Mary's Pork Loin Tenderloin and Caprese

Big thanks to my writer friend MaryAnn Unger over in sunny Las Vegas for this recipe! Her plates are prettier but this is the one I cooked, so here we are. Less fuss than a poached egg for this dinner.

Loin: slather in seasoning and yogurt, then roll in breadcrumbs, then bake, about 45 mins (I chose lowish heat). The caprese speaks for itself. I added a few capers just to up a little zing. Olive oil and balsamic to dress.

Might try the loin with a bit of carb and some zingy dressing at another date. It's soft and not dried out at all in the oven - something I didn't think was possible. Healthy as.

Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon Rolls

For the dough:
55ml warm water
210ml milk
1 egg
20g melted butter
450g flour
50g sugar
35g custard powder
3tsp dried yeast

Put ingredients into bread machine and make dough. (Or do it by hand).

For the filling:
2tsb cinnamon
1tsp mixed spice
150g sugar
30g melted butter

Roll out, spread with filling, roll up, slice, lay on baking sheets, bake.

For the topping:
100g cream cheese
30g melted butter
150g icing sugar
maple syrup
lemon juice

Drizzle over the top.

Moroccan Chicken

The original recipe does this in a tagine, with a whole chicken. For ease of eating I boned and portioned the chicken prior to marinating/cooking, but next time will only use thigh meat. The breasts get too dry being cooked for so long. The rest is good.

Marinate your chicken in a puree of:

• turmeric
• ginger
• cumin
• coriander
• garlic
• onion 
• preserved lemon 

(Don't bother to salt it as the lemons will do the job)

Add

• pureed onion and chicken liver. 
• more chopped onion
• rough diced aubergine
• some chicken stock. 

Cook in a moderate oven for at least an hour. Serve with cardamom rice and Moorish Crunch Salad. The pic is not mine, as you can guess by the fact that the bird is whole. Mine is eaten. Oh and the original recipe had olives in it but I gave up on that one for the kids.

Moorish Crunch Salad

Nice one to have with the Moroccan chicken (next post).

Slice up:

• Apples 
• Carrots 
• Radishes (I couldn't find them so used 'crunchy combo' sprouting beans, was good) 

Add and toss with:

• raisins
• parsley and mint
• tahini and sherry dressing 

Sprinkle with:

• Sesame seeds. 

The pic is from the original cutting (from the 90s) but I'll take one of my own next time I make it. Hopefully. Everyone liked this one... apart from Flash who wouldn't get past the notion of having apple in a salad.

Chocolate Cinnamon Crumb Squares

Wouldn't rave about these but they do stick to yer ribs and they are chocolaty. Need some cream to go with them. Frankly can't taste the cinnamon.

For the crumble topping 

• 50g plain flour 
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder 
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 50g light muscovado sugar 
• 50g butter

For the cake 

• 200g plain chocolate 
• 175g softened butter 
• 200g light muscovado sugar 
• 3 eggs 
• 175g self-raising flour 

Make the crumble first and set aside. Make the cake (cream butter and sugar, melt chocolate, add, etc.). Pour into 20cm square tin, top with crumble, bake at 150 for 40 mins, until skewer comes out clean. Cool in tin for 10 mins then dust over with icing sugar and cut into squares.

Tahini chicken and pumpkin salad

Marinade your chicken thighs (original recipe was breast but who grills breast FFS) in lemon juice, tahini and seasoning.

Bake your pumpkin slices (original recipe also to grill - grilled pumpkin is TRULY a bad idea) and layer over a salad with some nice tangy bits - original had mint but it wasn't nearly strong enough.

Make up some dukka with nuts and pank and seasoning.

Microwave up a pack of mini popadums to serve on the side.

Dress the salad, cut and put chicken on top, sprinkle on the dukka (or mix the dukka straight over the chicken after cutting. Or both.) .

Got good marks from the kids. A do-again.

Satay Pork Patties and Udon Noodles

Make pork meatballs with satay sauce and diced fried onions. Next time I might put some panko in them as they were a bit too soft to handle easily. Fry, set aside.

Fry up some suitable veg for Chinese style, add the rest of the satay sauce, add prepped udon noodles, serve with meatballs on top.

This won several hoofs up, so next time I'll try to take a pic.