Mustard and Mushrooms

I had high hopes for our kale because every other year we’ve had an abundance of it from just a few plants.  Alas, not this year.  Which I think my husband is thrilled about as he is not a huge fan of what he refers to as rabbit food.  🙂 I succeeded in growing tiny kale, most of which I used for this dinner.  For two, mind.  Pretty pathetic if you ask me.

Mushroom mustard sauce 1 2014

The kale was the base of the dish with pan browned pork and a mushroom mustard sauce.  Because I’ve recently done a couple of dishes with bacon I had bacon fat on reserve which I used to brown the pork.  Season the pork with salt and pepper and brown on both sides.

Mushroom mustard sauce 2 2014

Remove from the pan and finish cooking by baking.  I had the oven going for the roasted parsnips so I popped the pork in with the parsnips.  For the mushroom sauce pick a mushroom of your choice that is on the lighter side, not meaty like portabellos.  Chop up the mushrooms and saute in the bacon fat used for the pork.

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Add about 2 tablespoons of stone ground mustard and 1/4 cup of dry white wine and continue to saute.  Add a few pinches of sea salt and a bit of pepper.

Mustard mushroom sauce 4 2014

When the pork is nearly done add a bit of bacon fat to another small skillet and lightly cook the kale.

Mushroom mustard sauce 5 2014

Reduce the sauce by about a 1/3.

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Place the pork on the kale then spoon the sauce over the pork to serve.

Mushroom mustard 7 2014

A simple dish that has loads of flavour.  🙂

Oh go on Paris, influence me….

Sometimes I think the main reason I love going to Europe is the food.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the history, the art, the beauty.  Oh and the wine.  Can’t forget the wine!  But I could just eat my way through Europe.  Good thing we walk everywhere.  🙂

A couple of years ago we took our kids to Paris for a couple of days.  It was such a joy as they really are open to new experiences.  They loved going to the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, walking in the parks, etc.  And nary a complaint traipsing everywhere in 98F/36C weather.  Thought I was going to melt!

We all had a blast with the food.  They discovered duck, I mean how many kids do you know at ages 7 and 10 request seared duck?  I love it.  One of the best dishes I had was a steamed artichoke topped with smoked salmon, poached egg, and a mustard sauce.  Let me tell you that smoked salmon was the best I’d ever had.  As you know from a previous post I decided to recreate it and it went very pear shaped.  It took weeks to reclaim that pot!  If you run out of water steaming an artichoke it is not pleasant.

Walking home from Pilates class today I was looking for inspiration as how I could make that wonderful dish mine.  There it was in my garden, lovely green tomatoes.  I thought perfect, I’ll do fried green tomatoes instead of the artichoke.  This is a very easy dish to put together.  It took me about 15 minutes or so.  And after working out it is a very light lunch.  And I behaved myself and didn’t pour myself a glass of white wine which would be perfect for this.  🙂

As this is a dish for one I sliced two small green tomatoes.

Poached egg and salmon 1 2013

Next I seasoned them with salt and pepper then coated them in egg and panko bread crumbs.  Normally I do a beer batter for these but this is just a quick lunch.

Poached egg and salmon 4 2013

For the mustard sauce I used a couple spoonfuls of stone mustard.  The latest one I’ve tried was a local one with garlic.  Very nice.  I mixed in a bit of olive oil and a few splashes of white balsamic vinegar.

Poached egg and salmon 2 2013

In a small frying pan I get the olive oil nice and hot and pan fry the tomatoes.  You want to soften them as raw green tomatoes will make you sick.  As the Unorthodox Epicure pointed out in one of his posts recently.  The things you learn!

Poached egg and salmon 5 2013

While these are cooking you want to prep the poached egg.  While it is poaching layer the tomatoes and smoked salmon and place the egg on top.  Drizzle with the mustard.

Poached egg and salmon 6 2013

The runny yolk really brings all the components together for a delicious lunch.

Poached egg and salmon 8 2013 Poached egg and salmon 9 2013

Paris has been good to me.  😉