Herb & Spice crumbed pork chops

I have heaps of things waiting to be blogged. This is one of them. Problem is some of them I don't remember that much about them now. I do remember this was really good. I am pretty sure that I reduced the amount of fennel. It can be quite a strong flavour when freshly ground. I know that I didn't do the sweet potato with it instead serving it with a quick little salad. A great meal. I might have to make it again just to confirm it was as good as I remember...

Recipe: Herb & Spice Crumbed Pork Chops

Fennel, Thyme & Parmesan Gratin

The Fennel, Thyme & Parmesan Gratin was a wonderful side dish. The combination was lovely. The fennel came through really well. I thought that it might have been swamped by the parmesan and thyme but it really wasn't. Also for a dish that has cream, butter and parmesan it wasn't as rich as I thought it might be. It went perfectly with the pan-fried pork chop and green beans to round out the meal. I would highly recommend this dish. The recipe is from Australian Good Taste June 2011.

Fennel Thyme & Parmesan Gratin

Melted butter, to grease
1 fennel bulb, top trimmed, cut lengthways into 3cm slices
25g (1/3 cup) fresh breadcrumbs (made from day-old bread)
20g (1/4 cup) finely grated parmesan
40g butter, chopped
6 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked
125ml (1/2 cup) pouring cream

 

Brush a baking dish with melted butter. Cook the fennel in a saucepan of boiling water for 10 minutes or until tender. Drain.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Arrange the fennel over the base of the prepared dish. Top with the breadcrumbs, parmesan, butter and thyme. Drizzle with cream. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Season with salt and pepper.
 

Marinated Fennel Salad

This is the second salad that I made last night. I had a bulb of fennel in the fridge that had been there for a while and I really wanted to use it in something. Since was a warm evening I decided that a salad was the best way to use it. I had a bit of a search on the internet and found this recipe. I made a couple of changes and would make a few more if I made it again. I would decrease the amount of oil it ended up just too much. I would also reduce the amount of vinegar as it was very tart. I added a tsp of garlic olive oil and a tsp of dried oregano. I think I would add more as it didn't really come through. I had wanted to put dill in but what I had had gone slimy, yuck. Although perhaps even just some parsley would have worked. I think that it needed to be served with some sort of green leaves. Rocket would have been nice but lettuce would have been fine. It did go well with the apple, carrot & celery salad and the rissoles. With just a few more tweaks I think it could be a regular for me.

Marsala Pork with Fennel

On to the second of the pork recipes made last week with the pork scotch fillet that I defrosted. After searching around the Taste website for something to make with them I decided on this Marsala Pork with Fennel recipe. I used the remaining 3 pork scotch fillet steaks in the fridge for this recipe. I did make some changes. I reduced the sauce down until it was quite syrupy. In fact I think that I could have taken it down a little further to make it a bit sticky and thicker. I added about 2 tsp butter as the end of reducing the sauce to add a bit of extra richness, it probably wasn't needed but I enjoyed it. The pork was tender and the sauce had just the right amount of sweetness to it. The only change I would make next time would be to add a little slurp of cream to the sauce instead of the butter.

I made a number of changes to the fennel part of the recipe. I had a large fennel in the fridge so I used that and sliced it up. I didn't have any of the yellow squash so cut a zucchini into thick wedges. I also added half and onion thinly sliced and sautéed until soft before adding the fennel. Finally I added some canned cherry tomatoes which I squashed up. I really enjoyed this side dish. I sometimes find that the fennel flavour can be strong and overwhelming but this was quite subtle and I really enjoyed it. However, I think that without the onion and tomatoes I may have found the flavour different. I liked it my way. 

Fish with Lemon-Roasted Potatoes and Fennel Chilli Relish

This is another recipe I made ages ago. Bill's original recipe was for baked snapper. However, I didn't want to cook a whole fish so I just pan-fried a fish fillet. Unfortunately the fish I picked, I can't remember what now, was just awful and I didn't end up eating the whole meal. I guess that my opinion of this recipe has been coloured by inferior ingredients. Perhaps I will give it another go with a whole fish. The potatoes were very good though. 

Fish with Lemon-Roasted Potatoes and Fennel Chilli Relish

Ingredients: 

• 2 fish fillets
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• olive oil

Method: 

• Heat olive oil over a medium heat. 
• Season fish with salt & pepper. 
• Pan fry for a few minutes each side or until cooked through. 

Lemon-roasted potatoes

Ingredients: 

• 300g chat potatoes, unpeeled, quartered
• 1/2 lemon, finely sliced 
• 1 bay leaf (optional) 
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper 
• 1 clove garlic, unpeeled, crushed  
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Method: 

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Place all ingredients in a bowl and toss until potatoes are coated in oil. 
• Spread on a baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for 20 minutes. 
• Remove foil and bake a further 20 minutes or until golden brown. 
• Serve with freshly ground black pepper.

Fennel chilli relish 

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 fennel bulb, finely chopped to 5mm dice
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped 
• juice of 1/2 a lemon   
• 2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped 
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 
• sea salt 
• freshly ground black pepper

Place all ingredients in a bowl and combine.