Ever heard of Rocket? Not the salad, the ready-to-cook-contains-all-the-ingredients-you'll-need packs you can buy at any major railway station in London? It's meant for the busy city worker who wants a quick meal that is healthier than what he can get from his local Indian take-away or fish-and-chips bar. Costing around £11 for two their Meal Kits contain all the ingredients for a freshly cooked meal in exactly the quantity you need for the recipe, and you can prepare your meal in 10 minutes. There's a new menu every week, comprising about 5 different dishes. They also sell nice little dessert pots and a (small) selection of wine. We tried this once, each choosing a different dish, and although it took slightly longer than 10 minutes, it was super quick, really nice and fresh and tasted better than anything else that I have ever seen cooked up in the same amount of time.
Then Marks & Sparks caught on to the idea and offered something similar. They called it Cook!Kit and it must not have been very successful as I haven't seen it in a long time. But, to cut a long story short, that's where this recipe comes from. Just the ingredients, though, as the kit contains instructions, but no amounts, since it is all pre-measured anyway... so I have created my own recipe here, inspired by M&S.
I can't remember eating a more delicious pork recipe in a long time - the sauce of port wine, stilton and cream is quite rich and extremely tasty, the potatoes, crunchy beans and spinach are an unusual one-pot side dish. And chopping aside it takes under 30 minutes to prepare, so is indeed an option for a stylish but quick weekday dinner, although it is so good that I wouldn't be embarrassed to serve it at a dinner party either.
Pork in port & stilton sauce with beans, spinach and potatoes
(serves 4)
Ready in 30 minutes
750 g potatoes (cut in 3-4 mm rounds)
250 g dwarf beans (trimmed and cut in 4 cm pieces)
225 g young leaf spinach
900 g pork fillet (tenderloin)
2 tbsp sage (chopped)
2 tbsp chives (chopped)
5 tbsp grapeseed oil
2 shallots (finely chopped)
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
150 g stilton
250 ml port wine
120 ml double cream
100 ml concentrated beef stock
Heat 3 tbsp of the oil in a large and deep frying pan, then add the potatoes and sage. Cook over medium heat until the potatoes are soft, stirring continuously (ca. 15 minutes). In the meantime, heat some water in a pot and cook the beans for 6 minutes, drain, refresh and set aside.
Cut the pork into 3-5 cm medallions and fry in a large skillet with the remaining oil, sealing on all sides. Add the shallots and garlic and fry for 2-3 minutes until nicely browned. Deglaze with the port wine and reduce by a third, then add the cheese, stock and cream. Reduce until the cheese is melted and the sauce is thick enough to cover the back of a spoon. Add thickening granules, if required or if you can't wait for the sauce to reduce over a long time.
Add the beans to the potatoes and reheat the pan, then add all the spinach and fold it in, as if mixing a salad, until the spinach is just wilted. Serve the meat with the sauce and vegetables, sprinkled with the chives.
Wine suggestion: D'Arenberg Shiraz "Footbolt", 2001
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