Glazed Roasted Pork Neck

Since moving to Finland I have come to discover that pork neck is a very versatile and underrated cut. It contains a fair amount of fat, compared to other cuts, and so doesn't dry out when cooked for long periods of time. It can be roasted, stewed, braised, made into pulled pork, marinaded and fried, the possibilities are endless with neck. Also, because of the high fat content and type of cut, it is very cheap and so affordable to all.

My Glazed Roasted Pork is a simple and tasty dish, one that can be prepared in advance and goes with almost anything. I served mine with a simple home made coleslaw, roast potatoes and some salad.

So to make enough for 6 (plus some leftovers,maybe) you will want to have:-

1.5-2 kg Pork Neck
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
pinch of ground pepper
100 ml beef stock
2 tbsp honey
1  tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp diced chilli
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 225C. Now mix the ground ginger, coriander, nutmeg, salt, and pepper together and rub onto the pork neck, then add the olive oil and rub until completely covered. Put the pork into a baking tray and place into the oven, cook at 225C for 20 minutes and turn down to 150C. Cook for a further two hours then take out.

Carefully pour out the juices from the baking try into a pan and then add the beef stock, honey, brown sugar, chilli and seasoning. Put on a high heat and reduce by a third. While reducing, slice your pork neck and arrange back into the baking tray. Turn the oven up to 200C and once the glaze is reduced add on top of the pork slices and place in oven for 15 minutes. Take out and rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

I know it looks like a lot of work, but while you are making the additions like potatoes, vegetables, salads, etc. you'll find it fits in perfectly to your schedule. You can also roast it the night before and then slice when cold and heat back with the glaze at 175C for 20-30 minutes the following day.

My wife really enjoyed this and I know many of you will too.

Karjalanpaisti, Karelian Hot Pot A National Dish from Refugees.

Karelian Hot Pot (or Stew) is considered the national dish of Finland but its popularity throughout Finland is a recent occurrence. 75 years ago Finland was plunged into a war that it didn't want, the Soviet Union invaded with over 750,000 troops and all that Finland could do was send 250,000 young men, with antiqued equipment to stand against the Red Bear. After a valiant defence which saw the Soviet Union stalled on every front, peace negotiations managed to end the war. However, despite all that Finland did, it lost 11% of its territory and 30% of its economy. The territory was mainly the eastern region of Karelia and given the choice, the Finnish citizens decided to pack up and move away from the Russia areas leaving a ghost region. This caused the biggest refugee crisis that Finland has seen. With the move, the Karelians brought with them many things, like food, music and history.

One such dish, and the most recognised alongside Karelian Pastries, is the Karelian Hot Pot. This dish arose as a festive meal due to the scarceness of meat. It is another dish that exemplifies the simpleness but wholesome tastiness of Finnish foods. It traditionally uses bits of beef and pork cooked in water, black peppercorns and salt. However, nowadays, it is usually seen with added ingredients like allspice, carrots and onion. It is so quick to prepare and is just braised in a iron pot in the oven.

This is a great dish for those with little time, like on Sundays.

So for a nice feeding of 4/5 people you will want to have:-

250g stewing beef, cut into 1" pieces
250g stewing pork, cut into 1" pieces (alternatively you can use just 500g of beef or pork)
1 large onion, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
1tsp salt
1tsp black peppercorns
1tsp allspice
2 bay leaves
250ml beef stock
500ml water

Preheat your oven to 150C. Brown your meat in the iron pot over a medium heat, take out the meat and set aside. Now add a little bit of oil to the pot and add the onions, cook for 30 seconds, add the carrots and meat, salt, peppercorns, all spice and bay leaves. Stir until all mixed and add the stock and water. Cover with a lid and place in oven for 3 and a half hours.

You can also turn it down to 125C and cook for 5 and a half hours.

It is normally served with mash potato and lingonberry jam.

So go on, give it a try, this is a perfect dish for Sundays as you can make it all up the day before and just pop in oven before you head out to church.

Slow Roasted Sabbath Chicken Dinner

We all know what it's like, we wake up on Sunday morning, rush around getting ourselves and the children ready for Church, then after Church come home to start cooking dinner, kids screaming, tempers rising and all of a sudden all that nice spiritual feeling is leaving us. We all just want to come home and have dinner ready. Well I have the perfect solution, I present, THE SLOW ROASTED SABBATH CHICKEN DINNER, [enter ta-da here]. This meal isn't just for Sundays but for any day of the week, you can prepare the day before hand and just pop in the oven on the day. It is simple, easy and can be done on a small budget.

Sunday Dinner for me as a child was a highlight, it had Yorkshire Puddings, Gravy, Vegetables, Roast Potatoes and of course, Roasted Meat. As my family wasn't all that well off, we ate a lot of Roast Chicken with the dark meat for us children and the white for my parents. It was always very tasty and I remember my mother in the kitchen for hours and then when I was old enough, helping with it.

First we will start with the chicken itself:-

1 1.5kg whole chicken
1 lemon, halved
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp aromatic salt
1 tsp oregano
50g butter, softened

Preheat your oven to 125oC. Mix the herbs and salt with the butter. Squeeze half the lemon over the chicken, rub in all the butter everywhere. Squeeze the other half into the cavity and put in the two halves. Cover with tinfoil, make sure it is completely sealed. Put into the oven for 4 hours. Remove the foil and increase heat to 225oC and place for a further 30 minutes (if making Roast potatoes, see below, add now). Take out and serve.

For the Roast Potatoes:-

1 kg potatoes, peeled and halved
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp flour
Salt and Pepper

Boil your potatoes in a large pan. They should take around 5-10 minutes, they should be par boiled (hard but soft enough to stick a knife in), strain into a colander. You can do this the day before, put them in the fridge overnight. Now put them in an oven dish and sprinkle the flour, paprika and seasoning over them, mix till coated then pour over the oil, mix again until all fully coated. Put into the oven with the chicken. When the chicken comes out, turn them and put them in for another 15 minutes.

Serve it with vegetables and Gravy. I love spiced carrot and turnip mash, Broccoli and Cauliflower but you can put anything. They also go great with Yorkshire puddings.

Pulled Pork with Sweet potato mash and cream cheese BBQ sauce

So this last Sunday (24th) I had off from work and so volunteered to make the whole family a dinner for after Church. We also had guests staying with us until that Sunday so I needed a meal that I could do very simply. So I decided on Pulled Pork because it was something I could put into the oven and leave overnight and not worry about it. I also really felt like sweet potato mash as I felt it would really compliment it and the BBQ sauce, well that is just because pulled pork tastes best with BBQ based sauces.

For enough to serve 5 people you will need;-
about 2kg of Pork Shoulder (you can also use collar, leg or any other cheap cut)
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

250g Potatoes, peeled and chopped
250g Sweet Potatoes, peeled and chopped
50g butter
25ml full fat milk
salt and pepper

1 tbsp Cream Cheese
2 tbsp Hickory BBQ Sauce
250ml thick cream
salt and pepper

First Preheat your oven to 250oC, then rub the oil and spices into your pork shoulder and put into a cooking bag (or in a slow cooker). Put into the oven for 20 minutes and reduce to 75oC. Leave for 12-15 hours (yes, that's right). Take out of oven and leave standing for 20 minutes.

Whilst the meat is standing. Put your potatoes and sweet potatoes in some salted water and boil until soft. Using a masher (or electric whisk) turn into mash and stir in your butter and taste. Correct seasoning as needed. Cover and leave to one side.

In a small pan mix together the cream cheese, BBQ sauce and thick cream. Heat on medium and combined together until warm. Taste and season.

Now take your pork out of the bag, save the juices. Shred the pork using forks or your hands, add some of the juices (I added about 1/4 of the bag) and mix into the pork. Save the rest of the juices to make a gravy at a later time.

Serve all together with some salad and bread and watch it all disappear in minutes. This was so sucessful I have been asked to do it for my Mother in Law's birthday in a couple of weeks time.