Mini stuffed pork roulades

Today: a real treat for the palate and a truly sophisticated dish!  Mini pork roulades stuffed with tarragon-marinated prunes and camembert, wrapped in prosciutto ham and served with a spicy wine sauce.  The pork is really soft and tender and goes very well with the moist and sweet prunes, rich camembert and salty cured ham.  Each bite just melts in your mouth!  The thick wine sauce is essential - it adds the spice, and also gives the dish a festive touch.

BE WARNED - there is quite a lot of work involved in making 20-30 petite rolls!!!  First, you have to slice your pork tenderloin, and tenderize each slice with a meat hammer, until really thin - almost transparent.  Watch out not to make any holes!  Second, you have to marinate the prunes, slice the prosciutto in thin strips and dice your camembert. Third, stuff and roll your roulades -- that's where the fun starts, but it takes some time.  Fourth, you wrap each roll in the ham and secure with a toothpick, if necessary.  Finally - pan-fry the rolls, until the ham is crisp and the meat nice and tender.  

And let's not forget you need to make the sauce too.  And a salad.  And baked potatoes.  So if you want a quick fix dinner - forget this and just bake some fish.  

Stages of preparation:

The roulades are just packed with flavors and spices.  Prunes and camembert are sometimes paired with meat, but the surprise ingredient here is gingerbread spice.  It is added not only to the sauce, but also to the prune stuffing.  Nonetheless, if you don't know it's in there, you would not guess it; all it does is elevate the taste of the meat -- it does not give it a gingerbread-cookie kind of flavor.  Gingerbread spice works very well with the other seasoning added - tarragon and tangerine zest.  These three spices complement each other, but also balance the overall flavors.

The dish is best served with a fresh salad and baked potatoes.  It goes very well with a rich, smokey red wine.

Making these mini roulades is a great idea for the coming holidays -- Thanksgiving or Christmas.  It's very elegant and festive, which makes it well-suited for special occasions.  Also the particular spice combination strikes a very festive note.  When preparing the sauce, your house is filled with the most welcoming and delicious aroma.  Every single person in your home will be drawn into the kitchen: intrigued and instantly very hungry and impatient to try some of the sauce (which is great on its own too).

I made this dish for the first time when preparing for the Flemish TV show "Come dine with me" ("Komen Eten").  I have made it several times since then for family and friends.  As it has always been received with the highest praise from my guests, I plan to add to my top recipes list, and make it on special occasions.  Highly recommended!

  

METHOD

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

Roulades:

• Pork tenderloin of about 500-600 g
• 150 g prunes, pitted
• approx. 80 g camembert
• approx. 200 g dry-cured ham in thin slices (prosciutto, jamón serrano etc.)
• 1 big tbsp butter, very soft or melted
• 2 tsp dried tarragon
• 1 heaped tsp gingerbread spice
• 2 tbsp of non-sweetened plum marmalade or spread (typically Polish "powidla" can be bought in any Polish store)
• zest of 1/2 tangerine
• freshly ground pepper

• additional oil and butter for frying

Sauce:

• 2 glasses (400 ml) of dry red wine (I recommend the Carménère variety)
• 8 tbsp of non-sweetened plum marmalade or spread (typically Polish "powidla" can be bought in any Polish store)
• 4 tsp gingerbread spice
• zest of 1 tangerine
• freshly ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Roulades:

• Trim the excess fat off the pork tenderloin.  Cut it in 1,5 cm pieces, and tenderize with a meat hammer (best to cover the meat with cling film first).  You need thin, almost transparent pieces, but make sure not to make holes.  Season each slice with pepper.
• Cut the prunes in half, and place in a bowl.  Add the butter, tarragon, gingerbread spice, plum marmalade and tangerine zest.  Stir thoroughly.
• Dice the camembert in small pieces.
• Cut the ham in thin, long strips.
• Put 2-3 pieces of prune and a piece of camembert on the pork and roll into a roulade.  
• Wrap the roulade in the cured ham.  You can secure the rolls with a tooth pick, but usually it's not necessary.
• Heat oil in a large frying pan, once hot place the roulades in the pan.  Add some butter. Fry around 4 minutes on each side, then gently remove the toothpicks and fry the sides until nice and brown.  It's good to start with a high heat, and then lower it, when frying each side.
• Serve with the sauce.

Sauce:

• Mix all the ingredients and let simmer on a small heat for about 1h - 1h30, stirring occasionally.
• Serve hot with the roulades.

The recipe comes from the Polish website Kwestia Smaku.

Bon appetit!

Plum Cake & how to enjoy Autumn

Autumn rarely gets the credit it deserves.  People tend to favor hot summer days, crisp winter snow or the fresh spring breeze.  Nonetheless, autumn is the most picturesque season - that is if you're lucky enough to get some sunshine and a clear blue sky.

On sunny autumn days, Mother Nature paints the most colorful and elaborate pictures.  Bright reds dancing with yellows and oranges, mosaics of all sorts of leafs covering the ground, and the contrast between already bare, sad tree branches, and the still covered die-hards.  Such days are a huge inspiration to me - I just can't resist grabbing my camera, and going out for hours and hours of exploring, admiring and capturing this dazzling, flamboyant beauty.

These pictures were taken in November in Philadelphia, where I lived at the time. I'd been wanting to capture the autumn colors for a while, and when the right sunny weekend came, I ventured on the quest. I was so hungry for nice shots, that I walked and walked for hours, not even noticing I spent almost an entire day taking pictures. A day very well spent, in my book ;-)

But even when it's gloomy and rainy outside - autumn has its charms. Don't you ever feel like not doing anything particularly "ambitious" on a free day? Just curling up under a blanket, with a good book in one hand and a cup of hot lemon & honey tea in the other. In my always-busy-and-hectic-every-day-life I truly long for such cosy moments of peace. 

However, I find you can only enjoy such days when it's pouring with rain and gloomy outside. Nice weather lures me out: I want to go running, cycling, taking pictures: OUT. But when it's cold and wet, I feel absolutely no urge to go outside. Watching the rain fall and hearing the wind blow while you're sitting next to a heater (nice & cosy; dry & warm) makes you feel so safe and peaceful. Autumn is great for such slow-paced and easy-going moments.

The great thing about autumn is also the produce available during this season. Fragrant apples, pears and plums, fresh walnuts and hazelnuts, chestnuts, and let's not forget Queen Pumpkin. With such delicious fruits and veggies at hand, the range of autumn recipes is endless. Hearty soups, warming you up on cold, long evenings; roasted root vegetables; purées, mashes and stews of all kind.  And of course, the many great desserts: pumpkin bread or pie, plum crumbles, upside-down pear cakes, caramelized apples, cranberry cheesecakes... this divine list goes on and on.  This recipe is one of my favorite desserts during plum season.

This plum cake is the definition of what I know to be good old-fashioned, home-made cake.  Simple, not too fancy-schmancy, but so delicious and homey.  The cake is moist, because of the the huge amount of added fruit, not too sweet, and topped of with a delicious crumble.  You can add almost any type of fruit to the cake - also frozen if you prefer (no need to defrost beforehand).  The recipe is foolproof, and always works.

The cake stays fresh for quite a few days, which means you can make a bigger batch at once, and enjoy it longer.  We all know, the world looks a little bit better with a piece of cake in your hand.  So go ahead, bake the cake and enjoy this beautiful autumn season!

CAKE INGREDIENTS (all at room temperature):

• 200 g butter
• 160 g sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 200 g flour
• 40 g potato starch or 1 package of pudding powder mix (vanilla flavor, approx. 40 g)
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• a pinch of salt

CRUMBLE INGREDIENTS:

• 150 g flour
• 100 g cold butter
• 50 g powdered sugar

ALSO: 

• 800 g plums, halved and pitted (other fruit will also work, e.g. peaches, strawberries)

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat the oven to 175ºC.
• Sift the flour, pudding powder and baking powder.
• Mix the butter in a mixer until light and fluffy.  Keep on mixing and add the sugar and salt.  Add the eggs, one by one, mixing after every addition.
• Add the dry ingredients to the butter mix, and stir them in with a spatula until just combined (don't over-stir).
• Line a baking tray (20 x 30 cm) with parchment paper.  Transfer the batter onto the tray, even out.
• Distribute the plums evenly on the batter, skin side down.
• Prepare the crumble by quickly mixing the ingredients by hand.  Sprinkle on top of the plums.
• Bake for approx. 45 minutes.  Test if the cake is done wh a woden skewer / matchstick - if they still come out wet, bake a bit longer.

The recipe comes from Dorotus' blog (modified by me).

Bon appetit!

Snow!... and apple & plum crumble

 

Winter has come to Belgium!  It started snowing two days ago and a thin white coat covers the streets ever since.  Unfortunately a thin layer is all we get here -- still, it's better than nothing.  

 

One of the most beautiful winters I ever experienced was two years ago in Philadelphia (and that's where these winter pictures were taken).  A solid amount of snow, a brisk -8°C (just cold enough, but not too cold), and of course: blue sky and sunshine -- after all "it's always sunny in Philadelphia."

There is only one thing better than a walk in the snow on a sunny winter's day.  A walk in the snow on a sunny winter's day with a camera.  The photoholic that I am, I ventured on a quest to capture the beauty of winter.  I went through heaps of snow and half-frozen puddles, just to get the best shots.  

The results were great -- though I did pay the price of catching a cold and being stuck in bed for a few days (my shoes got completely soaked, so no wonder).  But who cares -- the mission was accomplished.

Of course, there are also downsides to such weather.  The snow in center city is a grey ugly mush, the pavements are so dirty and slippery that you can forget about wearing heels (sic!), and there are traffic jams everywhere.  (On the bright side -- it is always fun to watch people walk like a bunch of flamingos -- very careful not to slip on the icy surface).

Now imagine you just came back from such a wonderful winter walk.  You have the great pictures, your cheeks are nice and rosy, and... suddenly you start feeling very hungry.  Well, here is the perfect solution: a delicious, warm and filling crumble.  Apples go very well with plums, and the lemon zest just gives everything a fresh and festive taste.

Not to mention your whole house will be filled with the most divine apple-cinammon aroma.  Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or some custard: and you're all set!

Ingredients:

• 3 large apples (variety best suited for baking, such as Bramley)
• 500 g of pitted, halved plums (mine were frozen, and defrosted)
• Zest & juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 2 tbsp of sugar
• 150 g of butter (soft)
• 200 g of flour
• 100 g of rolled oats
• 115 g of light brown sugar
• A couple of handfuls of nuts (I only had pine nuts, but chopped walnuts would be the best)

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 175 °C.
• Core the apples and cut them in chunks.  Toss with plums in bowl, adding lemon zest and juice, cinnamon, and 2 tbsp of sugar (you can add more or less -- depending on your taste and the taste of the apples).
• Cut the butter in chunks and mix with the remaining ingredients until you get a crumbling mixture (easiest just using your hands).
• Put fruit in a baking dish, sprinkle with crumble.
• Bake around 40 minutes until fruit is bubbling, and the crumble is golden.  Serve hot.

Bon appetit!