Rosemary and Fennel Rub for Pork and Apple Onion Sauce

I had a dinner-party disaster a few weeks ago… so bad that my confidence was VERY dented.

We had invited some friends and bought an expensive piece of pork to roast (these friends don’t ‘do’ roasts – they make a mess of your oven (!) When these people want a roast dinner, they phone the butcher and arrange to collect their roast (perfectly cooked) at whatever time suits them…)

Anyway, all was well until one couple turned up late… an hour late…

I will never cook a roast meal for visitors again. Experiments in Tajines and casseroles are ongoing… and I bought a new cook-book 🙂 – more on that another day…

But, I found this recipe for roast pork in our local newspaper recently. It’s by Ruth Pretty – who is one of NZ’s best caterers (I go to her cooking school each year for her “Christmas” class – it’s such a huge treat). In my experience, Ruth’s recipes never fail, and I love that she tells you how far ahead you can do each part. I’ve included her recipe for Apple Sauce – though I haven’t made it yet. The fennel rub for the pork is absolutely delicious. The roast was wonderful and the leftover meat the next day was very moreish… confidence somewhat restored… thank you Ruth.

 

Recipe by Ruth Pretty

8 cloves garlic

2 tsp rosemary leaves – finely chopped

1 tbsp fennel seeds

1 tbsp sea salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

whizz all together and rub generously all over pork before you roast it.

Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days

 

Apple Shallot Sauce

2 apples – peeled, cored and cut into 12 wedges

145g onion – peeled and cut into wedges (or 16 shallots)

8 garlic cloves – peeled, halved

1 bottle sauvignon blanc

1 cup tart apple syrup (use maple syrup if you can’t get this)

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 – 2 tbsp brown sugar

 

Put the apples, onions, garlic and wine into a saucepan.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and lightly boil for 40 – 45 minutes until the liquid is syrupy and the vegetables are soft.

Add the balsamic vinegar

Remove from heat and add brown sugar to taste.

Cool and refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Re-heat to serve

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>Go To Pork

>I make this ‘recipe’ a lot. It has become a kind of comfort food. I think it is Jamie Oliver, though I’m not really sure… it’s one of my collection that isn’t labelled, but it ‘sounds’ like Jamie.
Pork with Parsnip, Apple,Lemon and Rosemary
Pork slices or chops
Parsnip – peeled and sliced
Apple – cored and sliced thickly
Garlic cloves – peeled and chopped roughly
Lemons – juice and skin (slice the skins into strips)
Oil – olive or grapeseed
Fresh rosemary – chopped

I also used gold kumara, butternut pumpkin and carrots – a one-pot meal, my favourite kind!
Put oil, garlic, lemon juice and rosemary into a big bowl
Put the vegetables, apple and lemon skins into the oil and stir to coat – use your hands – much easier
Put the vegetables into a shallow baking dish
Put the pork into the bowl and stir to coat in oily herby mix
Put the pork on top of the vegetables and tip the remaining oil over.

Bake till all is cooked and delicious.
The lemon skins go almost caramelized and cut through the richness of the pork – delicious (did I say that already?)
I didn’t take a photo of it once it was cooked. Now that daylight saving is over, it is dark by the time the cooking is done and I’m having trouble with getting the lighting right…

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>Barbecued Pork Spare Ribs

>Pork slices – bone in – or not, but the bones are nice to suck
4 tbsp barbecue sauce – which I didn’t have, so I used home-made tomato sauce
4 tbsp honey
4 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp Chinese chilli sauce
1/4 tsp five spice powder
1/3 cup sherry – the recipe says use dry sherry, but the liquor store doesn’t have it – I used medium sherry
2 tbsp gluten free soy sauce
1 clove garlic – crushed
2.5cm piece green ginger – grated.

Combine  the sauce ingredients and mix well
Put the pork slices into a baking dish and pour sauce mix over, marinate at least an hour.

Bake in a moderately hot oven for about an hour until the pork is tender – baste frequently.

Soft, sticky, juicy, sweet-sour delicious.

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>Window shopping with my Mum and sister

>We do it every now and then. Spend the day together, deciding what we would buy if money was no object… we have lunch and maybe a gelato later in the afternoon, and we spend our imaginary dollars (on boots and Merino sweaters).
Eating out can be quite an exercise with celiac disease – where to go to eat safely. The answer yesterday was Moxie’s Cafe. Moxie’s is on the corner of Main and George St, Palmerston North. The place was buzzing, a cabinet of lucious looking food clearly marked – green stickers for ordinary people, red for those of us who have special needs. They even have an entire menu (red of course) with gluten-free options – an.entire.menu. ! The staff are young, beautiful, friendly and aware. Moxie’s deserves a medal – and the Cajun Chicken Salad was delicious.
I didn’t need dinner last night – I made this pork the day before…

 HONEY SPICE PORK

4 tbsp clear honey
4 tbsp gf soy sauce
juice of 1 large orange
zest of 1 orange
4 star anise
4 garlic cloves – chopped

Combine all the ingredients in a small pot, heat until melted together and pour over pork (chops or slices).

I forgot the garlic, but added it later

Cover and cook at 150c for about 1 1/2 hours.

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