Slow Cooked Lemon Garlic Pork

Posted on July 16, 2020 by Our Growing Paynes

So how’s the year going for everyone? Crazy you say? We all have years that we are glad to see the back of but this is a year, for the first time in a very long time, I think we’re all looking forward to see the back of. It’s been difficult to hold on to some normalcy, especially with our kids. Blogging took a back seat with sewing face masks and headbands, as well with just wanting to do cosy things and make sure the family was in a good and safe space. For a lot of us, the anxiety has been over the top. How there hasn’t been a wine shortage, I’ll never know. We still need to eat, of course! This Slow Cooked Lemon Garlic Pork is very easy to make and has a lovely fresh flavour, perfect for these hot days.

Technique for the Slow Cooked Lemon Garlic Pork

Preheat the oven to 300F/150C.

Prep the pork by removing any connective tissue and then pierce the pork in several spots. Everytime I think or say “pierce the”, I always think of the movie Birdcage and the “I pierced the toast!” line. Very funny movie. Place the pork in a deep baking dish. Season liberally with sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the baking dish.

Cover and bake for about 6 hours. Low and slow is key here. You’ll end up with moist and falling apart pork.

Remove the big pieces of rosemary so you don’t have big twigs in the meal. Shred the pork and stir well so the onion, garlic and rosemary are evenly mixed in.

Serve on a bed of lettuce, top with freshly grated parmesan cheese. I absolutely love roasted potatoes so that was my chosen side with this light meal.

I hope you are all getting through this surreal year and are staying healthy, we will eventually get through this.

Slow Cooked Lemon Garlic Pork

A lemony slow cooked pork served over lettuce

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword Slow Cooked Lemon Garlic Pork

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 6 hours

Servings 4

Author Our Growing Paynes

Ingredients

2 lbs pork shoulder 900grams
1/2 onion, chopped
2-4 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
2 boughs of rosemary
1/2 cup lemon juice 4oz
1 cup chicken stock 8oz
sea salt to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 300F/150C
Remove the connective tissue from the pork and pierce with a knife, several times. Place in a deep baking dish and season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Add the remaining ingredients to the baking dish.
Cover the baking dish and bake for 6 hours. After about 3 hours, baste the pork every 45- 60 minutes.
Remove the big pieces of rosemary. Remove from the oven and shred the pork with two forks. Mix in the rosemary, onion and garlic evenly.
Serve over a bed of lettuce and grate fresh parmesan over the pork.

Pork Wellington

Posted on August 2, 2019 by Our Growing Paynes

Pork Wellington has been on my list of things to blog for awhile now, waiting for a special time to make it. My husband just had a business trip that was crazy busy and when he comes back from these trips I like to treat him to a special meal. Understandably he gets tired of restaurant food and eating on the run.

The meal had to wait a day as we had tickets to go see Heart. Those two ladies at 65 and 69 years of age can seriously rock. Leaping about and belting out the songs, it was amazing. I would love to have that energy!

This is a time consuming but not difficult meal to make. You can save time by buying puff pastry but making the rough puff pastry is relatively simple and tastes a lot better than store bought pastry.

Technique for Rough Puff Pastry

The main key for a good rough puff pastry is keeping everything cold. Some people will grate frozen butter for this but you can get away with butter from the fridge.

Add the ingredients to a mixing bowl. Work the butter into the flour until you have a coarse mixture.

Add a bit of water at a time until the clumps come together in a rough ball. Cover and chill for at least 20 minutes. If you find that you add too much water, don’t panic you can fix it when you knead the dough.

Turn out the dough onto a floured surface. If you made the dough too wet add extra flour while you are kneading the dough. You don’t want to overwork the dough but you want a smooth ball where you see marbling of the butter. Roll out thinly into something close to a rectangle.

Fold into thirds like an envelope.

Rotate 90 degrees and roll out into a thin rectangle.

Fold into thirds again.

Cover and chill for at least 20 minutes and until you are ready to use it.

Technique for Pork Wellington

Melt butter in the skillet. Season the pork with sea salt and pepper. Sear all sides and cook it to about two thirds done. This is probably the trickiest part as you need the pork to be cooked through by the end of baking but you don’t want it dried out. It’s not like the beef wellington where you want it medium rare.

Remove from the skillet and set aside while you cook up the apple mixture.

Finely chop up the apple, mushrooms, garlic and sage. Add additional butter to the skillet and sauté the ingredients for several minutes until the mushrooms start to brown.

Deglaze with the calvados and cook until the liquid reduces to nearly zero. Remove from the heat.

On cling film lay out the prosciutto and spoon the mushroom mixture onto the prosciutto and spread it out. Coat the pork with the mustard and place the pork in the centre.

Tightly wrap the pork and chill for half an hour. After the half hour roll out the dough, remove the cling film and place the pork in the centre of the dough.

Trim the ends and wrap the pork like a burrito. Place seam down on a baking sheet and brush with a beaten egg.

Bake in an oven set at 425F/220C until the pastry is golden and flaky. About 30-35 minutes.

Let rest for about 10 minutes before slicing. Though if it is really flaky, the darn thing will fall apart as you slice.

I roasted up a bit of parsnip and made up a side salad to keep the meal light.

This Pork Wellington was well worth the effort and the flavours were even better the next day.

Pork Wellington

A twist on the traditional beef wellington.

Course Main Course

Cuisine English, French

Keyword Pork Wellington

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 35 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

Rough Puff Pastry

150 grams strong flour
150 grams cold butter
1/2 tsp salt
60 ml cold water (up to 60 ml)

Pork and Apple Mushroom mixture

1 lb pork loin
1 cup finely chopped shiitake mushrooms
1 cup finely chopped apple
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3-4 leaves sage, finely chopped
1/4 cup calvados 2oz
4-5 tbsp butter
sea salt and pepper to taste
6-8 slices thin prosciutto
1 tbsp stone ground mustard

Instructions

Rough Puff Pastry

Sift the flour and salt in a bowl. Cut up the cold butter and add it to the flour. Using your fingers, incorporate the butter into the flour until you have a coarse mixture. Add a bit of water at a time until the dough comes together in a ball. It will be coarse and sticky. But you don't want it overly wet. Cover and chill for 20 minutes.
On a floured surface, knead the dough until it is a smooth dough where you can see a marbling of the butter. Don't overwork the dough.
Roll out thinly into a rough rectangle. Fold into thirds in an envelope. Rotate 90 degrees and roll out again into rectangle. Fold again into thirds. Cover and chill for at least 20 minutes or until you need it to wrap the pork later.

Pork Wellington

Heat half the butter in a skillet. Season the pork with sea salt and pepper. Sear all sides of the pork. Cook it about 2/3 thirds of the way. When it's done baking at the end you want the pork to be cooked thoroughly but not dry. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Add more butter to the skillet. Add the mushrooms, apples, sage and garlic. Sauté for several minutes until the mushrooms begin to brown. Pour in the calvados to deglaze the pan. Cook until the liquid is reduced to nearly zero.
On a piece of cling film lay out the prosciutto. Spoon the mushroom and apple mixture onto the prosciutto and spread it out. Coat the pork with the mustard and place the pork in the centre of the apple and mushroom mixture. Tightly wrap the pork in the prosciutto and seal with the cling film. Chill for 30 minutes.
Roll out the pastry thinly. Place the pork into the centre. Trim the sides and wrap the pork like a burrito. Place on a baking sheet and chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 425F/220C.
Brush the pastry with a beaten egg. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the pastry is golden and flaky. Let rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Lemon Rosemary Grilled Pork

Posted on July 18, 2019 by Our Growing Paynes

While I don’t like the heat and humidity we get this time of year, I do love that we are starting to be able to benefit from our veg garden. Miraculously, thanks to my lovely husband, we still have a rosemary plant going strong. It’s an annual where we live and he’s managed to get it to grow to a decent size. I would have killed it by now.

To keep it a manageable size, I’ve been using it a lot in various dishes, including my Lemon Rosemary Pork. For a side dish I sautéed some swiss chard we’re growing. The swiss chard is going gang busters this year, it’s rivaling the rhubarb!

Technique for Lemon Rosemary Pork

Get the dry ingredients of the marinade together before adding the olive oil and lemon juice.

Add the pork and marinate for at least a couple of hours in the fridge. When it’s time, start prepping the sauce ingredients while the grill warms up. Heat up the butter in a skillet and add the mushrooms.

Cook for a couple of minutes before adding more garlic and rosemary. Once you add the pork to the grill, add the remaining marinade to the skillet. Bring up to a simmer.

Add the chicken stock and lemon juice. Simmer for a few minutes. Remove about a 1/4 cup of the sauce and set aside.

Once the pork is cooked and resting, sautè the swiss chard in the remaining sauce. Cook the stalk pieces first then add the leafy bits. I like them slightly wilted but not mushy.

Spoon the chard onto the plate, top with the pork and drizzle the reserve sauce over the dish.

I need to come up with more swiss chard dishes as well because they aren’t showing any sign of letting up.

Lemon Rosemary Pork

A flavourful dish for grilling season

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword Lemon Rosemary Pork

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Servings 2

Ingredients

Marinade

2 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tsp sea salt
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 pork chops

Sauce

3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
remaining marinade
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp lemon juice
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
2 cups swiss chard

Instructions

Marinade

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade. Add the pork and chill for at least a couple of hours.

Grilling the Pork

Heat the grill to medium high. Grill the pork until the internal temperature is 145F/63C. Allow to rest about 10 minutes.

Sauce

Heat up the butter in a skillet. Sautè the mushrooms for a few minutes. Add the rosemary and garlic. After cooking for a few minutes, add the chicken stock and lemon juice. Bring to a simmer.
Reserve a 1/4 cup of the sauce for the pork.
In the remaining sauce, cook the swiss chard stalk pieces for a minute or two, then add the leafy part of the chard to slightly wilt.

Assembling the Dish

Spoon the swiss chard onto the centre of the dish. Place the pork onto the swiss chard and spoon the reserve sauce over the pork.

Cider Sage Pork

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Our Growing Paynes

Just like any food blogger that has been doing this for several years, I find inspiration and motivation for new recipes ebbs and flows. I love it when it flows, no surprise there but when life gets crazy the brain cramping definitely increases. When the imagination is sparking I make lists but sometimes ideas show themselves when you aren’t paying attention.

I was in the queue waiting to pay for my weekly food shop and I spied a magazine with a pork dish on the cover. The title for it said Cider Sage Pork. If the magazine wasn’t $10 then it would have left the rack and been perused. But it stayed. I figured I could come up with my own recipe and keep the $10!

Sweet apple is lovely with garlic and sage

We’re lucky that our co-op carries delicious sweet apples like gala or pink lady. First thing is to prepare the marinade so the pork loin can marinate for several hours. If you don’t have the time, try to marinate for at least an hour. Give the pork a chance to take on the lovely flavours. The cider I used was apple cranberry as there was a special on and I’d thought it would be fun to add the tang of cranberry to this dish. But obviously regular cider works. I should also note, the cider is non-acoholic, not the hard cider.

When it is time to cook dinner, finely chop the apple, onion, garlic and sage. Set aside. Pre-heat the oven to 350F/175C. In a skillet, heat up the olive oil and brown all sides of the pork loin.

Finish off the pork in the oven while making the sauce. Add the onion, garlic and apple to the skillet. Cook for several minutes until the onion starts to become translucent.

Add the remaining marinade and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and add the mustard, sage and thyme. Season with sea salt and pepper.

Simmer the sauce to reduce by a third. When the pork is cooked, remove from the oven and let is rest for 8-10 minutes.

To serve, slice the pork loin and top with the sauce. To keep the dish light we had roasted potatoes and corn as sides.

I was very happy to find this inspiration while patiently waiting in a queue. I’m definitely keeping my eyes open!

Cider Sage Pork

A flavourful pork loin with apple cider, onion, and sage.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword Cider Sage Pork

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 2

Author Our Growing Paynes

Ingredients

1 pork loin (about a pound/16oz

Marinade

3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup apple cranberry cider 4oz
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme
2 tsp fresh sage, finely chopped
sea salt and pepper to taste

Sauce

2 tbsp olive oil (used to brown the pork)
1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
1 apple, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup chicken stock 4oz
marinade used for the pork
2 tbsp brown mustard
1 tsp fresh thyme
1-2 tsp fresh sage, chopped
sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Marinade

Mix the ingredients together and marinate the pork for several hours in the fridge. If you are pressed for time, marinate for at least an hour.

Pork Loin

Preheat the oven to 350F/175C. Heat the olive oil in a skillet and brown all sides of the pork and finish cooking in the oven. Once cooked, rest for 8-10 minutes before slicing.

Sauce

In the skillet with the olive oil used to cook the pork, add the onion, garlic and apple over medium heat. Cook until the onion starts to become translucent. Add the marinade and chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Add the sage, thyme and mustard. Season with sea salt and pepper. Simmer until the sauce reduces by a third.

Serving

Slice the pork and top with the sauce.

Spicy Pork in Lettuce

Posted on August 10, 2018 by Our Growing Paynes

When the kids are away the parents will play. While the kids were off having the time of their life at camp we thought it would be fun to have friends over for dinner. I was still going through the withdrawal from the fibro meds so food had to be simple. I was a hot mess and a few days before I couldn’t really get out of bed so my husband was questioning my sanity. I won’t go into detail on how often he does that. 😉

I was in the mood to do Asian tapas. I did up chicken satay, Korean BBQ steak, some spring rolls and spicy pork in lettuce. If you can find the type of lettuce that gives you small cups go for that. I couldn’t so had to use Romaine lettuce.

I chopped up a healthy handful of scallions and 2 garlic cloves. Peel an inch/2.5cm cube of ginger and set aside. In a skillet add 2 tablespoons of peanut oil and heat up. Once the oil is hot add a pound of ground pork. As it starts browning add the scallion, garlic and grate the ginger into the skillet

Add a few tablespoons of Gochujang, which is a fermented hot chili paste, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, and a few splashes of lime juice. Simmer to allow the flavours to develop.

Adjust the spicy heat as needed. If you want more, add more Gochujang or red pepper flakes. Season with fresh ground black pepper. You shouldn’t need salt given the other ingredients.

As I was finishing this dish our friends showed up so it was a quick photo so not to be rude. Plus I had to make the Mai Tais. First time making them and we’re totally hooked. Such a good drink to go with Asian tapas. 🙂

Pork Loin with Mustard Garlic White Wine Sauce

Posted on March 15, 2018 by Our Growing Paynes

With this week’s nor’easter we weren’t sure if the kids would be at school to participate in the national walkout to protest the mass shootings that keep happening in this country. We had a snow day on Tuesday but only a delay yesterday. Both kids at each of their schools joined in and I couldn’t be prouder. It’s so important for people, kids in particular, to find a way to get their point across in a mindful way. May they bring about the change that is so needed.

I’d love to say that this storm was the last but we’re not going to be that lucky. Another one coming next week! So over this winter.

I wanted to treat the family to a nice Saturday meal this past weekend that would have a side of Brussel sprouts as it’s a treat for my husband. I was puttering about on the Pinterest site and I saw many recipes for mustard and garlic pork and then white wine garlic pork and I thought, why not do it all?

A couple of hours before dinner I did up the marinade for the pork loin. In a bowl that would fit the loin add a 1/3 cup of olive oil and 1/4 cup of white wine. Finely chop 4-5 cloves of garlic and a healthy handful of fresh thyme. Season with sea salt and pepper.

Score the pork loin, season with sea salt and pepper and add it to the bowl and make sure the marinade coats the pork well. Set aside in the fridge for a couple of hours.

When it was time to cook everything up I prepped the potatoes and parsnips for roasting. I really like them cut into disks. I find I get a lovely golden roast on the veg. Brush them with olive oil and season, again!, with sea salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 375F/190C. Take the pork out of the fridge and put on a sheet to roast. Mix 2 tablespoons each of brown sugar and brown mustard and brush it onto the pork.

Pop it into the oven along with the potatoes and parsnips. In a skillet add the remaining marinade and mustard mix.

Bring to a low simmer and add a cup/8oz of chicken stock. Simmer slowly while the the pork cooks. As it reduces add more chicken stock if needed to balance out the flavours and to make sure you have enough sauce. You don’t want a watery sauce but you want enough to go round!

As I mentioned my husband loves Brussel sprouts so I pan seared a bunch for him and our daughter. Our son and I don’t like them so I did up some green beans for us.

When the pork is done let it rest for several minutes then slice and layer over the potatoes. Spoon the sauce over the pork and serve with veg and parsnips.

This had so many delicious flavours that worked together. We all really enjoyed this meal.

Garlic and Herb Sauce with Pork and Pasta

Posted on March 2, 2018 by Our Growing Paynes

It’s common for people to lament the fact the younger generation will never make something of themselves. Every generation does it. They don’t work hard, they feel entitled etc. But then something happens and you can’t deny they are a force to be reckoned with.

When I was in high school the district was doing the usual layoffs but just using the seniority system rather than getting rid of teachers that weren’t good. The students including me were not pleased. There was a public meeting where students gave impassioned arguments saying we wanted teachers that would give us a good education. One of the maths teachers had to be constantly corrected by the students and she would get all flustered and it would get worse. She had seniority so she would stay. Hence the displeasure of those of us who were heading to university. We didn’t get very far but we showed the higher ups that we should have a say in decisions that would affect our future.

We’re seeing the power of students now for a much more serious reason. This country is plagued with school shootings but nothing has been done about it. Well the ground swell that is happening now is completely down to the students. Rightfully so they say enough is enough. They are using their voices for change. On the 14th of March there will be walk outs across the country and I’m proud to say my kids are going to be part of it. I really hope change will happen. It shouldn’t be a dangerous thing to send your kids to school.

Here is to positive changes with the students leading the way!

And now onto the cooking portion of this programme.

I came across a recipe for pork chops with a creamy garlic herb sauce by What’s In The Pan that looked good. I hope you enjoy my version. 🙂

We had 4 boneless pork ribs to use so I didn’t bother buying extra pork chops. I prepped the pork first so it could be finished off in the oven. Mix a 1/4 cup of flour, a teaspoon of dried oregano, 1/2 a teaspoon of sea salt and 1/2 a teaspoon of ground pepper on a dish.

Season the pork with sea salt and pepper then dredge them in the flour mixture. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Brown all sides of the pork until they are nice and golden brown. Finish them in the oven at 350F/175C. I’ve no picture of this step as the one I took came out really blurry. No idea why I only took one! While the pork is cooking prep the rest of the ingredients.

Slice 4-5 mushrooms and chop 5-7 cloves of garlic. Add two tablespoons of butter to the skillet and add the mushrooms and garlic. As the mushrooms begin to cook add another tablespoon or so of butter. Also add small handfuls of fresh thyme and rosemary.

Take about a tablespoon or so of the flour mixture and add it to the skillet. To this add a heaping spoonful of brown mustard. Stir well and cook for a couple of minutes to cook the flour. To create the sauce add 1/2 cup/4oz of dry white wine, 1/2 cup/4oz of chicken sauce and 1/4 cup/2oz of lemon juice. Bring to a simmer to reduce down by a third.

Once the pork is nearly cooked along with pasta add 1/2 cup/4oz of heavy cream. Heat through and toss in the pasta.

Serve with a bit of parsley. I have to say one of my weaknesses is a cream sauce with lots of garlic. I could eat that all day!

Danish Comfort Food with Frikadeller

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Our Growing Paynes

Our experience with our Danish exchange student is coming to an end, it went by too quickly, but overall it’s been a wonderful experience. When she first arrived at our home I was more than ready to explore Danish food. She is not a fan! What?!? But I had plans! I wasn’t ready to give up.

I went through the various recipes I had pinned with her and chose to try Frikadeller which are Danish meatballs. These can been eaten stand alone or as part of the Smørrebrød, which are open faced sandwiches. This past weekend we had a large family get together and because of all the different dietary needs I thought it would be perfect to do a meal of Smørrebrød. I originally made the meatballs at the beginning of her stay with us. It was part of a light supper with BLTs and both “sandwiches” used romaine lettuce as the bread.

I found a recipe for Frikadeller on Dieplicious.com that our exchange student said was authentic. These are very easy to put together though it is very different from most meatballs I’ve made. It’s a very wet mixture.

Use a large mixing bowl and a wooden spoon to blend everything together. Start with a pound/500 grams of ground pork and 1 1/2 teaspoons of coarse sea salt. The reason you need a large mixing bowl is the pork is very slippery and trying to get the salt well blended is tricky. Because you are going to add milk the better blended the salt the better the milk will incorporate.

Next add 3/4 cup/150 grams of onion, finely chopped. Mix well. Add the rest of the ingredients, which are 3/4 cup/85 grams of oats, 2 tablespoons of flour, 1 egg, not quite 3/4 cup/150 ml of milk.

Season with fresh oregano and ground pepper. This is a very sticky mixture but hand shape the meatballs in an egg shape. To fry you can use oil or butter but because I had cooked up streaky bacon I chose to fry the meatballs in bacon fat.

To serve I mixed up plain yoghurt with fresh oregano, sea salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Spread that on the lettuce, top with the meatballs and pickles.

At dinner I was proud of myself for giving her a taste of home, then she mentioned each host family had chosen to do a version of Frikadeller for her. So much for pride! She did love my version and all of us really enjoyed this dish. I think we will continue to make this.

Lemon Leek Pork and Not So Sweet 16

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Our Growing Paynes

Milestones are supposed to be fun and celebrated. Our daughter turned 16 this past weekend and there were a few fun things planned. Unfortunately the plague is still upon this household! Poor thing woke up on her birthday with the stomach bug. Day canceled! Of all days. We’ll have to do a proper celebration when we have them back again.

That is if it doesn’t keep going round this house. I had it last week and now my poor husband is knocked down with it. The puppies are keeping him company, too bad their licking isn’t the cure!

With all the germs, not a lot of cooking is going on so creating new dishes has been put on the back burner.

I did make this dish a few weeks ago on one of my few days off when I had some boneless pork ribs and leeks on hand.

For this dish, I sliced the pork ribs lengthwise and browned them in butter in a large skillet.

Once both sides have been browned remove the pork and cook off in the oven at 350F/175C to cook off. Just make sure you don’t overcook the pork. Chop about a cup and a half of oyster mushrooms (12oz) and saute them in the butter. Cook until they start to brown. As they brown add a few cloves of garlic that are finely chopped.

Slice about half a cup/4oz of leeks and add to the skillet. As that cooks add about two tablespoons of lemon juice.

Next add 8-12 oz of cream and about 1/2 a cup/4oz of freshly grated parmesan cheese. Season with sea salt and pepper. Toss in cooked spaghetti and serve with the pork.

It goes without saying this would be great with a nice white wine and some garlic bread.

Fingers crossed we can all get germ free and take our daughter out to celebrate. 🙂

Mushroom Tarragon Pork Pasta

Posted on December 31, 2016 by Our Growing Paynes

I’ve lost count on how many days I’ve been saying I need to do a blog post! It’s been the typical craziness with the holidays and all the prep that goes along with it. We had a lovely Christmas with the kids. It was our turn to have them for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning which I love. We have Chinese food at night and sticky buns in the morning. Other than that it was a very quiet day with my husband.

For one of the dinners before the holidays I wanted to make a nice comfort type of dinner to go along with the very cold nights we were having. I am so ready for spring. My MIL has been emailing me telling me how the grass is growing and how she is trying to keep up with weeding. Harrumph!

I had some boneless pork ribs and I decided to do a slow cooked dish with mushrooms and tarragon. Heat up a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet. Season the pork with sea salt and pepper. Brown all sides.

While this is browning chop half a red onion and a few cloves of garlic. Remove the pork and cover. In the skillet saute the onion and garlic.

Quarter several mushrooms until you have about a cup or 8 oz. Add them to the skillet. Chop a handful of fresh tarragon and add that as well.

Saute for a few minutes then add half a cup/4oz of sherry or dry white wine. Simmer for a couple of minutes then add the pork back in. Next add 3 cups/24oz of vegetable stock and bring to a simmer. It was at this point I got a text from my boss wondering when I was coming in. Erm, not working this week? Turns out, yes I was. Nuts. Turned off the dish and dashed off to work the evening shift. It also turns out to be a happy accident. It allowed the flavours to really deepen. The next day I slow cooked it for several hours which reduced the broth.

Cook the pasta and add to the skillet just before you are ready to eat. My husband made a delicious quick bread to go along with this dish.

Top with a dollop of sour cream and serve. If you want this to be more like a soup don’t reduce the broth so much.

Happy New Year’s everyone, I hope it is a safe and enjoyable evening.