Hi Everyone! How was your weekend? I hope it was great!
I’ve got some exciting news!
No, not THAT exciting…!
This afternoon I finally did it! I went for a winter dip in the icy ocean pool! It completely took my breath away! As I swam underwater my brain actually hurt. Not my head. My brain! It was insane! Next time I’ll do it when the sun is high in the sky I think!
So to this post…. last week I started trying some new recipes and one was this Roast Pork with Apple and Apricot Stuffing and the Stuffed Pumpkin along with some veggies and gravy. It was delicious! It made me feel so happy and I was so glad there were lots of leftovers! And of corse the kids loved it! The flavours were all familiar enough for the kids to relax and enjoy, but new enough to really interest the adults. The pork was salty sweet and the pumpkin was mustard x cheesy, so along with the corn, potatoes and broccoli, it was perfect! The only thing I forgot was to let the roast dry out the day before, so the crackling was so-so in parts…make sure you read the recipe in advance!
I love roasts in general as they are a great way to create good, healthy, real food, as in meat and veggies without all processed parts. It’s also great for starting the dinner early, then having a break before dinner to socialize or get stuff done while everything cooks. (Don’t forget to do the greens and gravy before you serve though!)
These two recipes were just from the Woolworths website, which happened to make it easy to order anything out of the ordinary I needed like the quince paste or panko bread crumbs. (Yes I order my groceries online, don’t knock it ’till you’ve tried it!) I’m going to put the recipes on this page too, as they are free recipes, and just incase Woolworths changes their recipes seasonally…so we always have a copy!
But follow THIS LINK to check out their other roast recipes and HERE for a complete list of all their recipes.
Enjoy xx
P.S. Let me know if you try these recipes!
Roast Pork with Apple and Apricot Stuffing Recipe (Link HERE)
Ingredients
- 2kg boneless pork loin roast
- 200g pkt dried apricots
- 2 tbs olive oil and 1/3 cup olive for crispy potatoes
- 1 brown onion, finely chopped
- 200g streaky bacon, chopped
- 1 loaf sourdough bread, crust removed, crumbed
- 1 apple, finely diced
- 1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1.5kg Golden Delight potatoes peeled, cut into large chunks
- 100g butter
- 1 bunch sage
- 2 tsp plain flour
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 75g quince paste
- 1 tbs mustard
Method
1. Untie pork and using a sharp knife, score skin at 1cm intervals. Place skin-side up on a rack in the sink. Pour over boiling water. Drain then pat dry with paper towel and lay skin-side up in a roasting pan. Chill uncovered overnight. (this will dry out the skin for perfect crackling.)
2. Place apricots in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 15 minutes to soften. Meanwhile, heat half the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and bacon, and cook for 8 minutes or until onion is softened. Cool completely. Process bread in a food processor to form crumbs. Transfer to a bowl and stir in apricots, onion mixture, apple and parsley. Season with salt and pepper, and stir to combine.
3. Preheat oven to 220° celsius. Lay pork, skin-side down, on a chopping board. Spoon filling down the centre of the pork, then roll firmly and tie securely with kitchen twine.
4. Rub skin with remaining oil and sprinkle generously with salt. Place pork onto a rack in a roasting pan. Roast for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 190 degree celsius and cook for a further 1 hour and 30 minutes (allow 45 minutes per kilo) or until cooked through. Transfer pork to a large plate. (reserve pan juices to make gravy, recipe below)
To make cripsy roast potatoes…
1. Preheat oven to 210°c.
2. Place 1.5kg golden delight potatoes (peeled, cut into large chunks) in a saucepan of water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes or until almost cooked.
3. Heat 1/3 cup olive oil in a roasting pan over medium heat. Add potato and season. Turn to coat, then transfer pan to the oven. Cook, turning every 10 minutes, for 40 minutes or until golden and crisp.
4. Meanwhile, heat 100g butter in a saucepan over medium heat until melted and sizzling.
5. Add leaves from 1 bunch sage. Cook for 2 minutes or until butter is golden and sage crisp. Spoon over potato.
to make quince-mustard gravy
1. Discard excess fat from pan juices. Place pan on medium heat.
2. Add 2tsp plain flour and stir into meat juices and scrape sediment fro 2 minutes or until pale brown.
3. Whisk in 1 1/2 cups chicken stock, 75g quince paste and 1 tbs mustard. Simmer until smooth. Strain into a jug.
Stuffed Butternut Pumpkin Recipe (Link HERE)
Ingredients
- 2kg whole butternut pumpkin, halved lengthways, deseeded
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 large onion
- 1 large garlic clove
- 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- 1 tbs finely chopped sage, plus extra leaves to garnish
- 1 tbs wholegrain mustard
- 1 cup grated tasty cheese
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180°c.
2. Score surface of pumpkin in a criss-cross pattern about 1cm apart. Brush with a little of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in a roasting pan and bake for 1 hour or until nearly tender.
3. Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in a frying pan and cook onion and garlic for 6 minutes or until soft. Cool.
4. Combine onion mixture, breadcrumbs, walnut, sage, mustard and ¾ cup cheese in a bowl. Mix well.
5. Fill hollows of both pumpkin halves with mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake for a further 15 minutes or until golden and pumpkin is tender. Garnish with extra sage leaves.