Pork & Clams

A Portuguese classic known as 'Carne de Porco a Alentejana' and one of my favourite combinations of surf n turf.

This version is a great way to use up leftover roast pork, ideal for a midweek, quick and very tasty meal. Also, one pot cooking, which means little washing up.

I’m using pork belly because of the succulent taste and it can be cooked at a higher temperature without drying out but any cut will work. If not using pre roasted pork, cut the raw pork into dices and fry off first.

And #Yes I’m using a lot of garlic just like the Portuguese :)

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 400g-500g roasted pork belly, cut into roughly 3cm cubes (large chunks)
• 150ml pale ale beer/white wine
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp sweet paprika
• 8 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 banana shallots, diced
• 300ml chicken stock
• 1kg clams, purged & cleaned

To serve:

• handful of chopped coriander
• 1 lemon cut into wedges

Method

In a large pan heat the olive oil to a high heat and fry the pork off for about 3-5 minutes until caramelized and golden. With a slotted spoon, remove from the pan and rest on a plate.

Turn down to a medium heat and add to the pan, your the shallots and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes then add the paprika and cook for a further minute.

Turn the heat up again, return the pork to the pan and add the beer or white wine. Keep at a boil and reduce by ½. Add the chicken stock, season with salt and pepper and add the clams. Bring to the boil, cover and cook for 8 minutes or until all the clams have opened.

Serve in the middle of the table with coriander and lemon wedges scattered over.

Bifana-Pork Rolls

Bifana is a dish typical from Portugal with its origins in the Alentejo region. If you have never had one, here is my tasty and simple take on these amazing handheld snacks.

A great way to impress at a BBQ or even around the television with friends for movies or sports. Shows how much of a difference it makes to marinate meat, something that we British don’t seem to do. Also toast or warm the bread through is such an important tip for a great sandwich.

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My Bifana

makes 4

Ingredients

• 400g pork loin, skin removed and cut into thin slices
• olive oil for shallow frying

For the Marinade:

• 1 heaped tsp hot smoked paprika
• 4 cloves of crushed garlic
• 300ml white wine or pale ale
• 50ml white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp hot pepper sauce or piri piri sauce
• 1 bay leaf
• salt & pepper

to serve:

• 4x bread rolls
• fried onions
• American mustard

Method:

In a container, mix together all marinade ingredients, add the pork, cover and marinade over night in the fridge. 

The next day remove the pork from the marinade, strain the marinade and reserve until needed. Pat the pork dry with kitchen roll. In a frying pan, heat some olive oil and fry off the pork in batches if necessary so not to overcrowd the pan for one minute on each side. Place to one side on a plate until needed.

To the same pan the pork was cooked in, add the marinade and reduce to a consistency that coats the back of a spoon. Adding more pepper sauce if requiring or wishing for more heat. Return the pork and juices back to the pan to coat in the sauce.

Serve in bread rolls with fried onions and American mustard.

Cuban Mojo Pork with Rice and Avocados

From Caribbean Carnival With Andi Oliver and John Whaite on the 'Big Eat' on Food Network UK...

This for me is perfect no fuss comfort food at its best. Mojo (pronounced Mo-ho) can be translated to sour orange and is a marinade or sauce, sour in taste and often seen in Cuban cuisine and used all over South America and the Caribbean. It origins from the Canary Islands and was thought to be brought over by the Spanish settlers.

Usually cooked with pork 'butt' or shoulder and served with rice and beans or in a Cuban Sandwich, I'm using pork neck as it's a great alternative, as is cheap, slow roasts perfectly and really holds the marinade. The cooking juices provide a rich and extremely tasty gravy.

It takes a bit of planning for perfect results as it needs to marinade overnight.

Cook the pork the day before you plan to eat and all you have to do is reheat in the juices, slice and serve with jasmine rice, avocado and a personal fav, sriracha.

Of course if your in a hurry then all this can be done on the day. Marinade for at least 2-3 hours prior to cooking.

You have been warned, this is seriously good!

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MY CUBAN MOJO PORK WITH RICE AND AVOCADOS

Ingredients

• 1kg pork neck
• 6 garlic cloves
• Handful fresh coriander
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• Juice and zest of 1 lime
• Juice and zest of 1 lemon
• Juice and zest of 2 oranges
• 100ml olive oil
• Salt and pepper

For serving:

• Avocados
• Cooked jasmine rice
• 1 spring onion, sliced
• Hot chilli sauce

Method

In a food processor, add all the marinade ingredients and blitz until smooth and mixed and season it with salt and pepper to taste.

With a small knife, pierce the pork all over with half inch cuts. Place it into a container and pour the marinade all over, rubbing it into the pork. Cover it with cling film and leave it in the fridge overnight.

Preheat the oven to 220°C. Place the pork in a baking tray with the marinade and roast for 20 minutes.

Cover the baking tray and pork with foil, turn the oven down to 140°C and slow roast it for 2-3 hours, until it’s tender. To serve, slice the pork into thick slices.

For the gravy, spoon the fat off the cooking juices, leaving a dark brown sauce. Reduce it down a bit and then spoon it over the pork. Serve with the rice, sliced avocado, spring onion and chilli sauce.

Perfect Pork and Beans

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INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon lard
• 500g leftover roast pork belly, cut into large chunks (around 6 centimetres by 3 centimetres)
• 200g thick cut smoked bacon lardons
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic crushed
• 2 tins pink kidney beans, drained
• 500ml chicken stock
• 100g manioc (cassava) flour
• Knob unsalted butter
• 5 eggs, beaten
• Small bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped
• Sea salt and black pepper

FOR THE GARNISH:

• Left over crackling, broken into small pieces
• Bunch spring onions, finely sliced
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• Hot pepper sauce

METHOD

Heat the lard in a large, heavy-based pan. Add the pieces of pork and fry for 2 to 3 minutes on each side until caramelised. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate. Add the lardons to the pan, fry for 2 to 3 minutes until golden then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon. Add the onions and garlic to the pan, fry for 5 minutes until soft then add the beans. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until warmed through then add the chicken stock, pork and bacon and bring to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes until the beans are soft then gradually shake in the flour, stirring continuously until thickened.

Remove from the heat and leave to rest for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, heat the butter in a heavy-based pan. Add the eggs and cook gently, stirring constantly until scrambled and just starting to set. Stir the eggs through the pork mixture, add the parsley and season to taste. Top with the pork crackling, spring onions and red chilli and serve with hot pepper sauce.

BBQ Pork Skewers with Grilled Cheese

The people of Salvador love their grub on the go and so much that when it comes to Brazil's biggest sporting passion, FOOTBALL! Locals insist that FIFA allow certain dishes into the stadiums; football and street food, for me is a 'match' made in heaven. I was visiting the Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador's Football stadium that holds 50,000 people and the host to many great events such as the 2014 World Cup and then the 2016 Olympics. Fans come in the masses hours before a match to enjoy the street food and outdoor parties. The pre-match atmosphere was simply amazing, and everyone is about enjoying themselves. I was told that the most popular street food is a meat BBQ. Much different than football food of the UK. 

Amongst the madness of the pre-match beers and singing, I queue up, or at least I think is a queue. And eventually get given a large stick of BBQ diced pork and beef dipped in forofa (toasted manioc flour) and a stick of cheese that's been dipped in a molasses sugar cane syrup and grilled. Beats a 'Wembley Burger' any day!

I use the Brazilian grilling technique in this recipe but go for a sweeter finish with a honey and mustard glaze on the pork.

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INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb 5¼ oz (600g) boneless pork leg, cubed
• Juice of 3 limes
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 tsp crushed black pepper
• ½ teaspoon hot smoked paprika
• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 3 tbsps runny honey
• 1 tbsp whole grain mustard
• Sea salt flakes
• 2 blocks halloumi cheese

FOR THE SALAD:

• 1 ripe honeydew melon, peeled, deseeded and cubed
• 1 cucumber, peeled, deseeded and diced
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• Small bunch mint, roughly chopped
• Juice of 1 to 2 limes
• Lime wedges, to serve

METHOD

Tip the pork into a large bowl, cover with the lime juice, garlic, pepper, paprika and oil and toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours. Meanwhile soak the bamboo skewers in a bowl of cold water.

Preheat a barbeque or griddle pan until hot. Combine the honey and mustard in a bowl and set aside. Thread the pork onto the skewers, sprinkle with salt and griddle for 2 to 3 minutes each side, brushing regularly with the honey-mustard glaze. Remove from the grill and set aside to rest. Cut the cheese in half lengthways to make four thick rectangles then thread onto bamboo skewers. Grill for 1 to 2 minutes on each side until golden brown and crisp.

Meanwhile combine the ingredients for the salad and season to taste. Serve the pork skewers with the grilled cheese, melon salad and lime wedges.

Gourmet Sausage Rolls

This is the ultimate street food snack, the Gourmet Sausage Roll, made with pork and prawns in an oyster sauce, served in a light puff pastry. 

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My Gourmet Sausage Rolls

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 4 spring onions, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• Thumb-sized piece ginger, peeled and grated
• 7 oz (200g) raw prawns, deveined and roughly chopped
• 2 tsps cornflour
• 3½ oz (100g) minced pork
• 3½ oz (100g) pork sausage meat
• 1 tbsps oyster sauce
• 1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry
• 2 egg yolks, beaten
• Sea salt flakes
• Chilli sauce
• Light soy sauce

Method

Heat a little oil in a frying pan, add the spring onions, garlic, chilli and ginger and cook gently for 5 minutes until softened. Tip into a bowl and leave to cool. Toss the prawns in the cornflour then combine with the cooled onion mixture, pork, sausage meat and oyster sauce.

Lay the pastry sheet out on a lightly floured surface. Roll the filling into a rough sausage shape and lay down one side of the pastry. Brush around the filling with a little beaten egg yolk then roll up into a large sausage roll. Trim the edges of the pastry then transfer to a tray, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes until firm. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius or 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut the sausage roll into 4 then lay on a baking sheet, brush with egg yolk and sprinkle with a little salt. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and risen.

Leave to cool slightly then serve with chilli sauce and soy sauce.