I find pork chops quite uninteresting, even though pork is my favourite meat. Of the cuts, I think the chop is the least exciting and I often find myself shallow frying it and adding interest by means of a mustard sauce of some sort. This time I decided to treat the chop as any other cut that can be slow cooked (think pulled pork…).
I love Beef Wellington! Quite frankly anything inside (or outside, for that matter) puff pastry tends to meet with my approval. But Beef Wellington is hard work. Something I tend to let hard-working chefs cook for me in exchange for money. But I wanted to evoke the Wellington-ness of this classic and make my own easy version using burgers. I’m not sure if I can call this dish Wellington at all but I guess it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that these were d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s. And really easy. Nothing the mere mortal cook can’t make.
Nothing can go wrong when you use pulled pork in a dish. Nothing.
And this is no exception. I wanted to use leftover pulled pork (which freezes really well, by the way) without making the usual sandwich with slaw on a brioche bun. I remembered my favourite breakfast in one of my favourite London breakfast places – The Breakfast Club in Hoxton. I always have the same and even though their menu is extensive I just can’t resist their Chorizo Hash Browns. It’s a potato, onion and pepper ‘hash’ with chorizo, eggs on the side and feta as an optional extra. It really works! So I thought if I used pulled pork instead of chorizo it should still work. Oh and it worked. It really really worked.
This tortilla is based on a Nigella Lawson recipe from the book Nigella Express. As always, Nigella has managed to come up with something incredibly delicious and make it really easy.
I used to live with a Spanish girl when I came to England and she taught me to make the ‘perfect’ tortilla, but I have to say that version is hard work (though very good). I wanted something simpler that would satisfy my urgent Saturday afternoon tortilla craving and I turned to one of my safest cookbooks for inspiration on how to do something yummy quickly. But as it was the weekend I had plenty of time to add a few steps and ingredients and make my own version of Nigella’s express Spanish omelette.
I finally have my kitchen back and it’s about time! I decided to cook something comforting as it was the weekend and being in the new kitchen with the family around just begged for comfort food. Braised beef cooked in a pot roast was just the perfect winter warmer and I knew it would make the house smell gorgeous for hours.
The other day, a friend and I were discussing making rice. I get the impression that rice is often touch and go for a lot of people. They have heard lots of different versions of what works and what doesn’t work and often don’t understand why it never turns out quite right. Even on Masterchef, a cooking TV competition with super-skilled contestants, I have seen rice fail.
Because I cook it often, over the years I managed to perfect a way to make a loose, fluffy and tasty rice that doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan, without thinking too much about it (even though my skills do not come close to any of the talented people that cook on TV!).
These potatoes are very simple and they are all about achieving a velvety sweet centre and a crunchy salty outside. I have cooked these without peel and it doesn’t compare (more flavour with peel – less work to do!). The shallots add some sweetness and softness. You don’t have to add them if you don’t want to, but they go really well here.
I serve this dish at barbecues, especially if you have lots of people around, or to go with roasted meat or fish.
