5 Top Tips for St Valentines Day: Happy Valentine's day, Success or Failure ?

5 Top Tips for St Valentines Day: Happy Valentine's day, Success or Failure ?: Origins The origins of St Valentine are numerous one legend has it that in early Rome, February 14th, was the day of celebration set asid...

Pork Medallions

A  Quick'n'Easy Main Meal

As promised a simple meal full of flavor with the minimum of fuss!

Pork medallions served on a bed of  caramelized onions with roast potatoes and vegetables.

 Serves 2 Ingredients
  6 medium potatoes,
  1 large onion,
  6 cuts of  pork (about 1''1/2 inches thick)
  1 apple cored and peeled
  salt, pepper,mace,flour
  knob of butter
  1 large carrot
Method;
peel and cut the potatoes and place in a Roasting Tin,  with a little oil, sprinkle a little salt over the top of the potatoes and place in the oven, at 150 c ( I prefer to cut the potatoes quite small as they cook quicker) turn the potatoes over half way through after about 15 minutes in the oven.

take a plastic Food Bag , put 2 tablespoons of flour, a pinch of salt, pinch of pepper, a pinch of mace, into the bag and shake

take your pork and flatten out with the heel of your hand, place pork into your plastic bag and shake, set aside until you are ready to cook. this will give it time to season.

Place a knob of butter in a Saucepan and melt, having peeled and sliced the onion place into the saucepan and cook until nice and soft, introduce slices of apple when the onions have turned soft , reduce the heat.

peel, slice and dice the carrot and place in a pan of water with a little knob of butter and salt and pepper, heat until cooked

It will take about 8 minutes to cook your medallions  of pork , heat a Skillet with a little oil, place your medallions in the pan and cook without moving them for 4 minutes, turn the medallions over and cook for a further 4 minutes, ensure that they are cooked through, they are now ready to serve.

serving
spoon out the onions onto the plate place the medallions and apple slices on top of the onions ,  add, your golden brown roast potatoes, and carrots and enjoy!

• Tortilla de Patata (Spanish Tortilla)

  Ingredients Serves 6
• 20 g butter
  1 medium onion sliced and diced
  3 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
  4 eggs, lightly beaten
  20 ml water
  salt and pepper to taste
  85 g grated Cheddar cheese
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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• This is a quick and easy recipe which produces one of my favorite snacks 
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Preparation 

1. Peel potatoes and slice, about 1/8th thick, cover with water and place in the fridge for 30 mins 

Drain and pat dry season with salt

2. Melt 1/2 of the butter in a large pan medium heat introduce the chopped onion. Saute the chopped onion until soft and golden. remove from pan and set aside.

add the remaining butter to the pan and melt , add potatoes, fry the potatoes until crisp and medium brown. transfer to a plate lined with kitchen towel

3. pre-heat oven to 225 degrees F (110 C)

4. Using a deep non stick pan,  (a slope-sided skillet is ideal ) 

lightly butter the dish, arrange the potato slices, place the onion on top and then add the cheese, beat eggs and water in a bowl.

TIP I like to heat the pan in the oven for a couple of minutes before pouring the beaten eggs over the top. helps to seal the base

5. .bake in the middle of the oven until eggs are set  about 30-40 mins

remove from oven, allow to cool, loosen the edges , place a plate over the top of the tortilla and flip it over. allow to cool further, then place into the refrigerator, until you are ready to serve. eat cold or reheat if desired. 

Whisks

Quick Blend Whisk

  We've all done it at sometime -- wanted to mix something up and get a lot of air in the mixture simultaneously . Grab the whisk...within 5 seconds, the aeration has ceased, and all the air has gone, the whisk is clogged, and the results are not what the cookbook shows.

 No more problems with this Quick Blend Whisk
, as the wires do not cross the whisk does not clog, which also makes it easy to clean. well worth getting the right tool for the job.

. Being a  retired professional caterer, I  have seen the very best in kitchen gadgets, and the strangest ideas in gadgets.  few have been worth the money. This Zyliss brand whisk is ideal for the home kitchen.
Does not rust on the ends; easy to clean; robust; handle fits my hand perfectly,  really does the job it was designed to do!

 This design enables you to combine wet and dry ingredients together easily and reduces the amount of clogging and makes it easy to clean.. The handle is made of non-slip plastic that ensuring a secure grip and with the UV coating protects it from ever yellowing. also covered by Zyliss under a five-year warranty from the date of purchase.



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