Jolly Jerusalem

A bit of something different for dinner – pork and Jerusalem artichokes.  It could have been described as a culinary juxtaposition if only the Jerusalem artichokes had anything to do with Jerusalem!  Apparently, they are actually native to North America and are related to daisies (who knew?). So, sounds good in theory, but not quite!

Pork with Jerusalem artichokes

Anyway, other than trying to be clever with words, the meal was actually pretty clever in execution.  The artichokes were cooked in the oven with some sautéed red onions, garlic and a tin of tomatoes (a recipe called “smothered Jerusalem artichokes” from Marcella Hazan).  The pork, I quickly marinated in a little olive oil, garlic, light soy and a bit of Worcestershire sauce and then browned in a pan.  These were tossed on top of the artichokes, together with a few chopped up cherry tomatoes and cooked for about 15 minutes. Done!  How easy was that?

Even better, it tasted great and the Hungry Twins thought so too. They even devoured the Jerusalem artichokes!  Skye forgot how to use a bowl and tipped everything out….

Where’s my bowl?

Grace enjoyed the lot….

Love Jerusalem artichokes and pork chops!

All in all, not a bad effort!  The Hungry Twins ate everything on the plate (mushrooms and peas as well) and then had a few slices of plastic cheese, a big handful of grapes and still hungry…. Three bowls of yoghurt!!!

Back to their best.

Delightful dumplings

After a lovely BBQ lunch (sausages, lamb chops and steak), a bit of something different for dinner.  Answer – pork dumplings!  Pretty easy to make as you can buy the wonton wrappers all ready to go.  After a bit of fiddling around, they look like this…..

Uncooked dumplings

And then once you have boiled them for a few minutes and then dunked them in broth, they look like this….

The finished product…

The Hungry Twins had an interesting response to these – Grace thought the wonton wrapper was fabulous and Skye loved the pork cooked inside!  A match made in heaven – each Hungry Twin liked what the other didn’t…..

Wontons are wonderful!

Pork only please…..

The Hungry Twins also had a few leftover sausages and steak from lunch, a handful of peas and the ubiquitous plastic cheese.  A few grapes and there you go – another meal all done!  Quite a few bits discarded on the floor = happy dogs.

 

 

 

Can’t beat a pig

A true autumn day today – a bit of rain and actually cool for a change (fire required).  The Hungry Twins had a quiet day but the main thing was there was plenty of food!  Breakfast was back to the usual of three weetbix (between them), a crumpet plus some grapes.  Lunch included homemade pork dumplings from last night’s dinner, vegemite and peanut butter sandwiches, fish fingers, plastic cheese and a pear plus more grapes.

Pork dumplings

More pig for dinner.  Pork chops with homemade baked beans (including bacon) and colcannon (my version, anyway).

Pork chop night

A chop each plus all the beans and colcannon, gone!  The pork bones were then handed to the Hungry Twins before dessert of strawberries, cheese and grapes.  Yum!

Pork chop night is a winner!

The Hungry Twins put their front teeth (still waiting for some molars!) to good use.  Next time, I might just give them bones…..

Homemade baked beans

Pork chop night tonight!  Served with roasted carrots, homemade baked beans and a few peas.

Baked beans for dinner!

The Hungry Twins loved it!  First they gobbled down the pork, then the peas were spotted (just boring old frozen peas, but the Hungry Twins do love them!) and these went as well.  Carrots next and then it was onto the baked beans – saving the best for last!  The butter beans were eaten by hand and the smaller cannellini beans were spoon-fed to the Hungry Twins.  Plastic cheese, some poached pears and a handful of grapes and that was it.  The Hungry Twins went through their meal so quickly, I didn’t even get a photo, so here is the recipe for the baked beans instead!

Once you have made your own baked beans, you will never want to use tinned ones again. This dish goes really well with grilled meats, especially pork.  It also tastes really good the next day on toast for breakfast!

• Preparation time: 10 minutes
• Cooking time: Around 60 minutes
• Serves: 6 as a side dish 

Ingredients

• 1 tbs olive oil
• Medium onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 4 rashers of bacon or pancetta, chopped into small pieces
• 400gm tin butter beans, drained and rinsed
• 400gm tin cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 200ml chicken stock
• 400gm tin crushed tomatoes
• OPTIONAL100ml white wine
• OPTIONAL 1 small red chilli, finely chopped (you can use chilli flakes or we like to use homemade harissa)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200^oC.
2. Add olive oil to a heavy-based, oven-proof casserole dish over medium heat.  Cook onion and garlic until they start to soften (about five minutes).  Add the bacon pieces and cook until they start to brown (about five minutes).  Add chilli (if using) and stir.
3. Add butter and cannellini beans to pan and stir well.  Cook for about five minutes before adding white wine (if using) and stock.  Bring to a simmer and then add the tinned tomatoes and about 200ml water and stir well.
4. Bring to a simmer (about 10 minutes) then add to the oven and cook for around 30 minutes, stirring half way through.
5. Remove from oven and allow to rest for about five minutes before serving.

Perfect pork day

I can see that I will have to come up with some more interesting options for lunch for the Hungry Twins. The good old standard of vegemite and peanut butter sandwiches are no longer the business.  Pretty well rejected today out of hand, in fact.  Thankfully, we had been to the Barossa Farmers’ Market and picked up a picnic box of pork sliders (not sure what a “slider” is, but it was tasty!) from Saskia Beer.  A tasty little selection of slow-cooked pork, some brioche buns, aioli, chutney and pickle for condiments.  Yum!

The Hungry Twins were distracted with some fish fingers (after they had soundly rejected their sandwiches made on today’s bread) and then they tasted the slow-cooked pork.  What a revelation – they loved it!  Not that we wanted to share too much with them (we ate the buns with the pork and various condiments ourselves)….

I don’t know what a pork slider is but I like it!

Hmmm, I wish my parents would share more of the pork….

Some sticks of cheese and fruit and all over for lunch…..

But what for dinner? Pork, of course!  Lovely free-range pork fillets, also bought today at the Farmers’ Market, from Barossa Heritage Pork.  Delicious flavour and so easy to cook!  A simple marinade (our usual of olive oil and light soy) and then cooked on the BBQ.  Done.  Served with last night’s rat leftovers and some lemony potatoes.

A perfect end to the day!

Not to be caught out like last night, we served the potatoes first (tried with bowls again) and then spoon fed the Hungry Twins the Italian rat (a major hit today, it’s always better the next day anyway).

Love that rat!

The pork, diced into suitable-sized portions was then placed in bowls (still working on that) and then served up to the Hungry Twins.  Well, what can you say?  Grace ate more than her fair share of pork – I think perhaps Skye was confused by why the pork was in the bowl (what is the point given that she just puts it in her mouth, anyway??).

More more more!!!!

So, I take the pork out of the bowl and put it in my mouth?

Regardless of the bowl challenge, the dinner was well received by the Hungry Twins.  A simple dessert of strawberries and grapes (freshly bought) and some cooked apple and that was dinner.  Not a lot left on the floor for the dogs…. (sorry, dogs!)

http://www.barossafarmersmarket.com/home/

http://saskiabeer.com

http://barossaheritagepork.com.au

 

Sausage Saturday

A nice relaxing day today.  Swimming lessons for the Hungry Twins, followed by a lunch of peanut butter and vegemite sandwiches on bread made this morning (yum!).  A peaceful afternoon and then dinner – sausages, a favourite!  Delectable sausages made from local free-range Berkshire pork mixed with fennel.  Fantastic!  The pork is grown by Barossa Heritage Pork and I bought the sausages at the Barossa Farmers’ Market last week.  The Hungry Twins ate more than their fair share (I guess I could always lose some weight….).

Did you give my sister more sausages than me??

This was followed by spicy roast pumpkin, leftover corn (didn’t all get eaten last night), a few tomatoes and some sticks of cheese.

What, only one stick of cheese?

A finale of strawberries and grapes bought this morning at the markets.  What could be better? Well, perhaps next time I should buy more sausages so we can all have at least two each!!

http://barossaheritagepork.com.au

Pork chops, mmmm

….in the immortal words of Homer Simpson.  Dinner last night was pork loin marinated in light soy together with roasted potato and sweet potato, some avocado (with mustard dressing), a few cherry tomatoes and a bit of cheese.  Oh, and don’t forget the homemade baked beans…..  

This was followed by a pear and a handful of grapes!

Hungry Twins for sure, they certainly loved the pork.  The girls are true carnivores – they eat chicken, duck, fish, lamb, beef and of course pork with relish.  And who could forget how they devoured their Christmas turkey?  Although, it’s probably more accurate to say that they are omnivores as they eat all sorts of food (as you can see from last night’s dinner)!!

I sometimes wonder if one-year olds are meant to eat that much food? Our grocery bill has certainly increased – I guess I should be thankful that there are only two of them!!