Strip "The King" Wheathers - Number 43!

This week was another great success! We had the pleasure of making Seared Pork Fillet & Catherine-Wheel Sausage, Meaty Mushroom Sauce, Celeriac Mash and Garlicky Beans. It was simply delicious - a lovely warming meal, full of flavour, fairly easy to make (one Catherine-Wheel flipping incident not withstanding) and generally just really satisfying! We had fabulous company, a few sneaky ciders and excellent conversation, making for one of the most fun dinner parties I have been at in a little while!

Let's start with the pork - as is the case with many of Mr Oliver's mains, it is a pretty low fuss affair. You season the meat, throw it in a pan, then move it to the oven and leave it be. It really was as simple as that, and thank goodness because raw pork fillet is not an attractive sight. If we're being honest, when DH pulled it out of the fridge and sat it on the bench in front of me, I had to stifle a little gag before asking her "really? This is......we're really going to eat this?" as she nodded seriously. So preparing the pork, while simple in theory, is on the list with my other least favourite food preparation moments (right up there with the scale and gut job I had to do on the sardines way back when). Lucky for our butcher, the pork actually came up great and was really lovely as a finished product.

The Catherine-wheel sausage was interesting as well. Sure, it's simple enough to coil up into a circular shape. The skewering part looks easy too. And then you end up with half your skewer sticking out where it shouldn't, the other half buried somewhere in the meat and, if you're not careful, the skewers will turn out to be too long to fit in the frying pan and you'll end up with a sausage wheel that is refusing to go into the frying pan like a cat over a bathtub. But that won't be the end of your troubles. You'll also have to figure out how to flip the damn thing, when it is way too big for your spatula and even a little spatula/tong combination approach won't go to plan - unless you have a second set of hands present to hold the frying pan and assist in the flipping motion. But thankfully the dish actually came up really lovely and all the hassle was forgotten. Sort of.

The sauce is honestly the greatest part of this dish, and if you ever have the chance to make it I recommend that you do. We left the kidney out and substituted in more bacon (as mentioned previously, organ meat has never been, is not currently and will never be an item on a menu of mine. Plus bacon is awesome and where there is the opportunity to use additional amounts, one must oblige). We also used a port instead of marsala, simply because that is what we had. Sadly, it doesn't light up and flame the way that marsala does, but it still tastes delicious. The sauce is beautiful and creamy, though it did take some work to get the balance of flavours right. I ended up using almost double the amount of cream called for and can recommend going really easy on the English mustard - one tablespoon ended up being a bit too much! But by the time we were ready to serve, it was perfect. I will definitely be making this again, to go on my steak!

The celeriac mash was dull, if we're being perfectly honest. It tasted okay, it was minimal fuss (always a plus!) and served as a nice neutral base on which to pile delicious pork and gravy. But it was definitely missing something. The plate looked a little gray and boring without any colourful veg or salad on it, and it seemed a little dreary. I think the meal could have benefited from a sweet potato mash to go with the green beans, or maybe some carrots and asparagus. Anything to get a bit of colour on the plate! But aside from that, it was delicious and a really enjoyable meal.

And that is how it was done! It is getting easier and easier to make the meals and I'm finding we're working through them a lot faster than we used to. We have quite the good little system working for us now. And next time we get to show off our skills again, making Pork Chops & Crispy Crackling, Crushed Potatoes, Minty Cabbage and Peaches'n'Custard! Looks like we're in for another yummy week.

See you next time - Bon Appetit!