Birthday Bash!

We celebrated Sally's Mum's birthday this weekend. Sally's daughter Holly flew in for the occasion, and the three ladies had a great weekend together. Sunday brunch was a special meal, prepared by yours truly, of course. Mum asked for pork roast and some form of apples. Here's what I prepared.

Pork Roast with Cranberry Horseradish Chutney

5.5 lb Pork Loin

Everglades seasoning

Cavender's seasoning

I kept the roast very very simple. No special treatment, just a beautiful 5+ pound slab of piggywig dusted with both of the spice blends, and roasted at 350F for 20 minutes per pound. Perfectly medium.

Cranberry Horseradish Chutney

When Sally and Holly went to New York City a couple months back to see Helen Mirrin in the Broadway production of The Queen, she brought me back a jar of Beth's Farm Kitchen Cranberry Horseradish Chutney (https://www.bethsfarmkitchen.com/product/cranberry-horseradish-chutney) from a neighborhood market near Columbia, Univ., Holly's alma mater.

I'd been looking for the perfect meal to serve it with, and this was it. Buy a jar from Beth's or try to make your own to your taste.   A spoonful of this on a slab of pork is a thing of great taste and beauty!   This will also be great on turkey at Thanksgiving as well other roasted meats.

Cinnamon Stewed Apples

Mum wanted "applesauce or something like that", so I decided on stewed apples, as I prefer the texture with roast pork.

4 Red Apples (I used Galas as they were at a good price)

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1 cup Water

Peel and filet the apples, then cook them in a cup or so of water, sugar and cinnamon. Simmer for about 30 minutes until the apples are soft, but not falling apart and the sauce starts to thicken

Ginger-Orange Carrots

This is my signature carrot dish that you've seen here before.

1 lb Carrots, peeled into ribbons

1/4 cup OJ concentrate

1" Ginger Thumb, minced

a splash of water

Place in a covered pot, give things a toss, and cook lightly -- basically steaming the carrots in OJ with ginger.

Microwave "Roasted" Potatoes & Gravy

Yeah, I know, 'microwave' and 'roasted' don't really belong in the same sentence. But the spuds aren't boiled or cooked in a conventional oven. So there!

2 lb bag "baby" potatoes, reds or whites, your choice

Kosher or Sea Salt

Rinse the potatoes and shake them 'dry' in a colander. Place in a microwave-safe bowl and dust the spuds with the salt. Shake to distribute the salt overall. Cook on High for 12 minutes or more until the potatoes are fork tender.

Gravy

I used the drippings from the roast, plus a 'batch' of Bisto tm gravy granules -- 3 tbsp of Bisto made into a slurry with cold water, then added to a cup of water as it boils. Stir to combine, and cook until it starts to thicken. Bisto is a great British product available in the Ethnic section of most megamarts. Makes perfect gravy every time. No more lumpy, greasy messes!

Teriyaki Green Beans with Almonds

 Simple and tasty.

1 lb Green Beans, trimmed

3 large cloves Garlic, sliced

1/4 cup Almonds, slivered

3 Tbsp Hoisin sauce

1/4 cup Teriyaki sauce

1 cup Water

Put everything in a pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the beans are done - 15 minutes? You want them al dente but not 'squeaky' when you bite into them.

Mango Gingerbread Upside Cake

This is another dish you've seen me do before. The whole family lllooovvvvveeesss mangos. What more can I say.

1 box Gingerbread Cake mix
2 Firm-ripe Mangoes sliced into wedges and peeled.
Juice and mango bits leftover from the slicing and peeling
1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1/2 stick Butter

Preheat the oven to 350F. While that's going on... follow package instructions for your cake mix, but add the leftover bits of mango to the batter.  

Melt the butter, remove from the heat, and stir the brown sugar into it to dissolve.  Dust a 9" round cake pan with flour.  

Pour the butter/sugar into the bottom of the pan.  Arrange the mango wedges in a circle.  Gently pour the batter over the fruit.  Bake per package directions.  Rest the cake on a cooling rack for 10-15 minutes (but no more).  If the mango-sugar-butter topping starts to set up you're in trouble!   Run a knife around the edge of the pan to free the edge of the cake.  Invert a cake platter on top of the cake pan, and deftly (!) flip the cake over -- bottom's up!  Gently remove the pan.