The Odd Fork

The Odd Fork is not much of a big meat lover. However, today it decided to pinch meat.

An aromatic pork roll with roasted cauliflower which can be eaten on Sundays or even on Christmas time, as it is a special meal indeed!

It is of course obvious that a good piece of pork meat (pork tenderloin is ideal), is the base for this meal. The pork piece should also be thin so that it can be easily rolled, so use a mortar to flatten meat as possible. When ready, season both sides of pork with salt and pepper. Lay some mustard on the upper side of the pork and lay the stuffing evenly over it.
For the stuffing, just add a small green pepper, some fresh chopped parsley, a clove of garlic and some caper into your blender and blend to get a thick, smooth paste. Also add some olive oil, dried oregano, cumin and some orange zest and blend again until smooth. Just before rolling pork with its stuffing, sprinkle all over the top a small, grated carrot. It will give nice color and taste as well.

Roll the meat with the stuffing firmly and tie with baking string or poke meat with toothpicks to keep the roll from unraveling. Rub the outside of the roll with olive oil and place it in a roasting tray. Bake in a preheated oven, air setting, at 350C for for 35-40 minutes or until meat is tender and the color is golden brown.

The Odd Fork would normally make a nice, green salad to eat with its roasted pork but the "Odd" in its name asked for something else: Roasted, aromatic cauliflower!
Wash cauliflower thoroughly and and cut off the stems. Marinate them in a mixture of olive oil, lemon and orange juice, mashed garlic, paprika and a little of orange zest for half to 1 hour. Bake them with the pork roll (it takes less time than pork to bake, so add it in the roasting tray in the middle of baking).

Serve pork with roasted cauliflower hot and drink together a nice, white wine!

The Odd Fork got the inspiration for this recipe from the Greek traditional dish "Gioubetsi" which is made with veal, beef or even chicken and sometimes seafood. It is made in a pot on the kitchen stove where it boils with tomato paste and when the meat is tender, it is transferred in a baking casserole and with the addition of short pasta -usually orzo- it is baked until is soft and sauce is thick.

The Odd Fork cooked it in the pot over the kitchen stove, used millet instead of orzo, added many spices, carrots and red peppers and nice Greek black raisins and the result was a hearty, aromatic stew -probably far from mom's Gioubetsi, but still lovely!

Ingredients:

- 300 gr of veal stew meat, cut in small cubes

- a small onion, finely chopped

- a clove of garlic, finely chopped

- 2 red peppers cut in thin strips (the Odd Fork used the Greek "Florinis" peppers)

- 2 Tbsps of tomato paste (or a mini pack of 70 grams)

- 2 carrots grated in the cheese grater

- salt, pepper

- a pinch of dried spearmint

- a pinch of red hot pepper

- a pinch of nutmeg

- 2 bay leaves

- 3 whole cloves

- 2 to 3 allspice grains

- a whole star anise

- 2 to 3 Tbsps black raisins

- 1/2 cup uncooked millet

In a pot, add a tbsp of olive oil and sauté veal with onion and garlic. Add peppers, tomato paste and 2 cups of water. Stir well and when it comes to a boil add carrots, salt, pepper, all the spices and raisins and cook over medium heat for 40 - 45 minutes, until meat is tender. Add millet and cook uncovered for about 25 minutes or until millet is tender and it has absorbed most of the liquids.

The veal was tender like bread dough and the millet had infused all the aromas from the spices and raisins -it worked exactly like orzo! The Odd Fork pinched the food satisfied and paired it with a "ripe" semi-sweet red wine.

The Odd Fork hates to stay indoors for a long period of time. It likes to walk around, to pinch and discover new tastes and new things in general. But when due to bad weather it stays home, it usually spends its time cooking! So, today's recipe was made on a rainy day with whatever was left on the fridge, since the Odd Fork couldn't stand to go out in the rain and buy more things.

For a big serving, the Odd Fork used:

- a chicken breast, skin removed
- a wine glass of Greek ouzo
- a small onion finely chopped
- half a green apple cut in slices
- 2 small bay leaves
- half a tsp of dried basil
- 2 whole cloves
- half a tsp of mustard powder
- half a vegetable stock cube
- salt and pepper
- about a dozen of lettuce leaves (not so fresh to become a salad)
- a shot of evaporated milk
- a handful of almonds, coarsely ground
- rice for serving

Start by marinating the chicken breast in ouzo for about an hour, sealed in a plastic bag into the fridge. Remove it from the ouzo marinade, but keep the ouzo. In a pot over high heat, add a tbsp of olive oil and sauté the chicken until is white. Add onion and the apple slices, stir with a wooden spatula for a couple of minutes and deglaze with the ouzo.
Wait until the alcohol evaporates and add bay leaves, dried basil, cloves, mustard powder, stock cube, salt + pepper, stir once again and add water to half cover the chicken. Turn heat to medium, cover the pot with its lid and boil for about 30 - 40 minutes, until chicken is tender.

Then, uncover the pot, add the lettuce leaves chopped by hand and let the juices evaporate on high heat. Add the evaporated milk (a cheaper substitute for milk cream here) and the almonds and stirring carefully, let sauce thicken.

Serve this different creamy chicken with rice or a short type of pasta. Ouzo adds a sweet note to the chicken and is paired well with the creamy sauce. Another cooking improvisation in the Odd's Fork kitchen that was pinched with joy!