Pork and buccatini with coconut satay sauce

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

We had a spare pork chop in the fridge and whenever there’s any bits of meat hanging around I automatically think of cooking stir fries as it’s the easiest way to make it stretch.

But then I remembered a recipe I made with chicken and this is a variation on Chicken and noodles with coconut satay sauce. Instead of noodles I used buccatini, which is a really fat type of spaghetti and I love it because it reminds me of udon noodles.

Coating the pork in the egg white and flour isn’t necessary, but it gives it a nice coating and will ensure the meat is soft and tender.

• Serves: 2-3
• You will need: large wok or frying pan, small saucepan, medium saucepan 

Ingredients:

• 1 egg white (keep the yolks for a custard or something!)
• 2 teaspoons cornflour
• 1 large pork chop, cut into small 1cm cubes
• 1/3 of 500g pack of buccatini*
• 400ml can Coconut Milk Light/Reduced Fat
• 2-3 Tablespoons oil
• 2 Tablespoons Red Thai Curry Paste
• 2 shallots, peeled and sliced
• 2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
• a few mushrooms, sliced
• 2 small orange peppers, sliced
• 3-4 leaves of sweetheart cabbage, sliced
• 3 Tablespoons Crunchy Peanut Butter 

Directions:

1. Mix the egg white and cornflour in a small bowl until well combined. Add the pork and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
2. Cook the pasta as per the pack instructions. Drain and keep warm.
3. Meanwhile bring the coconut milk to the boil in a small pan and simmer on a medium heat to reduce and thicken.
4. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan and drop the pieces of pork individually into the pan so they don’t all stick together. Fry the pork for about 5 minutes, until crispy and golden brown – you might need to do this in batches. Set to one side.
5. Add a little more oil to the pan if necessary, then sauté the shallots until soft and brown. Stir in the Thai paste and cook for 1 minute until fragrant, then add the other vegetables and fry until vegetables are starting to soften.
6. Stir in the peanut butter, add the thickened coconut milk and return the pork to the pan.
7. Simmer for about 5 minutes until the sauce is a nice consistency and the pork is fully cooked.
8. To serve: place the warm pasta between 2 serving bowls and ladle the sauce on top. 

COOK'S NOTES:

• If you can’t find buccatini (I’ve only been able to buy it from Sainsburys) then just use normal spaghetti, or of course just use noodles!

Butter Chicken Curry

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

When I first got my Tefal 4-in-1 I was desperate to find some decent slow cooker recipes and this is one I found on a forum. I’ve never had Butter Chicken in an Indian restaurant or as a takeaway, but the ingredients sounded nice and it was a simple recipe to follow.

This was the first time I’ve cooked chicken in the slow cooker and it was amazingly tender! We did enjoy the curry, but we couldn’t taste the butter so I would leave it out next time to save on calories! I would also increase the amount of spices as it needed a bit more flavour and chilli!

• Serves: 2 generously
• Cooking time: 4-5 hours

Ingredients:

• 500g chicken thigh fillets, quartered
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger (or ½ tsp ground)
• ¼ teaspoon chilli powder
• 1 cinnamon stick (or 1 tsp ground)
• 6 cardamom pods, bruised (or 1-2 tsp seeds or ground – I left these out)
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 400g tin tomatoes
• 1 Tablespoons sugar (I used honey)
• Salt and pepper
• ½ cup cream, plus extra if desired

Directions:

1. Heat a little oil in a large frying pan and brown chicken. Transfer to preheating slow cooker.
2. Add the onion and garlic to the pan, frying gently until the onion is softened.
3. Add butter and spices, and continue frying gently until spices are fragrant.
4. Add tomato paste, tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper and increase heat to med - med/high. Simmer for a few minutes, stirring until mixture has thickened.
5. Add cream and stir well to combine.
6. Remove from heat and pour into slow cooker, stirring to distribute the sauce evenly. Replace lid and slow cook for ½ hour on high (if using traditional slow cooker), then about 3-5 hours on low, stirring occasionally.
7. Remove cardamom and cinnamon stick. Add extra cream or yoghurt to taste.

Spicy Fish with Rice

MUNCH RATING: 3/5
Steve’s Mum bought some swordfish as it was half price, so I adapted a recipe that used cod and it worked really well as the swordfish held it’s shape and had a good flavour.

• Serves 3-4
• You will need: large wok or deep frying pan 

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon plain flour
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon hot chilli powder (adapt to suit taste)
• salt and pepper
• 3 large pieces of thick cut swordfish, skinned and cut into large chunks
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 3 spring onions, sliced at an angle
• 2 small orange sweet peppers, cut into small pieces
• 1 carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks
• A big handful of frozen peas
• 450g cooked long-grain rice (that’s 2 cups uncooked)
• A pinch of cayenne (optional, but I like it hot!)
• 4 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce (I used Blue Dragon)
• 4 tablespoons ketchup manis*
• 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup** (optional)
• big handful of roasted, salted cashews (I used Tesco Value ones!) 

Directions:

1. Mix the flour, curry powder, chilli powder, salt and pepper in a wide shallow dish and add the fish. Gently mix until the fish is coated in the spice mixture. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
2. Heat your wok or pan, then add the oil and heat until almost smoking. Add the fish and fry for about 5 minutes, until brown and crispy on all sides. Remove from the pan, place on a warm plate, cover and keep warm.
3. Put the spring onions, peppers and carrots into the pan and stir fry for 2-3 minutes, then add the peas, rice and cayenne and fry until they’re heated through.
4. Then add the sweet chilli sauce, ketchup manis, tomato ketchup and cashews and stir fry for 3 more minutes.
5. Return the fish to the pan, heat for a few minutes then serve immediately.

COOK'S NOTES:
* The original recipe uses soy sauce, but I prefer Ketchup manis which is Indonesian soy sauce and it’s thicker, sweeter and less salty than normal soy sauce. The only place I’ve managed to find it is Marks and Spencers. If you can’t get it, just use ordinary soy sauce instead, but use about half the amount, and add some sugar to the dish.
** If you don’t add the tomato ketchup to the dish whilst it’s cooking, it’s still nice to serve it with the rice, as a small squirt of tomato ketchup adds a nice sweet zingy flavour!