easy meals – Page 4 – My Whisk and I

Sweet-and-Sour Pork Chops

October 12, 2021by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

These pork chops are so easy to make and really delivers on taste! Serve them on noodles, rice or mashed potato.

83ml sugar
83ml apple cider vinegar
45ml pineapple juice (from the canned pineapple)
45ml tomato sauce (ketchup)
5ml Worcestershire sauce
15ml soy sauce
20ml cornstarch
125ml water

1 onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
15ml fresh ginger, grated
half each of a red, green and yellow bell/sweet pepper, sliced
1 tin of pineapple pieces

6 pork chops

Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Add the sugar, vinegar, pineapple juice, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, soy and cornstarch to a mixing bowl and stir to mix together.
Add the water, stir through and set aside.

Put a cast-iron pan (skillet) on medium heat and add a dash of vegetable oil.
Add the onion, garlic, ginger and sweet pepper and fry for 4 -5 minutes.
Add the pineapple pieces and pour the sauce into the pan with the onion mixture.
Reduce the heat and gently simmer for 5 minutes.

Warm another pan on medium-high heat and brown the chops, about 2-3 minutes per side.
Immediately place the fried pork chops in the sauce. Keep going until you have browned all the chops.
Cover the pan with the chops and the sauce and place in the oven for 25 minutes.
Scatter some sesame seeds and coriander leaves over before serving on rice, noodles or mashed potato.

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Sweet Potato with Apricot

July 20, 2021July 16, 2021by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

This simple apricot sauce transforms a baked sweet potato into a well-balanced, tasty meal. Easy, quick and utterly delicious!

6 – 8 medium sweet potatoes
250g dried apricots
125ml honey
30ml apple cider vinegar
2,5ml ground ginger
2,5ml ground coriander
a pinch of salt

Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a baking sheet with baking paper.
Place the sweet potatoes on the baking sheet and bake for about 40 minutes, until soft. Remove from the oven and keep warm.
Turn your oven onto the grill setting.
Add the apricots to a mixing bowl and sprinkle lightly with olive oil. Mix through so that all of the apricots are covered in oil.
Spread out on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and grill until very lightly charred. Keep an eye on them, they burn quickly!
Add half the apricots to a liquidiser.
Add the honey, vinegar, ginger, coriander and a pinch of salt and blitz to a purée.
Taste the sauce and adjust to your liking. Adjust the thickness to your liking by adding more apricots for a thicker sauce.
Make a slit in the baked sweet potatoes and spoon the sauce over it.
Serve on rocket leaves and the rest of the whole roasted apricots.

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Potato-Rösti Vegetable Bake

June 30, 2021June 19, 2021by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

This is an easy vegetarian bake for weekday dinners and needs only a salad to accompany it. Serves 6 hungry adults.

Potato crust:
600g potato, unpeeled
5ml garlic salt
40ml flour
1 egg

Filling:
2 onions
250g mushrooms
250g zucchini
250g cheddar cheese
4 eggs
125ml cream
5ml salt
5ml mustard

For the potato crust:
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and grease a loose-bottomed cake tin.
Spread a clean tea towel onto a work surface and grate the potato directly onto it, with the skin on.
Fold the towel over the potato, gathering all ends together and twist and squeeze the potato over your kitchen sink until all the excess moisture has been removed. Put the potato into a mixing bowl.
Sprinkle the garlic salt and flour over the grated potato and mix through with your hands in order to distribute all ingredients as evenly as possible.
Now add the egg and mix in the same way.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and press it tightly into the base and sides of the tin with the back of a spoon.
Place the cake tin on a flat baking sheet and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and set aside.

For the filling:
Put a frying pan on to medium heat and add some oil to it.
Slice the onions and fry them until soft and translucent. Spoon the onion into a large mixing bowl.
Turn the heat up to high, slice the mushrooms and add them to the hot pan. Cook until caramelised. Spoon into the bowl with the onion.
Grate the zucchini and cheese directly into the mixing bowl with the onion and mushroom. Mix together.
Spoon the vegetable-cheese mixture in to the potato crust. Set aside.
Add the eggs, cream, salt and mustard to a mixing bowl and whisk together. Gently pour over the vegetable mixture.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, until golden and set.
Remove from the oven and stand in the baking tin for 30 minutes.
Slice and serve warm.

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Mushroom Galette

April 29, 2021April 28, 2021by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

A galette is simply a free-form French pastry with either a savoury or sweet filling. Easy and quick to make, this mushroom galette is creamy, has depth of flavour and makes a perfect light lunch.

400g puff pastry
125ml cream cheese at room temperature

45ml butter
30ml vegetable oil
500g mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
15ml thyme, lightly chopped
45ml port or sherry
250ml mozzarella cheese, grated

Egg wash of 1 egg and 15ml milk, whisked together

Preheat your oven to 200℃.
Dust a clean work surface with flour and roll out the pastry big enough to cut a 26cm-diameter circle.
Place the pastry circle onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper.
Spread the cream cheese onto the pastry with the back of a spoon, leaving a 2cm border of pastry, all around.
Set aside.

Heat a heavy bottom pan on high heat and add the butter and oil. (If your pan is not large enough to accommodate all the mushroom at once, add half the butter and oil).
Add the mushroom to the pan and fry at high heat so that the mushroom caramelises, about 3 minutes.
Now add the garlic and thyme and cook for about 1 minute, stirring occasionally.
Spoon this mixture into a bowl to cool and put the frying pan back onto medium heat.
Add a splash of oil and cook the onion until soft. Add this to the mushroom mixture.
Put the pan back onto the heat once more and add the port, scraping down the pan with a spatula. Scrape the caramelised bits left in the pan as well as the reduced port onto the mushroom mixture.

Sprinkle two thirds of the grated mozzarella cheese onto the cream cheese and pastry.
Spoon the cooled mushroom mixture on top of the cheese and finish with the rest of the mozzarella.
Fold the 2 cm pastry that extends beyond the filling over and onto the mushroom mixture.
Brush the folded pastry with the egg wash and bake the galette for 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden.
Serve as an aperitif or as a light lunch.

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Versatile Pulled Pork

April 28, 2021April 28, 2021by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

2,5kg pork belly or pork shoulder (rind removed)

Dry rub:
45ml brown sugar
15ml salt
15ml smoked paprika
10ml ground cumin
5ml fennel seeds

500 – 750ml cider
250ml Homemade BBQ Sauce (in the recipe section of this blog)

Preheat your oven to 220℃.
Place the meat in an oven roasting tray.
Mix together the dry rub ingredients and sprinkle all of the ingredients onto the meat.
Place the pork in the preheated oven and roast for 30 minutes before removing.
Turn the oven down to 160℃ and pour 500ml cider onto the meat.
Cover the oven tray with aluminium foil and seal it tightly all around.
Place the meat back into the oven for 5 hours. Check the liquid every 2 hours or so and add more if necessary. There should be at least 1,5cm of liquid in the roasting tin.
Remove the meat once it falls apart and shred apart with two forks.
Pour the BBQ Sauce onto the pulled meat and mix the meat, BBQ and pan juices together.
Serve on a roll or on mashed potato and a coleslaw salad.