast side up. Baste chicken all over with pan juices until well covered; roast 1 hour. Baste with pan juices and lemon juice and sprinkle with lemon zest.

Increase over temperature to 430°F (225°C) and roast 15 minutes more, or until skin is crisp and golden, Let chicken rest 15 minutes, then carve to serve.

Roasted Root Vegetables with Walnut and Maple Dressing – Anne

Serves 6

FOR THE VEGETABLES: 1 lb (450g) each baby beets, baby carrots, and baby parsnips, washed and peeled; 4 tblsp olive oil; salt and freshly ground black pepper; ½ cup walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped, for garnish; ½ bunch parsley, roughly chopped, for garnish

FOR THE DRESSING: ½ cup sherry vinegar; 2 tblsp pure maple syrup; ½ cup extra virgin olive oil; 4 tsp shallot, minced; 1 large pinch cayenne pepper; ¼ tsp kosher salt

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Wash and peel the vegetables. In a large bowl, coat vegetables with olive oil, salt, ad pepper. Spread vegetables on a large baking paper-lined tray and place in the oven. After 20 minutes, turn the tray and roast another 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, in a lidded jar, combine all dressing igredients and shake until blended and thick.

In a pan over low heat, toast the walnuts for five minutes, being careful not to burn them; when cool, roughly chop.

To serve, arrange vegetables on a platter, drizzle with half the dressing, and sprinkle with parsley and walnuts. Serve with remaining dressing.

Earth-Goddess Stuffed Peppers (Rita Benton’s recipe) – Sue

Serves 4

4 medium pepper (red and yellow, as desired); ¼ cup olive oil, plus more for baking and serving; 1 onion, finely chopped; 2 stalks celery, finely chopped; ½ lb (225g) ground beef or lamb; 2 tblsp tomato paste; 1 cup mixed fresh herbs such as parsley, basil, and oregano; sea salt and black pepper; water or broth, as needed; 2 cups rice, cooked; 1 cup parmesan cheese, grated; 1 cup bread crumbs; ½ cup white wine mixed with ½ cup water or vegetable broth

Preheat oven to 380°F (190°C). Cut tops off pepper, remove seeds, and set aside.

In a large saucepan, gently heat olive oil, add finely chopped onion and celery, and cook, covered, until soft, stirring often. Add ground meat and sauté until browned, add tomato paste and fresh herbs, and season well with sea salt and black pepper. Cover and cook for half an hour, adding a little water or broth as needed to keep mixture just moist and simmering. Remove from heat and stir in the cooked rice.

Rub the outside of the peppers with a little olive oil; stuff each pepper. Top the stuffed peppers with parmesan and bread crumbs and a drizzle f olive oil. Place peppers in a baking dish lined with lightly greased baking paper. Pour white wine and stock mixture in the bottom of the dish; cover and bake 40 minutes. Remove cover and bake 20 minutes more or until peppers are soft and golden brown.

Serve immediately.

Sue’s painterly spinach and mozzarella combo

Upside Down Cherry Cake (Stella Mae McClure Pollock’s recipe) with  added pineapple ring - Anne

Serves 6 – 8

FOR THE CHERRIES: 2 cups unsweetened pitted cherries in syrup (canned or jarred, or use homemade); ½ cup sugar; 1 ½ tblsp cornstarch; ¼ tsp salt

FOR THE BATTER: 2 tblsp butter; 1 cup sugar; 1 egg, beaten; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour; 2 tsp baking powder; 1 cup milk; ¼ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325°F (190°C). To make the cherry syrup: In a saucepan, drain juice from cherries and add enough water to make 1 cup of liquid; add sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring, to thicken the cornstarch and cook out its flavour.

Butter a 9-inch (23cm) round cake pan and cover the bottom with a layer of cherries. Pour syrup over cherries.

To make the batter: In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar; add beaten egg and vanilla extract. Sift together the flour and baking powder into the creamed mixture, add milk and salt, and mix thoroughly. Pour batter over cherries and bake about 50 minutes.

Invert onto a platter and serve, either hot or cold, drizzled with cream.

Photo by Martha Holmes (from the book)