Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Pork with creamy leeks and mustard


Earlier this week, I found myself buying pork fillet. This may not sound surprising or even noteworthy. Yet it was. For I virtually never by pork. Unless it is in the form of sausages. Or bacon. Or ham. There is absolutely not reason whatsoever for this non-purchasing (and thereby non-cooking) of pork. I love it. I have absolutely no idea why I never cook it (aforementioned pork products aside).
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The only reason I can proffer, is that my mother hardly ever cooks pork. As she and I are in many ways the same person, it is hardly surprising that my culinary habits are similar to hers.
The pork fillet in question looked tempting and I decided it was high time I made my peace with pork and actually cooked some. In retrospect, the fillet that I bought was a rather funny place to begin. It was extremely lean and thus devoid of flavour-giving fat - it sat there, looking at me, threatening to dry up completely upon contact with heat. I was nervous. Initial plans of coating in a mustard crust and roasting were put to one side in fear of very dry meat. I decided instead to cut the fillet into smallish medallions and pan fry quickly, before serving with a pork friendly sauce.
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What, I hear you ask, is a pork-friendly sauce?! Apples are good with pork, yes. But I have a 'funny thing' about meat and fruit. Least said the better. So, I went with other natural partners: leeks, mustard and... cream! Could anything be better? Ok. A little cheese maybe. But I didn't want to go totally overboard.

I served my leeky porky mustardy creation with the new season's purple sprouting broccoli and a pile of fluffy mashed potato.
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Pork medallions with creamy leeks and mustard
Serves 2
Ingredients -

Approx 200g pork fillet

2 large leeks (or 3 medium)

1 clove garlic

1 tablespoon olive oil

knob of butter

2 heaped tablespoons half fat creme fraiche (or double cream if you are feeling really wicked)

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard

half a glass of white wine

salt and pepper

1. Turn oven to low temperature (for keeping plate and pork warm). Slice leeks lengthways, or in rings if you prefer. I like them in strips, like noodles, but we are all different.

2. Heat oil and butter in a non-stick frying pan and add the leeks and garlic. Soften over a lowish heat until transluscent and soft. Remove with a slotted spoon and set to one side. Pop a plate in the oven to warm.

3. Cut pork fillet into 2cm thick medallions. Fry in the same pan with the leek juices for around 8 minutes, turning half way through. When just cooked, transfer to plate to keep warm in low oven.

4. Pour wine into pan and bubble until almost entirely reduced and alcohol smell has vanished. Add leeks.

5. Mix together the creme fraiche and mustards. Add to leek mixture and heat, mixing well to combine. Continue to heat until sauce thickens slightly. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

6. Serve pork with sauce spooned over, or use sauce as a base for the pork medallions. Serve with fluffy mash and veggies of choice.

Notes - I like mustard a lot. If you prefer a milder, more subtle flavour, use a little less mustard. You can always add more to taste!

P.S. I am sorry if some recent posts have seemed badly formatted. I have been having trouble with blogger - whilst things look fine on the screen when I type, once I publish some of the text squashes together and in other areas large gaps mysteriously appear between paragraphs. If anyone can shed any light, I'd be most grateful!

9 comments:

LisaRene said...

My husband LOVES mustard anything, this would be a great meal to make for him, though as you know I'd sub tofu for the pork :)

Mustard with leeks, garlic, butter, cream and white wine are sure to be delicious. What a great idea for a meal!

Your comment on my blog regarding the artichoke gave me a laugh. My mother had a garden when I was little and one day she cooked up some fresh picked broccoli. We all ate it happily only to discover, upon doing the dishes, a bunch of bugs and wormy creatures in the bottom of the broccoli pot! At least it was fresh and organic :)

Pixie said...

This sounds lovely antonia...as for the tahini, we purchased our jar from Lidle's. My husband believe waitrose may store it or you can possibly find it at a Polish deli. (If you still can't find it, let me know Antonia and I'll send a jar your way- also, someone in the forum suggested replacing tahini with peanut butter, which seemed to work last time in my babaganoush)

Peter M said...

A lovely pork dish and it's similar to a Greek dish...noted.

Rosie said...

This is a wonderful pork dish Antonia with Leeks, Dijon mustard and wholegrain mustard with wine. My kinda dish here and I just know this is a winner!!

Rosie x

Abitofafoodie said...

Lisarene - that is certianly true - finding insects at least means you know it came from a good source! Think this would work well with tofu too.

Pixie - thank you so much. I'll give Waitrose a try as I have one fairly nearby. Interesting idea re. the peanut butter - I always have that in stock. I'm a secret peanut butter addict!.

Peter - I must try more pork dishes. I don't know why I cook it so rarely - this was delicious!

Rosie - I think most people would enjoy this dish. One I'll make again, certainly. Hope you have a Happy Easter and are now fully recovered!

Pixie said...

(me again...I read from the roasted pepper recipe she sometimes uses toasted sesame oil instead) hth

Sylvie said...

That looks like a great combination of flavours.

From reading the other comments it looks like you're looking for tahini, if you have a Holland & Barratt anywhere near you they sell the normal tahini as well as Light Tahini.

Maggie said...

That looks like a very appetizing meal.
My husband does all the techno stuff for me and I will ask him about your problem with blogger. I know we have problems from time to time but I just leave it with him to sort out!

Abitofafoodie said...

Pixie - have found tahini in Waitrose, as you suggested! Thanks for the tip.

Sylvie - thank you for the tip. Am now armed with tahini so there is no stopping me now!

Margaret - thank you! I am so hopeless with all things technical. Think I need to write in html and not in compose. I shall hopefully get to the bottom of it eventually.