Lyn's Roast Pork and Potato with Feta

Through the news feed of Facebook, I know things on a daily basis that I would never otherwise know about my friends’ lives.  Some of these revelations are amusing, or touching, or informative.  And while I have heard arguments against the constant online chatter, saying that it stops us from interacting personally with people, I would like to make the opposite argument.  It has brought me closer to friends by the ability to share in their normal everyday lives, in a way that only neighbors or close friends would be able to share.  I give you a for instance:  My sister-in-law is a good cook.  Occasionally she posts what she is making for dinner and I get to enjoy that meal vicariously because she posts the ingredients and the family reactions.  Even her next-door neighbors probably don’t know what she is having for dinner as often as her Facebook friends do!  The other night, she mentioned her dinner plan, and, as luck would have it, I had all the main ingredients in my refrigerator so she also shared the recipe.  Aside from the addition of mushrooms and fewer tomatoes, this is her meal, a family favorite, by all accounts.  And we loved it!  Thanks, Lyn!  (And thanks, Facebook.)

1 large onion or 2 shallots

500g or a little more than 1 pound potatoes

Olive oil

4 x 90 g or 3 oz pork loin medallions

100g or 3 1/2 oz cherry tomatoes

200g or 7 oz button mushrooms

Handful fresh thyme leaves, plus sprigs

100ml or a little more than 1/3 cup wine (should be white, but I only had red - didn't matter in the slightest)

100ml or a little more than 1/3 cup stock

100g or 3 1/2 oz feta, crumbled

Grated zest of 1 lemon

Sea salt

Black pepper

Preheat the oven to 220°C or 430°F.

Season the pork with salt and pepper.

Thinly slice your potatoes and onions.  (If you have new potatoes, just give them a scrub and no need to peel.)

Cut smaller mushrooms in half and bigger ones in quarters.

Place the onion and potatoes slices in a roasting tin, pour over some olive oil and lots of salt and pepper, and then toss to coat.

Roast in the hot oven for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a little olive oil in a frying pan over high heat and brown the pork loin chops for a couple of minutes on each side.  Remove the pork to a plate.

Scatter the cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and thyme leaves over the potato and return to the oven for 10 minutes more.

Lay the pork on top and pour over the wine and stock.

Half stock, half wine. 

Roast further until the pork is cooked and the vegetables are tender.

Serve scattered with the feta, lemon zest and another good drizzle of olive oil.

 Enjoy!

Charred Marinated Fresh Artichokes

Fresh artichokes, charred in a frying pan then marinated with garlic, lemon, thyme and oregano make a wonderful addition to any dish or salad. 

Reflections on the move to Egypt
So, I am sitting here and it’s dark and I think it must be very late since the afternoon/evening has been long and dear husband is traveling and it’s just the hound and I.  But it’s just 7:25.  I look around at the empty room and I think I should feel lonely (and I do, a little) but I have a comfy chair and a warm home and I went out to eat with a couple of new friends today and I was introduced to a huge mall with a Marks and Spencers and a Spinneys grocery store.  The biggest Spinneys I have ever seen!  And I bought some new tights in Marky’s.  So, all in all, today has been a good day. 

And thinking back to Abu Dhabi

My very first Spinneys was a small affair in Abu Dhabi.  Way back when (1987) our Spinneys kept the same hours as the general working public.  9 a.m. – 1 p.m. and 4 - 7 p.m., so, if you worked, you really couldn’t shop there.  Simon and the hound (three Boxers back) moved there alone while I waited in Houston for my visa. They wanted my birth certificate, our marriage certificate, copies of passports, copies of my university degree, two leaps through a burning hoop and, finally, I had to prove that I could pirouette on toe shoes. Needless to say, the visa took a while. (Damn those toe shoes; my feet have never been the same.) The dog, on the other hand, needed a health certificate and he was IN. They moved directly into a company villa, vacated by the previous family, who had kindly left all the edible food in the cupboards.  For the first few days, the dog was fed on chocolate cake because Simon couldn’t seem to find a store that was open when he was off. And that was my introduction to Spinneys.  (You fed my dog what?!)

Meanwhile, here in my neck of Cairo, another of my blessings is a grocery store mere walking minutes from our home.  You can’t really plan a meal ahead because you never know if they will have what you were counting on, but sometimes gifts are dropped in your lap.  Yesterday, it was fresh artichokes. We love them but every place else we have lived, when you can find them, they are not cheap.  Here they are about 50 cents each in US money. I call that cheap.

So I took them home and decided to marinate them myself. 

Ingredients

Lemon juice – fresh or bottled

5 fresh artichokes

5 cloves garlic

Olive oil

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 lemon – for fresh juice

Sea salt

Black pepper

Method

Fill a bowl with cold water and a few good squeezes of bottled or fresh lemon juice. This will be used for dipping your artichokes while you clean them and also to pop them in once the cleaning is done.  The lemon juice is supposed to help keep them from turning brown.

Clean your artichokes by trimming the end of the stem and cutting off the top inch and a half (about 3cm) of the leaves.

Rip the outside hard leaves off until you get to the tender inside leaves.  Try nibbling on a few to see how tender they are. 

The tender leaves are pretty tasty.

Once you get to the tender ones, trim the top again if you need to.  Peel the stem and the outside of the bottom.  Dip the artichoke in the lemon water.  

Cut the artichoke in half.

Using a spoon, place it at the top of the fuzzy bit (the choke) and use a twisting motion to remove all the fuzz.  Scrape the area clean with your spoon. 

Pop the artichoke in the lemon water.

Continue until all the artichokes are cleaned.  Change the water and add more lemon juice. 

Heat a non-stick skillet until roasting hot.  Lift the artichokes out a few at a time and give them a good shake over the sink to dry them as best you can.  Put them directly into the scorching skillet. 

Let them brown, checking  every few minutes by turning them over with tongs to peek.  When they are starting to brown, drizzle them with olive oil.

Meanwhile, slice your garlic very thinly.

When the artichokes are well browned, turn them over and do the same to the other side.

Once both sides are well colored, add in about a half a cup of water and put the lid on.  Cook until the water runs out and check for tenderness with a fork.  Add more water and put the lid back on until both sides are fork tender.

Turn the heat down to medium and season with salt and pepper.  Add a goodly amount of olive oil.  The artichokes don’t have to be knee deep but they should be at least ankle deep, so to speak. 

Add in the sliced garlic.  Let it cook until softened.  Add in the thyme and oregano.  Cook a minute or two more and then squeeze in the juice of your one lemon.  Turn the heat off. 

Allow to cool and then preserve in a sterilized jar or Ziploc bag.  Top with a little more olive oil to cover.  If you are using a bag, you can add some more olive oil but also try to get all the air out.  

Marinate for several days before eating.  (Actually you could probably eat them right now but I think the flavors will develop more with at least a couple of days of marinating.)  

Enjoy!

UPDATE: We ate half of the artichokes last night as part of a tomato with fresh mozzarella salad and they were DIVINE!  After sprinkling the sliced tomato with a little sea salt,  I drizzled a bit of the marinade on the cheese and then used some more as the dressing on the baby leaf greens.

Bubble and Squeak Cheesy Tarts

Bubble and Squeak, for those of you unfamiliar, is a dish created to use leftover potatoes, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and the like.  You are supposed to chop them all up and fry the mixture, hash-style, until it gets lots of nice crispy golden bits.  Some people put leftover meat as well.  

In this version, I cook the potato and Brussels sprouts specifically for this dish, because I love them both so much.  Also the addition of a good strong cheese, in this case, a sheep’s milk one from Greece, elevates this Bubble and Squeak to main course instead of just the next day’s afterthought.   If you do happen to have traditional leftovers, feel free to use them instead of my first two ingredients!

 I had never thought to use spring roll skins until I saw a Facebook post from a friend who had used wonton skins in a lovely baked egg concoction.  (Thanks, Belinda!)  The spring roll skins turned out lovely and crispy and didn’t over cook as I feared they might.  You could probably use ready-made puff pastry here too.

Ingredients

5-6 large Brussels sprouts

1 medium potato

1 1/2 oz or 43g sharp cheese

1 thick green onion or a couple of small ones

1 clove garlic

2 eggs

Sea salt

Black pepper

Cayenne

Olive oil

4 spring roll skins

2 oversized muffin tins

Method

Remove your four spring roll skins from the package and put them on your countertop covered with a damp cloth to keep them from drying out.

Slice the Brussels sprouts thinly and chop them a little by rocking your knife back and forth.

Peel and dice your potato.

Finely slice the white part of your green onion and clove of garlic.

Pan-fry the whole lot in a non-stick skillet, drizzled with a little olive oil.  Stir periodically and add a couple more drizzles of olive oil, cooking until there are a few brown crispy bits.  Add a little salt and a sprinkle of the two peppers.   Put the lid on and cook until the potatoes are tender.

Empty the skillet into a mixing bowl and allow to cool. 

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Meanwhile, grate your cheese.

Drizzle a little olive oil on one spring roll skin and spread it to cover the skin with your fingers or a pastry brush.   I must admit that I would have used a pastry brush but one did not come with me in the air shipment and I am still waiting on my sea freight.

Put a second spring roll skin on top of the first, making a eight-pointed star, and drizzle it with more olive oil.   Once again, spread the oil around with your fingers or a brush. 

Fit the two skins into your giant muffin tin.  Repeat with the second two skins and the second muffin cup.

Once your mixture has cooled sufficiently not to cook eggs on contact, add in the two eggs and about 3/4 of the cheese.   Mix well.

Spoon this mixture carefully into the two prepared muffin tins and top them both with the remaining cheese.  

Bake for 30-35 minutes in your preheated oven or until the filling is golden and bubbling.  Although probably not squeaking. 

Enjoy!