Hot Pork and Shrimp Glass Noodles

This dish is based on one I had at a work BBQ a few weeks ago. Made by a lovely Thai woman and served cold as a salad, it was my favourite food of the day! I have tried to recreate it here - but I think I am still missing something... if I see her again, I'll be sure to get a full recipe!

Don't get me wrong, it was still really tasty... it just wasn't exactly the same. And I can't figure out quite what I need to change... But I'm sure I'll have fun trying to work it out!

Advance notice - I'll be getting Scottish Scran 3 out to you any day now... I'll give you a clue... it's a trooty affair!

Hot Pork and Shrimp Glass Noodles

Prepare the Dressing...

• Juice of 2 lemons
• 4 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp maggi sauce (or dark soy if you can't get maggi!)
• 1 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1" ginger, finely grated
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 1 tbsp rice wine
• Soy sauce to taste
• 1 tsp of toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp sugar

Mix all the ingredients together and whisk well to combine. Set aside in the fridge until the other ingredients are ready... but make sure you whisk again before using!

And the Rest...!

• 300g bean vermicelli
• 150g raw shrimp, peeled, cleaned and butterflied
• 300g ground pork
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1" ginger, finely grated
• 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 1 small handful peanuts, roasted and roughly chopped
• 1 tsp of toasted sesame oil
• 3 spring onions (scallions!), finely shredded
• Handful cilantro, roughly chopped
  

Prepare the Noodles...
Boil some water on the stove. Cook the noodles in the water for 4 minutes, or according to the packet - do not overcook or they will fall to pieces later!

Once cooked, run them under cold water to stop them cooking any more and set aside.

Prepare the Base...
Heat a little oil in the bottom of your wok until it is very hot. Crumble in the pork, then stir fry for three to four minutes. Keep it moving!

Add in the ginger, garlic, sesame oil, fish sauce and dried chilli.

Once the pork is cooked add in the shrimp and continue to stir fry until the shrimp are cooked.

Serve!
Take the dressing out of the fridge and give it a wee taste. Does it need anything (a touch more chilli, sugar or salt perhaps? Or maybe it's perfect as it is!)

Place the noodles in a big bowl and pour over half of the dressing (you did remember to give it another stir right?) Use chopsticks (or a pasta server!) to give it a good mix.

Chuck the peanuts, cilantro, scallions, pork mix and the rest of the dressing on top and combine well.

Mmmmm... gotta love that porky noodle goodness!!!

Sending this over to Kitchenetta of Got No Milk who is hosting this week's Presto Pasta Night!

Scottish Scran 1 - Square Sausage

Well - as it says on the profile, I'm a Scots lass living in England... and being the experimental type I have cooked many different cuisines over the years. However, one nation that I just haven't made much of an effort with is my own!

So I am starting a new challenge - to blog something Scottish every week or two, to prove it isn't all about deep-fried mars bars, pizza crunch and heart disease...

This will be a learning experience for me - I don't know nearly as much about Scotland's cuisine as I should - but I am looking forward to finding out!

The first recipe on my list is my favourite ever Scottish foodstuff... square sausage, sliced sausage or lorne sausage - depending on where you're from. A slice on square (a slice of plain Scottish bread, with a slice of square sausage, and a daub of broon sauce) is the ultimate morning-after breakfast, and something I look forward to (almost!) as much as seeing my family at Christmas!

Right, so I couldn't get Scottish plain bread, but ciabatta - with its chewy texture and savoury taste makes a decent alternative!

It's an easy recipe - mixture of ground beef and pork, mixed with breadcrumbs and spices, cut into a handy square shape, just right for putting on a roll. It also forms the basis of my family's own version of stovies - recipe to follow!

Square Sausage

Sliced and Ready for Storage

• 2 lbs minced beef - not too lean!
• 2 lbs minced pork
• 1 tsp onion salt
• 2 tsp pepper, freshly ground
  
• 2 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
  
• 4 tsp coriander berries, toasted and ground
• 2 tsp salt
• 3 cups bread crumbs
• Water as required

Right... I thought about doing this in my mixer... but there was just too much of it!! So - wash your hands really well, roll your sleeves up to the elbow, and be prepared to get stuck right in...

Mix the breadcrumbs with the spices and salt. Then using your hands, combine the two meats reasonably well. Mix both the breadcrumb mix and and the meat together and combine really well. If the mixture is too dry add a little water - no more than a cup though.


Now you want to pack it into the container that will shape your final 'sausage'. I used a weighing tray - measuring about 25cm * 18cm * 8cm. I lined it with clingfilm first to make it easier to remove, then packed the mixture into it as much as I could. There was some of the mixture left over - I'll tell you what I did with that later!

Cover the mixture tightly, put a weight on top, and put into the freezer for at least an hour - no more than 2! To weight it I used a hardback book, with a

Remove from the freezer and turn out from the container. Cut the block in half lengthways, then use a really sharp knife to cut slices. I don't think my breadcrumbs were fine enough - I think if they had been finer/dryer the slices would have stayed formed slightly better.

I decided to freeze my sausage in packs of four slices, separated by greaseproof paper, then wrapped in film - this makes it really easy to take some out.

Oooops - so maybe my slicing needs perfecting!

Ps. in case you were wondering about the title - scran is Scottish for food!

That I may be blest wi’ health, And scran.
Robert Wilson, Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1824)

Porcini Stuffed Pork with Red Pepper Pulse-otto!

Blimey - for some inexplicable reason I've written this post in reverse order - and it already seems really long! So I'll try to keep this bit short and sweet...

After a bout of illness, and a very unhealthy Easter Weekend, I was in the mood for a decent meal. It had to involve roast meat... and avoid starchiness! Then I remembered that I had wanted to enter this month's Waiter, there's something in my... event - which this month is... pulses! It's being hosted by Jeanne, over at Cook Sister - and I think it's a great theme! Especially as I have decided to try to eat more pulses and veg!

I've came up with a pulse-otto. Yes, yes, it's kinda twee and a bit forced, but I am starving and ready to go for lunch - so just think, risotto with lentils instead of rice ;) It was actually going to include rice initially... until I forgot to buy some... So I decided to chuck in red lentils instead. It just makes it even healthier! And even pulsier - so just right for this event!

Porcini Stuffed Pork with Red Pepper Pulse-otto!

Feeds 3 - with plenty of lentils to spare!

• 600g pork tenderloin
• 150g chestnut mushrooms
• 5 cloves garlic
• 30g dried porcini, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes, reserve soaking liquor
• 10 slices smoked streaky bacon
• small handful chopped flat leaf parsley
• 15 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, finely chopped
• Bunch spinach
• 3/4 cup red lentils, washed
• 1 tin green lentils (I used tinned - use whatever you have to hand!)
• 3/4 cup broad beans (I used frozen - use whatever you have to hand!)
• 1 red pepper
• 1 red onion
• Approx 250 ml vegetable stock
• Salt & Pepper to season
• olive oil for frying

Prepare the pork!

Preheat oven to 180c (350f).

Very finely chop the chestnut mushrooms - you could do this in the food processor, but I wanted to keep some of the texture! Chop up half of the porcini mushrooms. In a frying pan, heat a glug of olive oil over a medium heat, then fry mushrooms for a few minutes until almost cooked. Add 3 crushed cloves of garlic and continue to fry for a further couple of minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes, and season to taste.

Cut the visible fat and sinew from the pork tenderloin and cut in half lengthways to open the pork out into a flat rectangle. Cover with cling film and bash a few time with a rolling pin to flatten it out more uniformly.

Lay the washed, but uncooked spinach leaves over the pork (cut off any tough stems), then spread the mushroom and tomato mix over the leaves.

Now roll the tenderloin back up so it looks like a swiss roll!

Take each slice of bacon and flatten/stretch it out. (Either with a rolling pin, or by a knife - up to you!)

Cut one slice in half and stretch over each end of the "swiss roll". (Hmm... now is when I realise I really should have taken pictures at every step!) But basically, you are kind of sealing the ends to stop the filling coming out... Now, take the remaining bacon and, starting from the edge of the capped piece, roll up the pork log in the bacon. (I'm sure I'm making this sound more difficult than it is! Think wrapping chicken in parma ham!)

Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan, and seal the pork round all sides.

Place on a baking tray and roast in oven for 45 minutes (if using a meat thermometer, reading should be about 160c). Remove from oven, cover and leave for 10-15 minutes to rest.

The Pulse-otto!
Meanwhile, while the pork is roasting, start making the pulse-otto!

In a deep pan, sauté the onions and red peppers until soft. Chop up the other half of the porcini mushrooms and add to the pan. Crush two cloves of garlic and add them - and the red lentils - to the pan Allow to sauté for a few minutes more.

Add the strained mushroom liquor and the stock to the pan until the lentil are covered by about an inch.

Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. Add the broadbeans and green lentils, cover and set aside.

To serve!
Once the pork has rested, slice into 1cm rounds. Dish up a couple of spoonfuls of the lentil mix, top with the pork slices, and serve with roast vegetables.



**************************************

Note on re-heating!

I had about a third of this left to reheat the next day. I hadn't sliced it yet, as I was concerned that the pork would dry out or become tough.

To get6 round this, I mixed up a little vegetable bouillon (fairly weak) and put it into a frying pan (about 1cm up the sides). I then sliced the remaining pork, and put it into the pan. I poached it gently for 3/4 minutes, basting to ensure the top was warmed through also. It worked well - the pork was still tender and juicy!

I had some tomatoes going spare, so sliced them in half, chucked on a drizzle of olive oil, and sprinkled on some garlic salt and red chilli flakes. 10 minutes under a medium/high grill til they were just starting to collapse - yum!

Slow-cooked Roast Garlic Ragu

It's January - and usually a month where I try to avoid pasta... but when I found Ruth's Presto Pasta night over at Once Upon a Feast... my will-power started to crumple. Or crumble... all these carbs have affected my brain!

It all started with the home-made roast garlic fresh pasta but I needed more... I needed a sauce! After roasting off almost a dozen heads of garlic I set my mind to what else I could use them for...

I eventually came up with this gorgeous slow cooked ragu, with a pork and beef base, finished with 3 bulbs of garlic. It sounds like a lot, but the garlic was slow roasted until there was no sharpness left - just sweet, rich garlicky lushness!

3 carrot
3 sticks of celery
2 onions
3 roasted heads of garlic

Some olive oil for frying/drizzling
500g minced (ground) beef steak
500g minced (ground) pork
1 beef stock cube
1 tbsp fish sauce
6 drops Tabasco sauce
1 tbsp paprika (preferably smoked!)
500g carton passata
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
3 tbsp worcester sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 bay leaves
2/3 bottle decent red wine

I started off by preparing the 'holy trinity' of Italian cooking - onions, carrots and celery. I already had my food processor out for making my pasta - so decided to save time and effort and use it for the veg too. I finely chopped one onion and used the grater attachment for the carrots and celery. Use an ovenproof dish to sweat this mixture off for about 20 minutes, or until soft. I used my Le Creuset casserole dish to do this - after lusting after one for years, I finally bought one last year and get it out whenever I can!

As I was going for sweet, rich favours I decided to caramelise the other onion. I cut the onion in half, then thinly sliced each half. After heating some olive oil over a medioum heat I chucked on the onions and let slowly cook for abotut half an hour until they were golden and caramelised. The kitchen was already starting to smell lovely!

When the onions and veg are cooked, remove to a bowl. If you have lots of lovely burnt bits on the bottom of the onions pan, then use a bit of the wine to de-glaze, and add that to the bowl too.

In the same ovenproof pan, brown off the pork mince - make sure the pan isn't overcrowded so it fries rather than boils! As it's January and I'm trying to be healthy, I strained off the pork and discard the fat, setting the meat to one side. While this was straining I fried off the beef in the same ovenproof pan. Once it was brown I added the strained pork, beef stock cube, Tabasco, fish sauce and paprika and let it fry for a couple of minutes.

Preparation almost done! Still a lot of cook time to go though...

I added the softened veg and onions, the passata, tinned tomatoes, worcester sauce, sugar, salt, bay leaves, and finally the red wine, then brought the whole lot to the boil. I was a bit surprised at how pink it looked - but I guess I'm used to making bolognese ragu with all beef!

I think I let my ragu cook in the oven for about 5 hours - but I think it would probably be ok after 3/4 hours. I stirred it every 30 minutes or so - it was quite easy to see when it all started to come together - initially it looked quite pink and 'bitty', but once it was ready the colour deepened to a dark colour and the texture was much softer.. I didn't need to, but make sure you add some water if it starts looking like drying out.

Right - almost ready - and the kitchen should smell amazing!

I removed the garlic mush from the roasted heads, and mashed it into a rough paste, then stirred it into the ragu. You could probably serve it right then - but I had to finish making my pasta, so it went back into the oven for another 15 minutes!

I served this with my roasted garlic pasta... I know that was probably overkill - and the sauce was definitely enough to stand alone - but it really did taste amazing! I found that I didn't need too much sauce with the pasta - nowhere near the quantity I was put out when making bolognaise. It was really rich, and coated the pasta well.

And it keeps the vampires away!

Spicy Pork and Crab Meatballs

I started making these spicy meatballs to accompany my New Year noodle soup, but decided to put them up as a separate page as they can be included in way more dishes than just this soup. I made a monster batch of them, froze some, used some in the soup, baked and served with dipping sauce. And - one of my new favourites - using fine egg noodles, soy sauce and a beaten egg, created an noodle nest for each meatball - fried until golden and crispy. (I forgot to take pics of this one, but will put it up next time I make it!)


I've just realised I put the soup up before the meatballs and now everything's out of order - between that, forgetting to take pics or note my quantities, and losing my camera cable - this blogging thing isn't quite as easy as I thought ;)

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic - roughly chopped
• 1 large shallot (or 3 scallions) roughly chopped
• 2 red chillies (Add more or less to taste depending on how hot you like it, and how hot the chillies are!) - roughly chopped
• 2 inch piece of fresh ginger - roughly chopped
• 1 red pepper - cut into large pieces
• Zest of one lime
• 1 tbsp dark/thick soy sauce
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• Small handful coriander (cilantro) - roughly chopped
• 1 tin crab meat (or replace with 150g fresh crab meat)
• 500g minced (ground) pork
• 1 egg - beaten

1. Add the garlic, shallot, chillies, ginger, red pepper, zest and coriander into a food blender and blitz until all ingredients are very finely chopped.
2. Remove from blender into mixing bowl.

1. Add crab meat to mixture and combine.
2. Put the pork, egg, soy and fish sauce and sesame oil into blender and blitz until pureed.
3. Add this to the crab mixture and mix until well combined.

1. Using damp hands, shape the mixture into small walnut-sized balls. I got about 32 from the quantities above.

1. Put the balls in fridge for 30 minutes to chill (This is optional - but will help them stay together better!)
2. Use as you like - but make sure they're cooked through!