Hoi sin pork salad

Driving home from work on a Friday evening when my wife rings to see where I am and to inform me she still has to shop for dinner and is not sure what to have, just by the tone in her voice I could tell she really did not have her heart in preparing the meal, it has been a long week after all!

So much so that I really was not in the mood for spending a lot of time in the kitchen either, but I offer to do the shopping and see where we go from there. Walking around a well stocked grocery store full of the freshest vegetables and a great variety of quality meat selections, it was not hard to find some inspiration and in a matter of a few minutes I had shopped and was on my way home with all the ingredients I needed for a very easy Friday night meal, which took 40 minutes to have on the table, the oven done all the work and I was left with only one pot to clean and a couple of plates, way to go Jack!



Preheat oven 200C
500g pork fillet
6 chat potatoes
4 ripe vine tomatoes
A bag of mixed salad leaves
Salt and pepper
1-2 tbsp good quality hoisin sauce

Cut and quarter the potatoes length wise, pat dry with paper towel and coat with olive oil, spread out evenly on baking paper in a roasting dish, place tomatoes in corners of the roasting dish, then place on middle rack of the oven for 10 minutes.

During this time lay the pork fillet out, pat dry with paper towel and brush with hoisin sauce, bring the pan out of the oven add the pork and cook for 12 minutes, then turn pork coat with a little more hoisin and return to the oven for 12 minutes. Rest pork for a few minutes whist you place the salad leaves on the plates, crush and spread roasted tomatoes over the top then the potatoes, finally slice the meat and pour some of the pan juices of the top, bon appetite!

Tomato Frittata

Best thing about Saturday morning is having the time to potter around the garden doing a bit of watering, then coming in to make a scrumptious breakfast that is just what I did this morning, very lay back and relaxing and a great start not only to the day but to a five week break from work!

I, like most people loved Saturday mornings as a kid, at the time there used to be a song played almost religiously by most radio stations it had line that went “It's a Saturday morning confusion, If you think you can sleep, it's an illusion”

That song pretty much summed up my childhood home in East Perth, a very averaged sized house which bulged at the seams on Saturday morning with 12 kids running riot, playing the Stones on the record played, jumping and yelling and dancing and fighting, dogs getting underfoot, Mum yelling from the kitchen that breakfast was ready, trying to get her voice over the record player and now the TV that someone has just turned on, total mayhem, chaos in fact, but oh so much fun.

All the same, that said, I am so thankful for the easy going, peaceful Saturday morning such as the one I have enjoyed today, even the bloody dog over the back fence has been hushed, hopefully for good!



Frittata, for the uninitiated is basically an omelette that has savoury stuff in it which is baked in the oven, it is very easy to make and so very yummy to eat. Obviously the main ingredient is egg, then after that you pretty much throw in whatever you like or have on hand. I threw in whatever I had on hand this morning which include a French shallot, ½ a red capsicum finely sliced, a tablespoon of fresh oregano, all of which I cooked in a little olive oil until soft, I then added six tomatoes which I had cut into quarters and a tablespoon of chives. I cooked the tomato until it started to breakdown and lay a little flat, at this stage I plucked the skins away from each quarter and added a good sprinkling of salt and ground pepper and a little more oil. Whilst the tomatoes were cooking I prepared 6 six eggs whisked in a bowl with a ¼ cup of cream and a ¼ cup fresh chives, after spreading the ingredients in the pan out as evenly as I could I poured the egg mix over the top and cooked that on the stovetop for about a minute, then the pan went in the oven for 7 minutes, just long enough to set the egg and make it golden on top. Served with toast and coffee, it is a great start to any day!



Funny thing that happened at breakfast today, I always cook Jo 2 slices of toast and she always eats one and puts the other on my plate, which I usually don’t want, today I did however and I even went to the point of asking for it, only to be told “no you can’t have it, these tomatoes are so yummy I want the toast for myself!”, they were good!

Caramelised pork with five-spice broth

There is something about Asian food that heightens the senses, walking down Williams St in Northbridge or any other area where there is a high density of Asian peoples and restaurants, gets the old tastebuds going and has my mouth watering.  The aromas and sights, the people moving hurriedly along the streets as they go about their business of sourcing the best products for the evening meal, men on the sidewalk calling the price of broccoli and onions at a yell, cars parked haphazardly along the street and in driveways, all of this just adds to the experience of eating and enjoying good quality simple food, so full of flavours.  These are some of the memories that I enjoy when I cook something like caramelised pork with five spice broth, one of the simplest meals to prepare, but one where all you can think of is sitting down to eat it each step of the way.  Pork basted with hoi sin sauce roasting in the oven, whist ginger, garlic and five-spice are sauté on the stovetop herald the senses into expecting something good, something special, it is time to eat!

Caramelised Pork fillet is the champion of this dish, the hoi sin caramelised outer and juicy succulent flesh is superb, then that simple broth adds so much more depth, the fresh spring onions, coriander and chillies round the meal out as they add a bit of crunch, spice and flavour.  Just sitting here writing about this dish makes me want more, but then it really is one of those meals, that will always have us come back for more.

For 2 people you’ll need

300g pork fillet

1 ½ tbsp hoisin sauce (Lee Kum Kee brand is the best!)

Brush pork all over with hoisin sauce and place in oven which has been preheated to 220C, bake for ten minutes, then turn over, brush a little more hoisin and bake a further ten minutes, rest for 5 minutes in a warm place before slicing.  Prepare 100g flat rice noodles as per packet directions.

For the broth, heat a teaspoon of sesame oil in a pan, then add 20g sliced ginger, a crushed clove of garlic and a ¼ teaspoon of five-spice, cook for about a minute.  Add about 50g of coriander stalks along with 1 litre chicken stock and 2 teaspoons of soy sauce, bring this to the boil and simmer for five minutes.  Strain the broth to remove ginger, garlic and coriander stalks, return broth back to the pan and add a bunch of baby bok choy and cook a further two minutes.

Divide the noodles, bok choy, broth and pork between two bowls, top with coriander leaves, finely sliced spring onions and sliced chillies, then enjoy whichever part of the world the wonderful flavours and aromas take you too!