Thursday 10 May 2012

Better a dinner of herbs.....


If you read my husband's blog, Marksvegplot you will know that we have a lot of herbs in the garden, and while the recent weather might have made most of us feel miserable, the herbs are loving it! Most of them  are luxuriant and fragrant at the moment, and when we have plenty herbs, I'm inspired to make a dish loosely inspired by one from the book Spices,  Salts and Aromatics in the English Kitchen by the late Elizabeth David.

I pick a selection of herbs - this time they are parsley, thyme, oregano, rosemary, sage, chives and bayleaves. The other ingredients are
2 pork steaks or chops
2 cloves of garlic
½ a lemon, sliced
a drizzle of olive oil
seasoning


Score the surface of the meat in criss-cross lines then rub all over with the cut face of a halved garlic clove. Rub with a drizzle of olive oil and seasoning.


Put a layer of herbs in the bottom of an ovenproof, non-metallic dish and top with the meat. Cover with the lemon slices and cut garlic then top with more herbs.


Cover with cling film or a plastic lid and refrigerate for several hours. Then replace the cling film or lid with foil  and bake for about an hour in a moderate oven. If you like your meat to look brown, you can remove it from the herbs at the end of cooking and quickly brown it under the grill, but I think that can make it rather dry.


Just scrape off the herbs and eat! This time, I served it with a gratin of potatoes, kohlrabi and butternut squash


And some braised Florence Fennel with white wine, shallots and raisins


The finished meal - I'm afraid I forgot to keep back any uncooked herbs to garnish it with and I didn't want to go out in the rain for some fresh ones! It really could do with a fresh green touch on the plate.


I am submitting this for the Herbs on Saturday challenge


6 comments:

Claire Toplis said...

That looks fabulous .. you can come to mine and cook anytime x

Galina Varese said...

Jane, why don't you enter it for the Herb Saturday challenge, see the linky on my last blog post, you could win a book on herbs. It is on Lavender and Lovage blog.

Jane Willis said...

That's a great idea - I'd been planning to join in some challenges when I got established, but why not now?

Karen S Booth said...

WELCOME to blogging Jane and I am THRILLED that you have joined my Herbs on Saturday blog challenge....that is a FABULOUS recipe and I LOVE the step-by-step photos too....oh yes, I KNOW and love your husband's blog - so lovely to see you both blogging now!
Karen

Ren Behan said...

Welcome to blogging Jane! A blogging family now with Mark and your daughter, too! The best way is to join in with lots of events, as you are doing. They are always a great source of inspiration and encouragement. This is a lovely herby recipe, hope you enjoyed it. x

Chris Half said...

Nice recipe you have here. I'm sure it tastes herbilicious. I like the step-by-step with the photos as well.