Shredded Pork with Pomegranate Salad

Who knew pork and pomegranate was such a lovely combination?
Instead of spending hours cooking my own pork, I bought a little pulled pork joint from the supermarket.
It came with a little sachet of bbq sauce and was just enough for the two of us.

Salad (serves 2 with some left over)
2 heads of pack choi, cut into long strips
seeds from 1 pomegranate
6 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal
6 radish, cut into matchsticks
about 1/3 cucumber, deseeded and sliced
1 green chilli, finely sliced

Dressing.
2tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp vinegar
2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tbsp soy sauce

When the pork was just about ready I wilted the pak choi, in a pan, with a tbsp of the dressing.
Then I added in the rest of the salad ingredients and tossed it all together.
Serve the salad with the pork and a little of the dressing drizzled over.

Parmesan Chicken

Here's a quick way to perk up a plain old chicken breast -
give it a tasty, crunchy coating of parmesan.

Season 1 egg white with a little salt and pepper and beat sightly in a shallow bowl.
Put 2 or 3 tbsp of grated parmesan into another bowl.
Dip a skinless chicken breast into the egg white (both sides).
and then into the cheese.
Bake in a preheated oven (180C) for about 25 - 30 mins, or until cooked through.

I served my chicken with a warm green bean, new potato and spinach salad.

Chocolate Mousse Cake

I was in need of a SERIOUS chocolate fix and this mousse cake didn't disappoint.
It's dark and rich and delicious, and blows my weekly calorie budget sky high!!

The original recipe called for plain dark chocolate, but some Rum & Raisin Bournville caught my eye.
The smell of this chocolate is divine, and I managed to put most of it into the cake, only eating a couple of squares!

Original Recipe

250g plain chocolate
4 large eggs, seperated
110g caster sugar
3 tbsp warm water
Cocoa powder for dusting.

I substituted the plain chocolate for 2 x 180g bars of  rum & raisin bournville.

Preheat Oven to 180C / Gas 4
Grease a 20cm / 8in loose bottomed cake tin, and line the base with greaseproof paper.
(I only had a 7" or a 9" tin and I decided to go with the 9". Hence my cake is a little flat.
Next time I will try the 7")

Melt the chocolate. If you're using rum & raisin  do this carefully, so the raisins don't burn.
Allow to cool slightly.
Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar, until really pale and fluffy.
Carefully stir in the chocolate and the warm water.
In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks.
Fold them into the chocolate mixture.
Pour the mixture  into the prepared tin and bake for 15 minutes.
Take it out of the oven and allow to cool.
Dust with cocoa powder.
Then, chill in the fridge for a couple of hours.
Take out 1 hour before serving and cut with a hot wet knife.

Crunchy Custard Baked Appples

Recipe from Good Food

This is a quick and easy alternative to making an apple crumble.
The custard was drying up a little bit, so I covered the dish with foil after about 10 minutes.
The apples were cooked perfectly though, and we had lots of extra custard to serve it with.
My tip would be to make sure you use a really good granola.
I used Jordans Country Crisp, that's contains lots of crunchy nuts.

Soup of the day

This is a surprisingly tasty soup, considering it is low fat and low calorie.

The recipe is from the January edition of Rosemary Conley, Food & Fitness.

2 stick celery, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
400ml chicken stock
2 tbsp plain flour
400ml semi-skimmed milk
2 cooked skinless chicken thighs, cut into small pieces.  (I poached my chicken in a little stock)
240g can sweetcorn, drained
fresh parsley to garnish

In a large non-stick sauce pan, dry-fry the celery, onion and garlic for 2 - 3 mins.
Add a little stock, then sprinkle over the flour and mix well.
Cook for 1 minute before adding the remaining stock and milk.
Add the cooked chicken and sweetcorn. Simmer for 20 - 25 mins, to allow to thicken.
Serve with the parsley garnish.

Pancetta Wrapped Salmon

I am always wary of recipes with pulses and beans.
All that overnight soaking and then boiling for an hour, really puts me off.
So I was happy to find a packet of Merchant Gourmet Puy Lentils in my local supermarket -
ready to eat, hot or cold. 
These lentils hold their shape well when cooked, and have a lovely peppery taste.
Here they are with pancetta wrapped salmon.

Serves 4

225g puy lentils ( ready to eat)
4 x salmon fillets
4 slices pancetta
1 red onion
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
250g baby plum tomatoes
large handful baby spinach

Heat the oven to 200C / 180C Fan
Wrap the salmon fillets in the pancetta and roast in the oven for 12 - 15 mins, until cooked through.
Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and cook the onion for 5 - 6 minutes, until soft.
Add the balsamic vinegar, halved tomatoes and lentils, and stir well.
Add the spinach and allow to wilt. Season with salt and pepper.
Spoon onto hot plates and serve topped with the salmon.

Drizzle

Lime jaffa cakes - that's what this cake reminded us of.

It was wondefully moist and full of flavour.

and it smelt so delicious that, as you can see from the photo,

we couldn't wait for it to cool before we cut into it!

The recipe is for Lime & Ginger Drizzle Cake

and I decorated mine with extra ginger and some dark chocolate.

You can see that it did sink in the middle a little, but that doesn't affect the taste, right?

It came out very moist and crumbly, so it's more of a plate and fork cake,

rather than something you can hold in your hand.

xxx