Sunday

 

It has been a chilly day again.  Sun has been out but keeps dipping behind cloud. I am still not firing on all pistons, and so have had a gentle day just pottering around, not really doing anything substantial just a little bit of this and that.

We have had a lovely tea tonight though.  A loin joint roasted pork served with some steamed Rainbow Chard, broccoli on the long stem, carrots, peas, mashed potato, roast potato, roasted parsnip, roast onion with lots of gravy.  It has gone down very nicely. It has been a few weeks since we had some roast pork for dinner.  Not a bad joint for £10.  Needless to say we do have a duplicate meal for tomorrow.  The cats and the dog have also had some trimmings as well; not much but a little.

I cooked the joint on Gas mark 7 for the first hour at least, sometimes longer, whilst keeping an eye on things as I did not want anything to burn.  The reason for cooking on so high a temperature is that you can get a very nice crisp crackling without the need to add any salt by doing this.  Today though I chose to use some Pink Himalayan salt; not as much as I would add if white salt as I find the Himalayan is that bit saltier. However, I also use the same method for cooking with the salt or without it.

I also bunged in the roasties at the same time as popping the meat in.  I had blanched the parsnip and potato beforehand.  I find adding in wedges of onion, helps to caramelise the roasties, and as I use the pan to make the gravy in, you also get the meat juices and flavouring from the pork in the gravy.  I also had some gravy left from yesterday so that went into the mix also.

I like to have a lot of veg available and try and get as much out of it as I possibly can.  I use a three tier steamer on the hob of my oven to cook my veggies and this works very well.  Saves on power as it is a stack method of cooking and gives more flavour to the food as well as more room on the top of the cooker if you are cooking for a crowd.  When we first moved in here the cooker that came with the house was only a half-sized oven.  I managed with that for ages until it had to be replaced and by then I had the children living with me.  You soon work out how to cram as much as you can into a small oven and develop a shuttle system.  Tonight's meal has been cooked in the small oven only.

I always save and use the veggie water as well to make the gravy and I also amalgamate it with stocks as well to give a bit more flavour and goodness especially when making soup.  I just store any left over waters in the fridge in a large jar until ready to use.  Tomorrow I have some stock to make from the remnants of a chicken carcass.  I am going to make some Broccoli and Stilton soup with it.  From the veg we had today there are still some more peas in the fridge, carrots, Rainbow chard, stem broccoli left.  I have to check that I have enough cheddar but I think that I am going to make a quiche to use up the broccoli and also the last of the Rainbow Chard.  Will see how it goes.

One thing I do do when I am cooking a roast is that I frequently check on the temperature and how the meat is actually cooking.  Sometimes as the meat can be quite firm it takes a little longer to get the heat to go through so I very much work with what I have. I was also after a crisp crackling, but without burning the roasties today. The food tells me how it is doing.  I also go for flavour more so than appearance.  The flavour of a meal can make it memorable and I try and coax as much flavour as I can out of whatever I am cooking.  

First check.  Looks as if the crackling is done.  Nowhere near the middle is too soft still.  Therefore popped it back in after turning over the potatoes, onion and parsnip.

On the second check.  Crackling a bit crisper and not as soft, veggies are starting to colour a little.  I sprinkled a little ordinary salt on them.  Just a pinch to help with the colouring.

On the third check.  The roasties are starting to colour up and the crackling is crispy.  Needs to go in again though to finish colouring up those veggies.

I did consider making some of my Nan's Sage and Onion stuffing to accompany the roast, which is slightly different to how people make it today. It is also very different way to how I make a tray of stuffing up with pork sausage-meat.  It also includes using a butter paper.  You do not make too much of it either and it goes crispy on top and nice and soft in the middle and is intended to "give a taste" of the stuffing. However as I had so much going on today, I decided that next time we have a joint of pork I would make it for a change then.

The top of the cooker was all cleaned down before I started cooking today, but it would seem I will need to wipe it down again as I have managed to splash a bit of gravy whilst serving up.

The roasted pork loin.  After letting it stand for a few minutes I then wrapped it up in foil and popped it back into the oven without any heat on.  The residual heat keeps it warm.

I also did the same with the roasties.

Tea tonight was very tasty and was thoroughly enjoyed.  As I have said above there is also plenty left for a duplicate meal tomorrow night.  That is very handy as I have a lot on my plate to do tomorrow.  You could also freeze any extra's as a complete meal if you have made enough.  I freeze gravy separately if I do this and then you have a quick meal for when you are on the run.  My mum and I used to do this for my Nan when she was with us as she did not like the meals on wheels food.  Between us my mum and I kept her well stocked up with good nutritious food.

I hope everyone has or is having a lovely evening.  Going to pick my knitting needles up and do a little more.

Keep warm, keep safe.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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