My 'Post Holiday Blues' Oink-ment

Waking up to a dull, drizzly scene this morning allowed the post holiday blues to well and truly set in! But rather than getting glum about it I kicked myself up the bum (very clever I know…I am surprisingly flexible) and decided to create a recipe for all of you lovely people.

Now, it’s day two of my Soul Food Challenge and we have pork loin steaks for supper. Pork is not one of my favourite meats…don’t get me wrong I still love it but I am a total carnivore and piggy doesn’t make my top three. Pork Loin is not to be confused with its similarly named cut- tenderloin, aka filet. Tenderloin is more expensive than the Loin and because its really lean you have to be careful not to overcook it. The loin steaks are a little more thanks to a lovely cap of fat. I know that big bits of fat on meat can look a little scary, espically if you are watching your waist line but DONT be scared. The cap of fat ensures that the meat stays moist while imparting the most delicious, yet subtle, flavour into the steak itself. If you are really anti the fat cut it off once it has been cooked and just before serving, but come on who doesn’t like crispy caramelised fat!?

So with the pork loin steaks in the fridge I had to come up with something delicious to do with it out of what I had got in the larder. Sweet, sticky, spicy, smokey- those are the words that I want to hear when I am feeling a bit blue. So thats what I created. Hold onto your hats, its a cracking recipe.

Serves 4-6

6 Pork Loin Steaks (each just over 100g when raw)

40g Thick/Coarse Cut Marmalade (I always Frank Cooper's)

30g Heinz Smoky Chipotle Sauce

2 Cloves Garlic

700g Baby Potatoes

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salad (To serve)

1. At least 4 hours before you plan on cooking place the marmalade, chipotle sauce and a splash of water in a bag with the steaks and simply leave them in the fridge to marinade.

2. Pre Heat the oven to 170.

3. Wash your spuds and boil them in lightly salted water until they are tender, mine took about 7 minutes.

4. Throw the potatoes onto a baking tray, lined with tin foil (for minimal clean up) and, with the back of a fork, gently crush each potato and drizzle over a tablespoon of olive oil. This may seem a bit tedious but it means that each potato will be both crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

5. Now you can cook your pork two ways: Pan or BBQ-

• I was planning on doing them in a pan, searing them on a medium heat for 3-4 minutes each side before placing them in the oven with the potatoes for 10 minutes to cook through.

• Luckily the sun decided to come out so we BBQ’d ours. Its tricky to give timings with BBQ-ing as they can all vary in heat so much. The aim is to get them nice and charred on the outside but juicy inside. If you are worried about ending up with the British BBQ classic of burnt outside and raw inside then just use the BBQ to inject some smokey char and place them in the oven to cook through.

1. Now all you have to do is plate up. My preference is a simple side rocket salad, dressed with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. However, corn on the cob, roasted bell peppers, classic slaw and even baked beans make great side dishes.

TOP TIP #1: Always buy the best quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar that you can afford/find (remember expensive doesn’t necessarily equate to high quality). We use an Italian olive oil from the Tuscan city of Luca (famed for its olive oil) and Belazu balsamic vinegar.

TOP TIP #2: If you have any left over pork, or potatoes for that matter (which I highly doubt). They are great sliced up and tossed in with some salad the next day.

By no stretch of the imagination am I a wine connoisseur but we enjoyed our supper with a large glass of Three Mills Reserve Rosé. It's a wine produced in England achieved the accolade of IWC Commended in 2014. For me a spicy pork dish, served in summer, needs to be served with a very chilled, very fruity wine and that seemed to fit the bill with its cherry and raspberry overtones. And better still its £3.00 in Asda (I did say that I wasn’t a connoisseur)!!!!!!!!

XO