Red Cabbage, to go with Pork Involtini

I was home a little earlier tonight as a training course I have been on finished at 4:00, so I ducked into Cedric St to pick a couple of things up Jo needed, saving her the need to do so at a later hour. 

Whilst I was shopping about I picked up a red cabbage, to go with a nice pork fillet I already had in the basket, given I had that little bit of extra time, I thought I might do something different and hopefully nice for Jo Girl.  Having made that decision I picked up a bunch of asparagus and headed for the deli counter to order a few slices of prosciutto and a wedge of fontina cheese, so I could make my Pork Involtini.

Originally thinking I would steam the cabbage, then thought better of it as red cabbage can be a little bitter, so I headed for the PC to Google red cabbage, a couple of things came up, but nothing that really appealed, but I found enough info to inspire me into creating something which would match the pork perfectly.

Red Cabbage

2 tbl spn butter

1-2 shallots, finely sliced

1 golden delicious apple, grated

Pinch of nutmeg

½ red cabbage, washed and finely shredded

2 tbl spn balsamic vinegar

Melt butter over medium heat, add the shallots and cook slowly for about five minutes or until nice and tender.

Add the apple and a pinch of nutmeg, stir in well and cook for 3 – 4 minutes, then add the cabbage, mix in well, reduce heat to low and cover the pot, leave to cook for 4-5 minutes.

Season well with salt and pepper, add the balsamic, stir though and cook a couple more minutes with the lid off, add more butter, salt and pepper to taste, serve hot as a side dish.

Pork Involtini

300 – 400 gram pork fillet

Cabernet Paste

100g fontina cheese, cut into batons

Bunch asparagus

6 slices prosciutto

Salt and pepper

Prepare the pork by first slicing through the centre of the fillet, careful not to cut all the way through, butterfly out and pound with a rolling pin or an empty bottle.

Season well with salt and pepper, spread a couple of teaspoons of Maggie Beers Cabernet Paste over the meat, then lay half the asparagus and cheese across the meat, roll the meat over the asparagus and cheese back onto itself, allowing a little bit of an overlap, then cut through the fillet. 

Place on top of the slices of prosciutto and roll.  Repeat with the remaining ingredients to make a second roll.

To cook, quickly brown all over in a hot non-stick pan, transfer to a preheated oven @ 200 degrees for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven, rest for 5 minutes, slice across the roll cutting slices 12-15mm thick, serve with mashed potato, cabbage and a red wine sauce.

As luck would have it, Jo had to work back later than usual, but thankfully I had not started cooking the meat when she phoned so I was able to turn everything off and just reheat the vegetables whilst I rested the meat, made for a very tasty meal and the red cabbage was sensational!

Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Well we are still on our little old health kick and I think it is actually starting to us both some good, I know my double chin does not appear to be as big as it was and I now remember what it feels like to be hungry at dinner time, heck and breakfast and lunch too!

The saddest part of all this for me is cooking what I thought would be bland food, but I must admit we have found some absolutely delicious recipes and tonight’s is no exception, in fact I commented to Jo that this recipe could get a run at our next dinner party, very easy to prepare and cook and every mouthful was gobsmackingly good, absolutely delicious!

I found the recipe on an American health site called Sparkpeople, this site has some fantastic tools if you are watching what you eat, type in your ingredients and it gives you a full run down on what you are eating, the only sad part tonight I did not calculate the serving size of the chicken so we ended up eating a little more than we intended, but once we started eating this YUM YUM meal, there was no turning back.  Anyway, the entire meal racked up 568 calories, so it was still well within a healthy diet range.

Goats cheese is what drew me to this recipe, it was only a few days ago that we enjoyed another meal which contained this ingredient, neither of us had tried it before that and we have both come to love it, it is like a very mild feta but is not so salty, has a beaut creaminess about it, I love crumbling it up and then I get to lick my fingers mmmmmm mmmmmmm!

I baked a couple of small pieces of sweet potato, a few cherry tomatoes and a handful of olives, then steamed a few Brussels sprouts to go with the stuffed chicken and the flavours and textures of these went amazingly well together, the only place I varied from the recipe was by adding a teaspoon of Italian Herbs to the stuffing and leaving it and the shallots out of the sauce.

I really was so pleased with this meal, who said healthy eating was dull and boring?

Nutritional Info when prepared as per recipe

Per Serving

Calories:           192.7

Total Fat:              7.0 g

Cholesterol:        49.5 mg

Sodium:             954.8 mg

Total Carbs:          8.9 g

Dietary Fiber:       0.7 g

Protein:               23.1 g

Vegetarian Potato Kugel

I had roast lamb for lunch at my Mum's place today and as most of you would know there is nothing better than Mum's roast!  Today's was no exception, she never ceases to amaze me with her cooking, and at 89 years of age this year, she has not lost her touch.  Another thing that amazes me about my Mum is the way she is still keen to try new dishes out, as we were enjoying a quite drink before lunch, Mum was telling me of a zucchini slice she done recently, to share over lunch with her sisters, I said it sounded nice so with that she produced the recipe.  It was in an old, very old Woman's Weekly recipe book, one that has been much loved by the look of it, I could see some of the more used pages by the sticky tape that was holding them in place.  Stuck in between the pages were numerous hand written recipes and snippets, just the kind of book I like to sit and read and ask question of the owner, but alas I did not have my glasses, so all I could do was have my good wife write the recipe for Zucchini Slice down for me.  As she did so, I noticed a photo of what looked to me like a potato pie of sorts, so I had Jo write that one out also, it was exactly what I have been looking for and had attempted unsuccessfully  without a recipe, so I could not wait to get home and throw this together for our lunches this week, it is a vegetarian dish, and probably a first for this blog, but it looks, smells and from the little tiny bit I have tried tastes fantastic!  Looking forward to my lunch tomorrow when I will be enjoying Vegetarian Potato Kugel with a green salad.  I only put a little of the cheese on to keep the calories down, also cannot wait to go back and have a good look at some of them hand written notes!! Bon Appétit.

3 med potatoes
2 sml carrots

1 sml onion

1 clove garlic

1 egg

1tbl spn Olive Oil

2 tbl spn chopped parsley

2 tbl spn wholemeal bread crumbs

½ cup milk powder

½ cup grated tasty cheese

15 g butter

2 shallots

Grate potatoes, carrots and onion, combine with crushed garlic.

Lightly beat the egg with oil, pour over grated vegetables, stir in chopped parsley, breadcrumbs and milk powder.

Spread into well grease pie dish (base 20cm), bake in moderate oven 30 minutes, sprinkle with cheese, bake a further 15 minutes.

Serves 4 to 6

Nutrition Facts
 6 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories                            224.7
Total Fat                               7.9 g    
Saturated Fat                         4.1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat               0.6 g
Monounsaturated Fat             2.6 g
Cholesterol                          44.5 mg
Sodium                               156.8 mg
Potassium                           742.6 mg
Total Carbohydrate              32.2 g    
Dietary Fiber                          4.4 g    
Sugars                                     4.7 g
Protein                                    8.0 g

Summer BBQ's

One of the things we love most about summer is it is BBQ weather, there is something about cooking outside that brings added flavour to the table, a steak cooked on the stove top may be fantastic, but there is always a nagging question in the back of my mind about as to how good it may have been if cooked on the barbie.  And it doesn't matter if it is a gas, electric or wood fire, though I don’t think you can beat wood fired BBQ meat.

We have become very fond of Beef Fillet steak and I like it cut thick, however whilst out shopping the other day, I found a couple of thick cut Sirloins, that looked so good I had to take them and give them a go, they had that nice little square shaped bit of fat right in the middle and were nicely marbled right through the meat.

I like the BBQ really hot when I cook my steak, so everything else I am cooking gets done first, things like boned shoulder of lamb marinated in Moroccan spices, beef or pork sausages, tandoori chicken, the use of baking paper for the marinated stuff helps keep the plate clean and once it is all cooked and taken off, I ramp the heat up to high and get the plate red hot.

Whilst the plate is heating season the meat with salt, pepper and coat with a little olive oil, set a timer for 8 – 9 minutes and you are ready to cook that beautiful piece of meat, place it on the hottest part of the plate and then do not touch for at least 4 minutes for thick cuts, if it is sizzling and smoking, you have got it right! Keep an eye on the timer and once that 4 minute interval is up turn the steaks and again do not touch for a least four minutes, if you like to ruin steak and take it past pink, you can leave on a little longer. 

I reset the timer as soon as the steak comes off for 5 – 10 minutes depending on how much there is to do to get the table ready, I find the longer you rest the meat the greater the flavour anyway.

The next best thing about a BBQ is the awesome flavours different salads make to the meal, and there are so many to choose from, I love a fresh garden salad and you got to have some form of potatoes, whether baked, au gratin or as a cold salad.

Love curried eggs!

Pickled Tomato, Onion and Cucmber

Another thing I love on my plate for a barbie is boiled egg, my sister in law Pieta makes the best, I have tried her recipe and they were great, but I think she deliberately leaves one or two ingredients out as mine are not as good!

Now you’ve got your salads ready, meat is cooked, table set all you need now is a crusty loaf of bread, an ice cold beer or glass of red and few mates to enjoy it all with.

Roasted Beetroot with Feta and Greens

Garden Salad

Potato with Egg and Bacon

Great spread!

YUM YUM

BTW those sirloins were sooo tender and sooo full of flavour YUM YUM!

bon appétit!

Mu Shu Pork

Jo has decided we need to go on a health kick, loose a few pounds, cut out some of the God given good stuff, like butter and cream etc.

I really don't know why she feels she needs to do this as she is looking pretty damn gorgeous if you ask me, maybe it is just her way to get me to loose a few pounds, she'll loose hers dieting, then I loose mine chasing her about!!

Still I figure if I loose a few pounds, I might just catch her a bit more often and as we are off on holidays soon there should be plenty of opportunities ahead.

I have got a stack of healthy recipe books in my pantry, in fact I have most of the recipes in an excel spreadsheet so that when we are right into it all I need do is filter out 5 or 6 meals for the week and I have an instant shopping list and daily menu, that is sad!!

Anyway tonight I felt like something a little different, in as far as different can be when cooking what is basically a stir fry, so I Googled "healthy recipes" and one of the top items caught my eye, one because of the name of the dish and two because it was on Taste, a website I have come to like for really good simple recipes that taste fantastic, the dish is called Quick Mu Shu Pork.  Now I do not know what Mu Shu means, but I do understand quick, and this was hands down the quickest meal I have ever cooked.  After slicing the meat and then browning off and removing to a bowl to add the sauces to marinade, I started a 10 minute timer, which actually went off whilst we were eating our meal, that is quick!

The best thing though was the flavour and the absolute YUM YUM YUMMINESS of this little dish, pork has never tasted so good!  I used a pork fillet which I sliced about a quarter of an inch thick and on the diagonal, it was so juicy and the marinade really brought out the flavours.

Oh by the way, that is a Lime Soda, no vino for two weeks!!!

When I look now at the photo on the recipe compared to my photo's it looks a little different, but then I remind myself that I did not have any cabbage, something Jo was pleased about as it tends to give her gas!  Instead I have used an Asian vegetable called Choy Sum, I love this vegie for it is flavour, but more so for the beautiful yellow flowers, which look great when presenting the meal to Gorgeous Jo.

Well here is the link to this wonderful recipe, if you like quick, inexpensive and tasty food, you'd best be getting a copy of this one!

PS just quietly, it was just as well that I only cooked enough for two serves or i could have been in it a little deeper than usual.