Pork Chops with Herbs and Pinenuts

In this post, the second about how to make the most of pork, in an age when it just doesn't taste like used to, all I really have is a photo.

I guess I forgot to take notes that night, so here's my best guess, given the title and the picture:
Chop up a pile of fresh herbs, say, sage, mint, and thyme. Mash up in a pestle with some salt, pepper, and olive oil.

Preheat the oven to 180C, placing the rack about 6 inches from the heat.

Brush the chops with the herb mixture and fry them over a high heat to seal in the juices, about 4-5 minutes per side.

In a pan, heat some oil and very quickly fry a handful of pinenuts; be careful, because they'll burn easily.

Put the chops into an oven tray on a rack, press the pinenuts into the upper side, and place in the oven, cooking for about 25 mins until the juices run clear.

It's easy to overcook pork, but it's worse to undercook it, so I'll let you decide on what level of risk you're willing to settle on for the sake of moist chops.

All of the above, BTW, is really just a guess. I think it's what I would've done, and I probably thought I'd get around to posting this much sooner than I actually did. Oh well. If anyone else can suggest how they might do this, or even better, how I might have done it, I'd be very keen to hear.

A Curry Odyssey Episode 2: How Not To Make Naan Bread

Nothing makes a curry go down better than a nice, fresh, hot naan bread.

I don't know how I got it into my head that I could make good naan bread, though. Particularly not when I went with the first recipe I found, which was on a site specially for New Zealand's Over 50s. (On that note, I went to buy spraypaint at Repco today and got asked for ID, to prove I was at least 18. Not many 31-year olds have that honour.)

I should've been suspicious of the apparent simplicity of the recipe, and the lack of any real detail of the important techniques required to make it come out right.

I also might've failed to read and follow instructions very well, but you're probably aware by now that following recipes is not my strong point.

So I'll spare you the details, and just lament my failure on this one. If anyone can point me in the direction of a good naan recipe, with complete and helpful instructions, I will be eternally grateful.

Because curry without naan is a bit like a burger without beetroot - what's the point?

(To all of you non-Kiwis who don't get the idea of beets in burgers, you really need to try it. Seriously. Yum.)

I started with real yeast...
mixed up all the ingredients, including flour, yoghurt and egg...
kneaded it the old fashioned way, at which point I realised I could have used the breadmaker like I usually do...
let it rise, and then cut it into triangular pieces...

at which point it all went wrong.
Mainly I think this had to do with a lack of rolling, because I somehow thought that even though the breads at this stage were short and fat, not long and skinny, they would somehow magically become long and lean and luscious like a naan should be.

Also, my habit when making bread is to handle the dough as little as possible at this stage so as not to make it go... er... flat. Yeah, my mind really wasn't in it.
I even sprinkled them with garlic salt and olive oil, in the hope that they would miraculously turn out how I envisioned them.
They didn't.

Ideally, a naan is oily and chewy and a little bit crunchy and should look something like this:
When my naans look like this, I'll be happy. Thanks to Mr Malique for the image (Copyright Mr Malique). Meanwhile, I've got some nice garlicky short loaves in the freezer which might make nice sandwiches...

So, the Curry Odyssey ran into its first hurdle, but though we stumble, we shall not fall. Onwards and upwards, I say. And thanks to everyone who has sent me recipes so far. I will get to all of them, I promise.

Garden Update

I know you've all been waiting eagerly to hear how my garden is growing. Well, I can be pleased to present the following for your perusal:

Exhibit A: Pumpkin 1
Exhibit B: Pumpkin 2
Exhibit C: The Lemon Tree
Exhibit D: Tomatoes
Exhibit E: More Tomatoes
Exhibit F: Yummy Fresh Potatoes

And all of this, with barely a few dollars spent. All the pumpkins and some of the tomatoes are wild, grown from sprouts in the compost, and the potatoes are from eyes sprouted on the windowsill, all planted in compost from the bin and fed with worm wees.

Gotta Love that Nature Thing.

One little Piggy went to Market, and along the way he met an Alligator

I made my way, as is my wont, to the Riverbank Market in the Hutt today. Another gorgeous Wellington summer's day, and the place was packed. On my way there, I ran into the Alligator, and we got to chatting.

Turns out that, unbeknownst to me, the Alligator is a chef. Now, I'll be honest, I only met the Alligator a month or so ago, prior to Morgue's Big Day, and I must say he's a top bloke. So it was with great interest that I learned he was a man who is actually a certified professional in this food thing, whereas I am just a highly opinionated (yet open-minded, no less) amateur.

I do love meeting other foodies, and we had a brief discussion about these:
The Alligator had found them, and, thinking them to be a nectarine of some variety which he was heretofore unacquainted with, had decided to buy some and use them in some sort of flan (which he had yet to devise, but with all his chefly skills, I presume he will make a marvellous job of it).

Not to be outdone, I bought a few myself when I found them, equally perplexed as to what these curiously shaped summer fruits, that appeared to be some sort of cross between a nectarine and a very small mango, might be.

The answer: A Plum. Of exactly what variety, I can't say, but I ate one and they are definitely plums.

Now, I'm sure you'll be expecting a rundown on how I took these plums and gave them to Dessert Chef (since I'm really no good at flans and other desserty stuff, really), and what a delicious dish we made to rival the masterwork that the Alligator would surely produce, but sadly, it is not to be.

I bought nice ripe ones, and by the time I got home, they had somehow got squashed. So we ate them just the way nature intended, and they were delicious.

Assuming they weren't some bizarre GE crop, that is.

Do I have a point? Yes, I do. Would someone please give the Alligator a job, already?

Hailing from the beautiful Pacific Northwest of the US, the Alligator has in mind to start a business over here which is close to my heart (but which I can't reveal for fear of some big corporate stealing it from him - yes, I know you're out there!), but he needs to get a foothold in NZ to be able to stay and realise this vision, and to do that he needs a job. So, someone, please employ a Chef with long rows of pearly white teeth who spends his days lying in warm mud waiting for unwary birds to come to rest in his mouth. There'll be no shortage of skewered poultry kebabs, thats for sure.

And while we're talking about the market, I thought I'd water your mouths with a taste of the goodies I picked up there today.
And what better place for delicious fresh watermelon, than tossed through a cool garden salad with fresh mint and olives?

King of Pizzas

I love homemade pizza SO much more than bought ones. I've already posted my dough recipe here, my not-so-secret-pizza sauce here, my slightly more successful pizza sauce here, my most inspired pizza topping here (a must for fans of chilli mussels), and a wad of vego pizzas here.

But my absolute favourite pizza has to be Chicken Camembert and Cranberry. I know that the best real pizzas are little more than the sauce and the cheese, but since Kiwis have destroyed this fine tradition and taken to slathering our pizzas with more ingredients than we'd normally put on a monthly shopping list, we may as well make the most of it.

Preheat your pizza stone in the oven at 200C, with the rack placed in the centre.
Start with one lovely fresh homemade pizza base (it really is easy, especially of you make a big batch and put them in the freezer in individual ziplock bags), and brush this with garlic-infused olive oil. Alternatively, you can rub a garlic clove over the top of the pizza base before brushing it very lightly with extra virgin olive oil.
Spread a topping of cranberry jelly on the pizza base, followed by generous slices of brie or camembert cheese and cooked chicken breast. Grind over some fresh black pepper.
Sprinkle with a mixture of grated mozarrella, cheddar and parmesan cheese.
Place the pizza on the hot pizza stone and cook in the oven at 200C for 16-18 minutes. I like to have the grill (broiler) on lightly as well, to brown up the cheese.
Unless you feel guilty for some reason, just eat this as it is. Isn't that the point of pizza?

Playhouse

This post is a long time overdue.

Last year we got all crazy and decided to make playhouses for the little ones. In fact, it was Aunty L's idea, and I just got dragged into it, and I had to do all this awfully masculine stuff with tools and wood and wotnot. How very unlike me.

Working off plans we got off the internet, Uncle B and I slapped the frames together in their garage and I relocated the pieces back to our house on a trailer to assemble them.
Daddad John and Uncle B helped to get the base level and solid, and Isaac put the finishing touches on. Daddad John helped me put it all together,and Dessert Chef and I used leftover fence palings to clad it.
One should be aware, however, of the dangers of bringing a klutz and a hammer in close contact.
Uncle I helped me get the roof on in time for summer,
now we just have to deal with the little holes where the rain gets in - namely the door and the windows, and every gap between every piece of cladding and every roof panel.

But hey, Isaac thinks its great. I just think that he wishes we didn't use it to store our outside chairs and sun umbrella when we're not using them.

A Curry Odyssey Begins: Butter Chicken

As per my last post, I have set foot on the the road to becoming a Dad Who Can Cook a Mean Curry.

I started with this recipe, via Steph at A Year of Crockpotting, because it looked easy. I adjusted the quantities and ingredients to suit the size of my family and to accommodate availability of local ingredients, whipped it together in half an hour and popped it in the Crockpot. Gotta love the Crockpot.

The end result was, we all agreed, a jolly passable Butter Chicken. I used Chicken Breast, because that's what we had, but of course it's not best suited to use in the slow cooker, so thighs or even drumsticks would probably have been better.

I also added the brown sugar in the last hour of cooking, because while the curry had a lot of flavour, it was spicy but not sweet. I suspect that perhaps coconut cream and even plain yoghurt in the US are sweetened, which would have compensated, but since ours aren't, I added brown sugar. What are you going to do? I said I wanted a toned-down, sweet and creamy curry, and that's what we got. Nomnomnom.

As a sidenote, I tried making Naan bread as well. That didn't work out quite so well, and will be covered in Episode 2 of the Great Curry Odyssey. Meanwhile, I'm still open to any great curry recipes you might have to offer. Thanks to Le Laquet for the Dahl recipe. I'll put it on the list!

Butter Chicken (Slow-Cooker Recipe)

Serves 4

Ingredients

600g boneless, skinless chicken breast

1/2 an Onion, Sliced

3 Garlic Cloves, Finely Sliced

7 Cardamon Pods

1 t Curry Powder

1/4 t Kaitaia Fire/Other Tobasco Sauce

1 t Garam Masala

1/4 C Brown Sugar

1/2 t Crushed Fresh Ginger

2 T Butter

50g Tomato Paste

200ml Coconut Cream

1 T Lemon Juice

1 Cup Plain, Unsweetened Yoghurt

3 T Cream

Slice the Chicken into roughly 2 inch slabs and drop it in the crockpot. Add the chopped onion and garlic.

Either sew the cardamon pods together, or wrap them in a little cheesecloth with some cooking twine,

like so:

Mysteriously, my cheesecloth vanished during cooking, which seemed to defeat the purpose, and means that we all ate at least a little of it in the process. But somewhere in the leftovers (tomorrow's lunch) I'm going to find a little piece of string and a whole mouthful of cardamon. Nom...nom...nyuk.

Add these to the crockpot, along with the dry ingredients and the ginger. Stir it all up. Add the tomato paste, butter, coconut cream and lemon juice, stir it all in and turn the crockpot on to high for 3 3/4 hours, or on low for 7 hours.

In the last 15 mins, stir in the yoghurt and cream.Serve with Jasmine Rice, fresh chilled cucumber, steamed veges and naan bread - preferably better than the ones I made!