Sweet Potato Hash

Introduction
This makes a great breakfast or brunch dish. The sweet, slightly caramelised sweet potato is crying out for a few rashers of crispy bacon and a soft poached egg!

Serves 2-­3
Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 medium sweet potatoes
  • 4 spring onions, finely sliced
  • 1 red or yellow pepper, or half of each, de-­‐seeded and finely sliced
  • 1 clove garlic, sliced (optional)
  • 1 tsp. picked thyme
  • 1 tbsp. chopped chives
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 15g butter
  • Freshly cracked black pepper
  • Sea salt

Method

  1. Peel the sweet potatoes and chop them into approx. 1-­‐inch dice. Place in a pan of cold water with a little salt, bring to the boil, cook for 5 minutes, and drain.
  2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and -­‐ if using -­‐ lightly fry the garlic for 1 minute. Add the spring onions, sliced pepper, and thyme. Fry for a further minute.
  3. Add the diced sweet potato, increase the heat slightly, and toss all of the ingredients together. Add the butter. Continue to fry for 5-­‐6 minutes, or until the sweet potato begins to colour and caramelise slightly. Alternatively, if using an ovenproof pan, place in a hot oven for 10 minutes to finish cooking. Add the chives, season with salt and pepper, and serve immediately.

Stuffed & Rolled Pork

Serve with Roasted Veggies

Introduction

Pork tenderloin lends itself to stuffing. As a lean cut it is easily overcooked, so the addition of a moist stuffing helps to counteract this trait. Best of all, it’s an extremely quick dish to cook.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 trimmed pork tenderloins
  • 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp. nigella (black onion) seeds
  • 100g baby leaf spinach, washed and dried
  • 50g soft prunes, finely chopped
  • 2 rashers unsmoked streaky bacon or pancetta, cut into small strips
  • 40g blanched almonds, chopped
  • 4 sage leaves, finely chopped
  • Sea salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 40g butter
  • Butcher’s string, or cocktail sticks, for tying

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
  2. Melt half of the butter in a frying pan and, once foaming, add the bacon. Fry until lightly crisp, then add the spinach and stir in to wilt. Once wilted -­‐ 1 or 2 minutes -­‐ add the prunes, almonds, sage, salt and pepper. Mix well, then transfer the mixture to a bowl, but retain the pan.
  3. Carefully score down the length of each tenderloin using a sharp knife. Keep cutting until about half way through the meat. Then, angling the blade at 45-­‐degrees from the vertical cut, quickly score down the left and right sides of the original cut -­‐ this will open out the tenderloin a little more for stuffing.
  4. Open up each tenderloin and press down to flatten out slightly -­‐ the cut ‘inside’ of the tenderloin should now be open and facing up. You could beat a little with a meat hammer to tenderize and flatten a little more.
  5. Season with a little salt and pepper, then spoon the stuffing mixture between the two tenderloins. Fold each side of the tenderloin back up to enclose the stuffing and tie in place using butcher’s string, or secure by threading with cocktail sticks.
  6. Spread the Dijon mustard over the outer surface of the tenderloins, and then sprinkle with the nigella seeds. Season with salt and pepper.
  7. Place the remaining butter in the same frying pan and add the tenderloins, placing them with their cut-­side down. Leave for 2 minutes to colour, and then turn over. Repeat this process all over until all of the outer surface of the tenderloin is sealed and coloured. Transfer to the oven.
  8. Pan roast in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, remove, cover with a sheet of foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Top Tip

Serve with a simple sauce made by placing 150ml of good white wine in a saucepan, whisk in 1 tbsp of Dijon mustard and allow to reduce by half. Remove from the heat and whisk in chilled butter cubes until the sauce becomes smooth and emulsified.

 

Banana and Mixed Berry Ice Cream

Ingredients

  • 1 frozen banana per person
  • Handful of frozen mixed berries per person
  • Optional: dash of coconut milk or cream
  • Fresh or frozen berries to serve

Method

  1. Blend the bananas and berries in a food processor until the texture resembles that of ice cream. This can take 4-5 minutes.
  2. Serve immediately with fresh or frozen berries sprinkled on top.