Stuffed Pork Loin

Easy to make and delicious to eat! Thanks to my MOM for this great recipe!

Ingredients
1 pork loin or half, if too large
1 apple chopped finely
6 fresh sage leaves chopped finely
3 or 4 sun dried tomatoes chopped
2 or 3 fresh garlic cloves chopped finely
1 tbsp mango chutney, salt and pepper.

Method

Slit loin in half lengthwise, then slit again on either side of cut to extract a flap on each side. Beat gently with a meat hammer to flatten.

Mix all other ingredients together, spread over meat

Roll the meat and tie tightly with string.

Put in oven proof dish previously sprayed with oil. Drizzle a little oil over meat. Add salt and pepper as necessary.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375F. till an inserted thermometer registers an inner temperature of 170F. Take out of oven and cover with foil and let it rest at least 15-20 minutes. Slice and serve with desired sides.

Baked Rice - Ross Fil Forn

Baked Rice

This traditional dish was always accompanied by a (for want of a better name) sauce made of white vinegar and finely chopped onions that we would sprinkle over the rice. DO NOT put too much or the flavor will be overwhelming but just the right amount and you have a most original dish!

Ingredients

3 cups of rice

3 eggs, beaten

2 cups evaporated milk

3 tbs tomato puree

1 onion chopped

1 1/2 cups tomato pulp

250gms corned beef (canned)

600 g ground beef

150 g grated cheese

2 cups chicken stock

8 cups hot water

Salt and pepper

Method:
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Add the onion and ground beef and cook, stirring until the beef is evenly browned.

Mix in the crushed tomatoes, chicken stock and tomato puree.

Simmer for 25 minutes over low heat.

Meanwhile, place the rice into a saucepan with enough water to cover by one inch.

Bring to a boil, and cook for about 10 minutes (halfway), then drain off water.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Mix in the half-cooked rice into the meat mix.

Stir in the milk, eggs, and cheese

season with salt and pepper.

Transfer to a greased baking dish.

Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top.

Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the rice is tender, and the liquid has been absorbed.

Bollito

Boiled meats...hmmmm....doesn't sound very appetizing but when accompanied with Mostardo di Cremona it is a unique and really good dish - as well as being dead easy to make!

I first tasted it in Lugano, the Italian part of Switzerland. We bought the mostarda the first time then made it ourselves!

The variety of meats used is important because each compliments the other, producing the unique concoction.You should include beef, veal, pork, chicken, tongue, zampone or cotechino, and feel free to add whatever other cuts of meat you feel might work. The pieces should be from older animals, because they will be more flavorful, and should also be large - this means that a good bollito misto is ideal for a convivial meal with friends, or for when you want to make something that will provide leftovers for several meals. In terms of cooking technique, preparing a bollito misto is extremely simple.

Bollito =Boil - and that’s it!

INGRIDIENTS

2 1/4 pounds beef -- the cut used in Italy is shoulder; beef brisket should do

2 1/4 pounds neck or breast of veal

1 lb lean pork

1 veal's tongue, weighing 1 1/4 pounds

1 chicken, weighing about 2 1/4 pounds

1 cotechino weighing about 3/4 pound (pork sausage, available in Italian delicatessens.You can also use a zampone, which is a stuffed pig's trotter.)

2 carrots

2 sticks celery

2 onions, stuck with 2 cloves each

Salt

METHOD

Cut meats into large chunks

Fill a large pot with water sufficient to cover the meat.

Lightly salt the water, add the vegetables, bring the water to a boil before adding the beef (the heat will seal in its juices).

Reduce the flame to a simmer, and after about an hour, add the breast of veal, pork and chicken

In the meantime, set a second pot of lightly salted water on the fire, bring it to a boil, and begin simmering the tongue when you add the veal and chicken to the beef.
If you are using a fresh cotechino or zampone set it in a pot of cold lightly salted water at this time (prick the cotechino all over, or loosen the string of the zampone first) and begin simmering it. If you instead buy precooked sausage, follow the instructions on the package. The meats will be done when they are fork-tender, this will take about an hour or slightly more from when you add the veal and the chicken to the beef.

This should be served with Mostarda di Cremona (see recipe) boiled potatoes or other vegetables and Italian-style bread.

Mostarda di Cremona is what most Italians think of when they hear the word mostarda. It has a very particular taste but can end up being really addictive. Mostarda is a must with Bollito

Ingredients:

12 ounces (300 g) pears

8 ounces (200 g) quinces

6 ounces (150 g) cherries

8 ounces (200 g) apricots

10 ounces (250 g) figs

8 ounces (200 g) peaches

3 tablespoons powdered mustard seed

3 1/2 cups (800 g) sugar

2 cups white wine vinegar

Preparation:

Wash and Dry the fruit and cut in quarters.
Heat about a quart of water in a large pot, and when it begins to simmer slowly stir in the sugar. When it has all melted, add the quinces.

Simmer 20 minutes, then add the pears.

Then the peaches, apricots, and cherries & figs, at five minute intervals.

When you've added everything, simmer the mixture for 10 minutes, then turn off the flame and let it cool.
In the meantime, heat the vinegar, and stir in the mustard, then let the mixture cool.
Transfer the fruit from the syrup to sterile jars with a slotted spoon. Mix the syrup and the vinegar mixture, pour the resulting sauce over the fruit, seal the jars, and store them in a cool dry place.

Serve with the bollito!