Pork, bacon & chorizo burgers with pulled pork

Pork, bacon & chorizo burgers with pulled pork

For the pork

• Pork shoulder (size depending on how many you are feeding, 5kg serves approx. 10)
• Olive oil
• Sea salt & ground black pepper
• 2 heaped teaspoons of smoked paprika

For the burgers (makes approx 6)

• 1 ½ teaspoons cumin seeds
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ½ cup diced shallots
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp thyme leaves
• 2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
• 2 chiles de arbol finely diced
• 2 lbs pork mince
• Salt & Pepper
• 120g finely diced chorizo
• 4 slices smoked bacon finely diced
• 6 burger buns

 Method:-

Preheat your oven to the highest temperature, score the pork skin about 1cm deep all over with a sharp knife (if not done already).  Drizzle over a little olive oil, season generously with salt, pepper and the paprika and rub in to the pork.  Place the pork into a roasting tin (I suggest lining the tin with foil) then place in the oven, turn the heat down to 160 degrees and cook for 4 hours, basting occasionally.  After 4 hours turn the heat down to 150 degrees and cook for a further 2 hours or until you can pull the meat apart easily.  Remove the crackling and leave to one side and pull the pork apart using two forks, cover with tin foil until needed.

Whilst the pork is cooking, in a medium pan, toast the cumin seeds over a medium heat for a few minutes until the seeds release their aroma and darken slightly.  Pound the seeds in a mortar or grinder until coarsely ground.  Return the pan to the stove, add the olive oil and heat for a couple of minutes, add the shallots, turn the heat down to medium and cook for a few minutes until they start to soften.  Add the garlic, thyme, cumin, sliced chile, a few grinds of black pepper and a couple of pinches of salt.  Cook for 3-4 minutes until the shallots become translucent, set aside to cool.  In a large bowl combine the pork, chorizo, bacon, shallot mixture & parsley, season with a few grinds of black pepper and a few good pinches of salt.  Shape the meat into 6 burgers, chill in the refrigerator if not using right away.

You can either BBQ your burgers, grill them or fry them in a frying pan with a little olive oil.  Once cooked through, place your burger onto a toasted bun and top with the pulled pork.  For this recipe, I mixed the pulled pork with Kankun Chipotle sauce to give it extra flavour, I also topped with burger with smoked cheese and served with slaw and spicy wedges.  

These burgers are perfect for a summer bbq and always go down a treat.   

Strolling Rigatoni with Cherry Tomatoes and Goat’s Cheese

Strolling Rigatoni with Cherry Tomatoes, and Goat’s Cheese

• 1 cup halved Cherry Tomatoes 
• 1 sliced Yellow Pepper
• 250g Rigatoni Pasta 
• 1/2 cup Onion, diced
• 1 Garlic Clove, diced 
• 1/2 bunch Basil, chopped 
• 1 tbsp Black Olives, chopped 
• 1/2 roll Goat‘s Cheese 
•  Pine Nuts 2 tbsp 4 tbsp
• Sliced Chorizo (optional)

Method

Heat your oven to 200 degrees and cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Cut the top and bottom off the pepper and then cut into strips. Toss in 1 tbsp of olive oil, ¼ tsp salt and a pinch of pepper. Lay out on a baking tray and roast in the oven for 15-20 mins until starting to brown at the edges.

Boil a pot of water with ½ tsp of salt for your pasta. Finely dice the onion and garlic. Roughly chop the basil.

Cook the pasta for 10 mins or until ‘al dente’.

 Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to a pan over a medium heat. Once warm, add the onions and sliced chorizo and cook gently for 5 mins. Add the garlic and a few good grinds of black pepper and cook for another minute.

 Cut the olives in half length ways and add to the pan along with 2 tbsp of pasta water. Tip: Adding pasta water is a classic Italian trick and adds some salt and starchiness to give you a bit of a sauce.

 When the pasta is cooked, it’s time to combine everything. Add the roasted tomatoes and peppers to the pan with half the crumbled goat’s cheese and all but 1 tbsp of the chopped basil. Add the pasta and toss everything together.

Serve the pasta with the remaining goat’s cheese crumbled on top, the remaining basil, the pine nuts and a drizzle of olive oil

Recipe courtesy of Hello Fresh

Esquites with beef brisket and new potatoes

Esquites with beef brisket and new potatoes

• 4 corn on the cob
• 1/2 red onion finely diced
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander
• 4 tbsp crumbled feta cheese
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise 
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• Salt & pepper
• 1 clove of minced garlic
• Few slices of jalapeño peppers finely diced
• Kankun habanero sauce

Heat a large frying pan with a tablespoon of vegetable oil.  Slice the corn off the cob, place into the frying pan and cook for several minutes, add the garlic and stir.  Cook for 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally.  Once done, put the sweet corn into a large bowl, add the coriander, red onion, mayo, pinch of salt, few grinds of black pepper, lime juice and a good few dashes of habanero sauce (more or less depending how hot you like it) along with the feta cheese (reserving some to top the dish) and jalapeño peppers, stir thoroughly and serve with your dish.  

For this dish I served alongside BBQ beef brisket and jersey new potatoes tossed in butter.

This is a fresh and summery dish, great for bbq's and for eating Al fresco.

Spaghetti with tuna stuffed peppers

Spaghetti with tuna stuffed peppers

• 1 tin of tuna in olive oil
• Half a red onion finely diced
• 4 Tablespoons of mayonnaise 
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• Jar of peppadew  peppers
• 2 Tablespoons of juice from the peppers
• Spaghetti (vary portion depending on amount of guests)
• Small jar of pasta sauce of choice 
• Few grinds of black pepper

Method :-

Drain the tuna and break up into small pieces into a bowl, mix with the olive oil, lemon juice, mayonnaise, pepper juice and diced red onion.  

Drain the peppers and stuff with the tuna mixture.  Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the pasta for 10-12 minutes.  Whilst the pasta is cooking heat through your pasta sauce, a chilli/tomato sauce is good.  Once the pasta is cooked, drain and plate up, placing the stuffed peppers amongst the pasta and drizzle with the pasta sauce.

This is a quick and easy yet tasty dinner. Enjoy....