Slow roasted, fennel seed & black pepper rubbed shoulder of pork.

I might as well come right out and say it - but pork is one of my favourite meats.  I reckon lamb is top of the heap, beef a close run second and pork is there, very definitely trying to shoulder the beef out of the way.

Talking to the lady in the butcher's, she was saying that pork is her favourite yet she doesn't really like bacon.  Oddly enough, hubby is exactly the other way inclined.  He adores bacon in all its forms, yet can take or leave pork.  Me, I'd have a hunk of roast pork over a hunk of roast bacon, any day - although if you waft a bacon sandwich under my nose, there may be a battle.

So anyway, we hadn't had a roast dinner for a while and I'd been yearning for a piece of pork belly done in Chinese spices and chilli.  Now unless I make that for myself (which isn't beyond the realms of possibility) it just isn't going to happen in our house, owing to the two chaps being so fat phobic.  (It's a wonder they put up with having me around the place, thinking on!).

Then, when I was pondering on the cheaper cuts of pork (I'm a great proponent of making use of the under-utilised cuts that the general public seem to be shunning, these days) that I could roast, I remembered the slow roasted shoulder.  I'd seen a number of recipes indicating that slow roasting of a pork shoulder was infinitely do-able and with good results from the chaps' point of view.  The slow roasting means that a good deal of the fat has rendered out of the meat (apart from the thick layer under the skin) and the resultant meat is juicy and not in any way dry, whilst producing a good crackling.  Sounded perfect!

What sounded even better, was the price.  At £3.88 a kilogram, you just couldn't go wrong.  Now, when I'm making a casserole or suchlike, I generally reckon that anything from 500g upwards will suffice.  However, I did have an extra mouth to feed, as son & heir would be having his friend J over and he would be there for dinner.  I was just crossing my fingers that J was a good eater, having had recent experience of one of son & heir's friends who didn't know what a Scotch Egg was and had never eaten a fried egg sandwich.  So, I went for just over a kilogram, so as to (hopefully) leave a little bit to have in a sandwich with apple sauce the next day.  My own little hog roast.

I ground up the fennel seeds with four black peppercorns and some salt in my pestle & mortar.  This lovely fragrant mixture got rubbed into the flesh of the pork and, after a dousing in white wine vinegar, into the skin for interesting crackling.

From there, it was a matter of putting into a pre-heated oven at 220deg C (fan) for 30 minutes, after which the oven was turned down to 140deg C (fan), the roast was covered in tin foil and left to think about life for the next two hours.

The oven is then turned back up to 200deg C (fan) and the meat is swathed in tin foil, but ensuring that the crackling is left uncovered.  This helps to keep the meat moist whilst the crackling receives a final crackle-up in a hot oven for 20-30 mins.  It's convenient, because this coincides with your wanting to put the roast potatoes in the oven at a greater temperature and you can do the two at once.

The meat just fell apart and tasted divine.  Son & heir's friend J declared the dinner to be the best he'd ever tasted, apart from his Mum's roast dinner, and even dedicated a little song to it.  Now there's a vote of appreciation!

Turkey meatballs in tomato & fennel sauce

Prior to being doused with a whole heap of Parmesan!

This recipe is nothing short of a triumph - for many reasons.

I chose it because I was intrigued by the idea of tomato & fennel sauce and reckoned that if it worked, it'd be worthwhile the pain of making the meatballs.  However, it proved to be not only extremely cheap to make, but extremely easy to make.  It was also our first go at wholemeal pasta (delivered in error) for years - and the final accolade was that everyone enjoyed it!

I had scheduled it for a Wednesday, as because I don't work on Wednesdays, I'd be free to make & cook the meatballs in advance, so ensuring it didn't turn out to be a long haul in the making.  This was important, as having been out the day before, my energy levels were fairly low.

The meatballs are almost a pleasure to make, as they are simply a matter of combining the turkey mince with breadcrumbs and garlic.  I had a flash of inspiration and added a teaspoonful of grated lemon zest and some seasoning, which was oddly missing from the original recipe.  They didn't require chilling, as everything had come straight from the fridge in the first place and the little meatballs were hanging together perfectly.

So, I just fried them off and left them under the grill (covered with silver foil so that they didn't dry out) until the sauce was made, later on.

The pasta was a happy accident.  I'd ordered just ordinary fusilli, but what was delivered was wholemeal fusilli.  I was about to send it back, when hubby suggested we try it, just in case the quality has improved over the years.  I have horrible memories of nasty gritty pasta that went under the name of wholemeal, so I was a tad dubious.  However, it was perfectly fine.  Not gritty and for once actually tasted of something.  I have found that most supermarket pasta doesn't taste of a great deal, but this had a bit of a nutty flavour which was very acceptable.  It's also better for hubby, as being slightly diabetic, it's good to have carbohydrates that release slowly, which wholemeal does.

So, with some grated parmesan for sprinkling over (and cheddar for son & heir, who isn't a parmesan fan), it made a great mid-week dinner for the family.

I like Willie's idea of adding a little cube of cheese to the meatballs, and might try that next time - but I reckon I'll leave the lemon zest out, in that case!  lol

TURKEY MEATBALLS IN TOMATO & FENNEL SAUCE  (serves 3)

Ingredients :

400g turkey mince (I made mine with 350g which was fine for 3 people)
25g fresh breadcrumbs
2 garlic cloves, grated
zest of half a lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, diced small
1 tsp fennel seeds
400g chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
2-3 splashes of Worcestershire Sauce
400g fusilli, cooked, to serve
grated parmesan or cheddar, to serve.

Method :

1.  Put the mince in a mixing bowl with the breadcrumbs, lemon zest and half the garlic.  Season and mix well to combine.  Using your hands, shape the mixture into small balls, around 15-16 or so and chill for 10 minutes if necessary.

2.  Heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a pan and add the onion, carrot and remaining garlic.  Cook for 5-6 minutes or until softened.

3.  Pop the fennel seeds into a pestle & mortar and grind them lightly to just break them up a bit.  If you don't have a pestle & mortar, just put them in as is.  Add the fennel seeds and cook for a few seconds, stirring to combine.

4.  Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, tomato ketchup and Worcestershire sauce.  Add a half a can of water, season and stir to combine well.  Allow to simmer for some 15 minutes or so until thickened and reduced.

5.  Using a non-stick frying pan, fry the meatballs for 8-10 minutes until cooked through.  Transfer them to the sauce and simmer until piping hot.

6.  Serve with the fusilli and with cheese sprinkled over.

Yum!