The trouble with salads....

The Autumn has arrived and with it, my interest in real cooking. Having spent the summer enjoying the odd BBQ, tapas and a lot of salad there has been little to write about here. Now that the nights are drawing in and the chill is at the door I find I am drawn back to real cooking.


Earlier today, on a wonderful sunny autumn afternoon, I pottered up to the shops to see what would light my imagination with regards to a supper tonight. I soon found four leg steaks on offer and decided to be a little creative with them.

 I recently joined the fad and purchsed a Nutribullet. While I have enjoyed the affectionatly known 'sludge' for breakfast and sometimes lunch, it is hardly cooking. The resulting 'sludge' has ignited the odd thought with regards to sauces and rubs so I decided to employ it in tonight's preparations. Firstly, I put two long peppers ( http://www.steenbergs.co.uk/product/238/long-pepper-specialist-spice) into a Nutribullet cup along with some a dried chili, a teaspoon of white peppercorns, two cloves and a teaspoon of juniper berries and a pinch of oak smoked sea salt. I blitzed this and added it to some plain flour to dust the meat with.

I cut the meat into 1" cubes and rolled it in the flour and spice mixture before browning it in a very hot iron casserole pot. Meanwhile, I put a handful of fresh sage, 3 garlic cloves, 2 eating apples, a red/orange pepper, 2 shallots and some water into a large Nutribullet cup and blitzed that. I added two coarsely cut red onions and a chopped red./orange pepper to the meat and stirred it for a minute or two before adding the blitzed fruit/herb mix. I added a pint of pork stock and brought the dish to the boil. I then simmered it for 40 minutes with a bouquet garni.

I added a can of chick peas and 100g of chestnuts and cooked this on for another 10 minutes, finally I added some button mushrooms and left this on the heat while I floured and fried some fresh courgette from the garden.

I served the pork on a bed of wild rice and quinoa with the courgette as a side. Welcome back Autumn :)