Pork & Duck Terrine with cranberries & hazel nuts - featured in Group Recipies (12/25/10)

If you are a regular reader, you already know that my hubby loves to cook and most of the western cuisine recipes are from him. He has been the main cook for our Christmas dinners the past several years but due to his back problem this year, he has to leave the cooking to me. However, he just could not stay away from the kitchen. While I was out doing some last minute Christmas shopping, he sneaked into the kitchen and cooked. When I returned home, I could smell the fragrance of food even before I opened our main door. Know what? He made this wonderful dish and he told me he thinks it is worth it even if his back hurts because of all the standing during the cooking. This is truly a dish filled with passion and I am sure this will 'WOW' our guests when served.

Pork and Duck Terrine with Liver

Before baking

Putting a heavy brick on top of the terrine to slough off some of the fat and make the terrine more dense

After baking

After it is removed from the loaf pan

Ingredients:

2 deboned duck breasts , about 300g/10oz each, skin on

200 g (approx 8 ounces) sliced bacon (can use pancetta)

700 g (approx 1 ½ pounds) pork shoulder, cubed

120 ml (1/2 cup) milk

3 shallot , roughly chopped

5 slices of day old bread

2-3 whole cloves

200 g pork, duck or chicken livers, roughly chopped

6 black peppercorns

2 teaspoons coriander seed

2 cloves of garlic

Generous pinch of ground cinnamon

1/2 cup Cognac

2 eggs, lightly beaten

75 g shelled nuts (chestnuts, pecans, walnuts, pistachios)

75 g (1/2 cup) dried cranberries

Method:

1. Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Put the duck breasts and skin in a shallow dish, then place in the hot oven for 20 minutes. Discard the shriveled bit of skin that remains, then pour the duck fat into a bowl to cool. Roughly chop the cooked duck meat and place in a large mixing bowl.

2. Roughly chop the pork, three slices of bacon, and liver to a coarse texture and mix with the chopped duck in the bowl.

3. Tear up the bread and soak in the milk for 5 minutes. 
Squeeze the milk out of the bread and put in a food processor with the shallots and garlic. Pulse the processor to get a coarse texture, then add to the bowl.

4. Grind the peppercorns, coriander seeds and cloves to a coarse powder (pestle and mortar works just fine). Stir in the cinnamon. Add the spices to the meat along with 4 tbsp reserved duck fat, the Cognac, the eggs, and 2 tsp salt. Mix together very thoroughly – the best way is to use your hands.

5. Lightly grease a 1-litre loaf pan. Line the pan with the bacon (or pancetta), slightly overlapping the slices and leaving enough overhanging the edges to cover the top.

6. Press half the mixture into the pan leaving a slight indentation down the middle. Scatter the pistachios and cranberries over all, then cover with the remaining meat mixture. Fold over the bacon strip and augment with more so as to cover the entire loaf. Cover the dish tightly with foil, then place all into a roasting tin. Pour boiling water into the tin to come halfway up the sides of the dish.

7. Bake for 2 hrs, remove foil, then bake for 15 minutes more to brown the top. When completely cooled, remove from pan and wrap in fresh foil and chill. For the best flavor, let the terrine chill in the fridge for at least 2 days before eating. The flavors will mature and blend.

Taucu sliced pork with chilli

Each time my Mum cooks this dish, I always go back for second helping.  This is one of those dishes that will taste better the next day. For me, I don't any other side dish to go with steamed rice when I have this one.

Ingredients: 

150gm thinly sliced pork

3 green chilli

1 red chilli

4 chilly padi (optional)

2 tbs tau cu paste

1 ts chopped garlic

3 tbs water

1 tbs sugar

 (A)

1 ts corn starch

1 ts sesame oil

½ ts ground white pepper

1 ts mashed bullion chicken stock

Method:

Marinate sliced pork in (A) for at least 2 hours.  Heat oil in wok and fry garlic till fragrance.  Add tau cu and fry for 1 min or so.  Add slice pork and stir fry till pork is whitish in color.  Add green chilly and chilly padi.  Stir fry for another min and add water and sugar and let it simmer till pork is completely cooked.

Herb Pork sausages, apple and sauerkraut (My hubby's recipe) - featured in Group Recipes

I call this my “half past six” meal.  Meaning?  Half of the ingredients are ready made and the other half added by me, haha.  We had a busy day yesterday running errands and busy eating Chinese hawker food.  By the time we returned home, it was too late to cook a meal that needs a lot of preparation.  It takes only 20 mins and Wala! dinner is ready!  The picture does not do justice to the dish, so please don't judge the book by the cover.  Although I call it "half past six", the taste is not.  Try it and let me know your view.

Serving: 1

Ingredients:

3 herb pork sausages (you can use any type of sausages)

2 cups bottled purple sauerkraut

1 tbs caraway seeds

1 tsp cinnamon

1 apple, (skin and core removed and diced)

1 medium onion , cut into rings

2 tb brown sugar

1 tb butter

Method:

Use a fork to pork some holes in the sausages and boil it for 10 mins.  Spray the frying pan with a bit of oil and brown the sausages. Set aside. Add butter to pan and fry the apple and onion till onion is translucent and add brown sugar.  Add  sauerkraut and caraway seeds and cinnamon and fry till you can smell the fragance of the spices.  Place sausages on top of the sauerkraut.  Serve with crusty bread and potato chips.

Stir fry sliced pork with young ginger and spring onion - Featured in Group Recipes & Dishfolio

Here is another of my Mum’s recipe which I will never get tired of.  If you are looking for a tasty, fast and easy stir fry recipe, you have found it:D   A tip here to remember though, you must use pork tenderloin and sliced them thinly. The trick to have smoother texture of the pork is to marinade it with a tea spoon of corn flour.  Ooo, I love smooth and tender sliced pork.  You can use beef tenderloin if you don’t like pork but I love both!

Serving 4

Ingredients:

200g pork thinly sliced tenderloin

2 tb chopped garlic

2 tbsp vegetable/olive oil
3 stalks spring onions/scallions, cut to 2-inch lengths
1 tb Chinese cooking wine

2 tb water

50 gm young ginger thinly sliced

Marinade pork for 15 mins:

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 bullion chicken stock mashed

½ tb oysters sauce

2 tb water

1 ts corn flour

A pinch of white pepper

Method:

Heat oil, fry ginger till fragrant. Then add garlic and stir fry till fragrant.  Add pork slices, stir fry till half cooked and add spring onions (the white bottom thick portion) water and stir fry till pork is cooked.  Add the rest of the spring onions and mix well.  Lastly add Chinese white wine and when you smell the aroma of the wine, turn off the heat and the dish is ready to be served.