Recipe - Herbed pork with roasted pumpkin, apple and onion on a bed of Pak Choy

This morning i went digging through the freezer and spied some chicken breast, which i pulled out to defrost before i headed to work. I was planning on making Honey Mustard chicken, as i have had a masterfoods packet sauce in the pantry for a while and wanted to use it up.

However two things prevented me from cooking that meal this afernoon.

• The first being that my husband called to let me know that he would be home late from work and not to expect him until about 7. Thus meaning that i had alot more time to prepare dinner
  
• The second.. and main reason... was that i realised once home that i had in fact lifted out pork, not chicken. It is a timely reminder to mark my meat next time.

I did a spot of gardeing while i was deciding what to cook, and picked a large bunch of Pak Choy from our garden. I decided that i definately wanted to make something using our fresh Pak Choy.

Once inside i had a fossick through my cookbooks, and came accross a recipe for corinader and garlic pork in my old faithful Donna Hay. This was perfect as i had a bunch of Corinader, mint and basil wilting away in the fridge. I wanted to keep the carbs down so i pulled out some butternut pumpkin, and needed that all important sweet component that i believe is a must for pork, so grabbed some apple and and onion. I was on my way.

Corinader, Basil and Mint marinade (in Donna it is corinader only) with Pork

1 cup of above herbs - finely chopped

4 garlic cloves - crushed

olive oil ( the recipe stated 2/3 cup but i try to keep the fat low so i added about 2 tablespoons)

Mix all of the above together. Add pork, toss until well coated. Set aside.

Once the other veggies are nearly done, i put a frypan on medium heat. Add the pork and cook for approx 3 minutes each side.

Pumpkin, Apple and Onion

For these i peeled the pumpkin, and chopped into chunky pieces.

Took the outer skin off the onion and cut in half

Washed the apple. Took the sticker off (a very important step might i add!)

I drizzled the lot with a small amount of Olive Oil, and also drizzld a cap of Balsamic onto the cut onion. I put it in a Pyrex dish with a lid

Popped in a slow oven (approx 160) and bake for over 1 hr. Take the lid off in the last 15 - 20 minutes and turn up the heat to help it brown a bit

Pak Choy

Chop up leaves into large pieces. Slice the stems. I then popped it into a pyrex bowl with alittle water and some of the pork marinade (before the pork was added of course). I put it in the Microwave and cooked for about 4 minutes.

VOILA!!! It sounds WAY more complicated than it really was. The Pumpkin you could cook for less time in a hotter oven, but i knew i had over 1 hr so just popped it in on low until Hubby was nearly home. It was VERY tasty, with the pungent hit of herbs and garlic mixed with the sweetness of the pumpkin, apple and onion. Yummo!

Donna Hay - Spicy Pumpkin soup

I thought seeing as this was originally meant to be a food blog i should really post some food item.



Now that the cold weather is starting to kick in i have been turning to my winer warmer dinners, soups, stews, curries and so on. For me the classic winter warmer is pumpkin soup. My husband and i were out shopping the other day and decided to stop for lunch at the food court. We were hungry but didn't want anything too heavy or junky. We spied a sign at Sumo Salad advertising their soup and roll/wrap deal. It was the perfect solution. I in particular liked this option because i always have a case of wanting a bit of everything, so being able to have a soup AND a choice of a roll was great.



I chose the chicken and corn soup and a ham and pesto roll, while my husband chose pumpkin soup and a chicken schnitzel wrap. Eating our soup got us talking about how much we both loved pumpkin soup, and so i put making a pot on my to do list!



Fast forward to last night, when i finally made the said soup. I had seen a curry pumpkin soup recipe in one of my Donna Hay books that i had been wanting to try. I is basically a normal pumpkin soup recipe but with a bit of red curry paste and coconut milk added.



I didn't have red curry, so i used green instead, and i also used low fat coconut milk. If you want an even lower fat option you could also use coconut evaporated milk.



The resulting soup was full of flavour with a yummy creamy spicyness... mmmmm. Leftovers went in the freezer and the recipe has been marked for a do over!



Spicy Pumpkin Soup



1 TBLS Green Curry (Original recipe said red)

1 kg Pumpkin - Peeled and Chopped (I used 1 small butternut, and also added a carrot and sweet potato)

4 cups chicken or Vegetable stock

1.5 cups Coconut Milk

1 Chilli (optional)



1) Fry the curry in the pan for 1 minute

2) Add the stock and pumpkin, stir. Put a lit on and let it cook for approx 6 minutes or until soft

3) Blend until smooth (either in a processor or with a stick blender)

4) Add coconut milk, stir

5) Sprinkle optional chilli on top.



I made the soup up to step 3, blended in the processor thn put it in the fride ready for dinner that night. Then i just poured the contents into a pot, added the milk and reheated it. Add some toast or croutons and enjoy!