September 5, 2006

Pork fillets+Poached Pears+Poppyseeds

Today; I had one of my rare "ME" days. It feels so satisfying to finally have a day to myself without anything important which HAD to be done or 'due' tomorrow! *sigh* after many days of hectic schedules....it feels good amazing .....Heavenly!
"What does she do when she's not busy at uni/baking cakes for sale/cooking for parties then?"
= She cooks.... *laughs*
It's something I do for fun...with no restrictions, no recipes, no time limits and no one to tell me I'm not doing it right! I love coming up with interesting new food ideas from mixing and matching ingredients available in my kitchen. With the couple hours I had in the afternoon; I ran off to the gym...had a satisfying workout, showered, and raided my fridge + pantry as I sniffed herbs, flipped jars and made combinations of possible "Dinner" dishes in my head.
Here's what I came up with today...I must admit; It was a pretty daring attempt considering how I didn't have any written recipes as a guide, but surprisingly my concoction turned out lip-smacking! It isn't uncommon to find pork fillets paired/wrapped up with hard fruit such as apples and pears. I actually recall reading an article on how to cook pork with apple slices wrapped up in prosciutto and grilled. I might try that another time.

Honey pork medallions with crisp toasted turkish bread and poached packham pears in white wine vinegar and dill.
3 Pork fillets (Heart smart - fat trimmed off and approx 1cm thick)
2 tbsp whole grain mustard
1 tbsp pure honey
1 tsp salt
Marinade pork fillets in mustard, honey and salt for at least 1 hour.
1 large packham pear diced roughly
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tsp sugar
2 tsp poppy seeds
1 small sprig dill roughly torn
Cook pear pieces in a deep non stick pan with all other ingredients for 3-4 minutes or until pears turn beige in color but still remain slightly firm in the center. Dish out only serving plates.
In the same pan, lay slices of marinated pork on medium heat. Pan-fry till both sides are golden and meat is cooked through. Dish out and arrange with poached pears and extra sprigs of dill.
Serve immediately! Best eaten when pears are fairly warm.

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