Easy Provençal Pork Ragoût

This is one of my favorite week night treats. Pork makes a lighter summer alternative to the heavier taste of beef. You could also make a vegetarian version by substituting the pork with lentils ~ very French, or meat substitute. You will see that I'm using a jarred Italian Sausage Sauce, but the flavoring of Herbes de Provence and the use of a Rosé wine give it a Provençal twist. Using a jarred sauce is what makes this dish so forgiving: you're adding other flavors, but since the base had a head start, if you don't have the time, you don't have to simmer the sauce all day.

• 1 pound ground pork


• 1 small onion, chopped


• 1 rib celery, chopped


• 1 medium carrot, chopped


• 1/2 bell pepper, chopped


• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped


• 1 jar of Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce


• 1 6 oz can of tomato paste


• 3 oz Rosé wine


• 1/2 tablespoon Herbes de Provence


• 1 spring rosemary


• 3 springs of thyme


• 1 bay leaf


• sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste

Start off by sautéing pork in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. As the pork slowly browns, chop vegetables and garlic, placing in a bowl.

Once pork is half cooked, add the garlic and vegetable mixture, stirring well.Next add the Herbes de Provence, rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, and a pinch of sea salt. Cook over medium heat until pork is cooked and vegetables have started to soften. Next add in the Sausage flavored sauce. I'm not loyal to any one brand, most likely choosing whatever is on sale, or better yet ~ buy one get one free!
Then add the can of tomato paste and wine. For this recipe, you'll need to use a proper dry Rosé, not White Zinfandel or the like which are way too sweet.Stir meat, vegetables, and sauce to mix well. Once mixed, cover and simmer. It really doesn't take long to make. If you're pressed for time, follow the instructions above for the sauce. Once the sauce is mixed, start to prepare your pasta. While the water is heating up and then the pasta is cooking, simmer the sauce on medium heat. Once your pasta is cooked, the sauce will be ready to eat. If you have a little longer, turn the heat down to medium-low and let simmer. While it simmers away, you can read a chapter or two of your book, look through a new magazine, call your mother, or do the laundry. Once you have relaxed or caught up on your chores, boil some pasta and you have a sauce that has slowly simmered, letting the flavors develop a little more.Taste before serving. I almost always have to add some more sea salt at this point. Season with freshly ground pepper.

Makes 4 generous servings.

Enjoy! x

Culinary Creations: Oven Roasted Pork Chops with Mushrooms, Leeks, and Garlic Tomatoes

This recipe is the a prime example of why I created this blog: whenever I come up with a new recipe, and we really like it, I never remember what I did or how long I cooked it. Many a conversation in my house consist of: "It doesn't taste like it did last time" or "This isn't how I remember it at all". In addition, when I'm following a recipe from a book or magazine, I always add or change things around, and like to make notes on what I'd do differently next time. I've got an extensive collection of Sainsbury's Magazines, so remembering which issue what recipe came from can be a bit of a problem. One night after I made something we really like (which no doubtedly didn't get recorded and will never be remembered), I had the epiphany that if it were all in one place, on-line, I will never have to strain my brain/search/forget again!

This an idea that has been going around in my mind for a week: the ingredients were chosen, it was going to be something cooked on the stove, but 1/2 hour before cooking, I decided that bunging it all in the over would leave me free to do other things. This is what I came up with. Serves 4.

* 4 boneless pork chops
* Dijon mustard
* breadcrumbs
* 1 large tomato, cut into large chunks
* 1 clove of garlic, more if you want to roast whole cloves in dish
* 2 thin leeks (not links) (inside joke), thickly sliced
* 8oz Portobello mushrooms, halved
* 4 slices of smoked bacon, roughly chopped
* olive oil for drizzling
* 1/4 wine for drizzling, red or white
* salt, pepper, herbs to taste

1) Half hour before cooking, put a dollop of mustard on each chop, spread to cover, set aside. Then chop 1 clove of garlic, sprinkle over chopped tomato along with a good pinch of salt. Also set aside, both out of the refrigerator. You could use this half hour to clean and prepare the rest of your veg and any side you might serve with it. Duh, I didn't have to tell you that.
2) When half hour is up, pre-heat oven to 350F. While oven is pre-heating, place pork in a large oven safe dish. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs, any type will do, I like to season mine with Herbs de Provence and a little Parmesan cheese. Next add mushrooms, leeks, tomatoes, and bacon. Drizzle with olive oil, wine, season with salt, pepper, and herbs - to your liking.
3) Bake for 30-35 minutes, stirring the veggies after 15 minutes.
I served it with some bow-tie pasta that was tossed in a garlic and herb butter and some white beans with yellow carrots, spinach, also in a garlic butter (compliments to Mr. Green Giant). Keeping the sides simple made it a really easy dish to make, I was glad that I decided to let the oven do all the work. This was all washed down by a lovely sparkling rosé that really complimented the meal. James gave it a 9 out of 10 and said it was restaurant quality. I'm just hoping he didn't mean Denny's. He once rated something I made a 10 out of 10, now if only I could remember what that was...

I Heart Local Produce

Recently, I was introduced to a local organic market that has been around since the '70s. They operate on 5 acres of land and are located next to a golf course, in the center of a suburb. Although this isn't exactly where you'd expect to find a working organic farm, I'm certainly glad they are there. Here is a sample of some of my favorite finds: the carrots are imported (Bunny Love) but the radishes are locally grown as well is the divinely green celery. We've paired it with a baguette from our local French bakery and some Applewood Smoked cheese that Target have started carrying. This was an amazing find is it is one of my favorite cheeses in England, which means I no longer have to consume my body weight in the stuff while over there.

Here is the link for my favorite local organic market:
http://www.jessicasorganicfarm.com/index.htm