Beginnings

Well, here we go...

I know absolutely nothing about blogging, so this will be a steep learning curve. I decided to do something like this because I love to cook, collect recipes, share food ideas, invent etc and I regularly share my food interests and what I've cooked in social media. Most of my friends say they love to see and hear what I'm creating, but I worry the rest think - oh no, here she goes again...

Mostly the feedback I get is that people can't believe I go to so much trouble - but I really don't! I purposely look for easy recipes that I have the ingredients for and that don't take too much time to create. I'm trying to be creative enough though to not bore my family with the same old, same old.

So - I don't know how long this will last - whether anyone will be interested.. but I thought I could post here things like what's for dinner tonight, my thoughts, explore ingredients we've never heard of, answer questions etc

Tonight's dinner:

Tonight I made Slow-roasted Pork Belly with Asian greens.

It was a recipe I got off Taste.com.au (one of my favs!!)

The recipe listed the ingredients as the following:

• 1.2kg piece pork belly
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp yellow rock sugar (see note)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 star anise
• 1 strip orange peel
• 1 bunch choy sum, ends trimmed, coarsely chopped
• 1 bunch chinese broccoli, ends trimmed, coarsely chopped
• 
  

Steamed jasmine rice, to serve
Now I only had an 800g pork belly - but I didn't have to adjust the measurements at all. I had never heard of yellow rock sugar - so substituted it with brown sugar, I used a teaspoon of cinnamon rather than a stick and a teaspoon of five spice powder instead of star anise. Now see some people might see those ingredients and be put off the recipe, so give it a miss, but being confident in your flavours will help you work out your substitutes.
Its the same with the asian veges - use whatever greens you like - I used pak choy because a large bunch at the supermarket is only around $2 and is readily available. You could easily use cabbage, spinach, broccoli etc - it's just they are not such an asian flavour.
The method is as follows:
Step 1                  Preheat oven to 160°C. Place the pork, skin side up on a clean surface. Use a small    sharp knife to score the skin. Drizzle with oil and season well with salt and pepper. Place in a roasting pan and pour cup (125ml) of the chicken stock around the pork.

1. Step 2
   Cover with foil and roast, basting occasionally, for 1 hour 30 minutes.
2. Step 3
   Remove the foil and roast for a further 30 minutes or until meat is tender. Remove from heat and top the pork with a roasting pan to flatten. Set aside to cool slightly.
3. Step 4
   Meanwhile, combine the soy sauce, sugar, cinnamon, star anise, orange and remaining stock in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes or until aromatic. Remove from heat and set aside to infuse.
4. Step 5
   Preheat grill on high. Use a sharp knife to cut pork into four 12cm squares. Place in a clean roasting pan, skin side up. Drizzle with extra oil and season with salt. Cook under grill for 5-7 minutes or until skin is golden brown and crisp.
5. Step 6
   Heat a wok over high heat. Add the choy sum, chinese broccoli and half the chicken stock mixture and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes or until choy sum and broccoli start to wilt. Remove from heat.
6. Step 7
   Divide the Asian greens among shallow serving bowls. Top with pork and drizzle with chicken stock mixture. Serve immediately with jasmine rice, if desired.

It can be daunting to see so many steps - but really its just about breaking it down and doing the 1 step at a time. SO yummy!! Feeds 4 comfortably, although we aren't very big eaters - so adjust the quantities to suit your needs.
So that's tonight's blog, my first... hopefully you'll find it interesting and helpful. Feel free to ask questions and leave feedback, it'll make it more interesting to anyone who reads it :o)
Just need to add that I am in NO way an expert, am not trained - just an enthusiast, who'd like to share xx