Holiday Season, Another Plane?

I was thinking about all the food we, as a group or I as a person, consumed over this Christmas period and wondering how come the celebration of the birth of a holy child turned into such a guzzle fest. How many people even stop to think what it is they are celebrating but party hearty and thoughtlessly for the whole period. For many it doesn’t end there, they celebrate the death of this same child by eating roast lamb and consuming chocolate bunnies and Easter eggs. Most of us do not celebrate our own birthdays with so much food. I know a lot of the celebrations include getting together with families which is a great thing, but tables groaning with food don’t quite equate with mangers in a stable somehow. I am not pleading innocence in all this, I have been stuffing myself as much as anyone the last few days and I cannot imagine my Easter without roast lamb and a Lindt gold bunny. Yes, I know a lot of people go to church, but I would guess a lot more don’t.

A Beer for the Shower referred to Malaysian Airlines and the fact of the disappearance of a plane, but it seems we have another disappearing plane in the news. How dreadful this must be for the families but if they really have crashed into the sea, can you imagine the terror of being on the plane and knowing it was crashing and where. They haven’t a clue about the Malaysian plane, I do hope the same won’t be applicable to this Asian plane.

As you may have guessed, having started with a 9lb lump of pork leg the other day, we have a lot of pork left. We have, of course, had a couple of meals of cold pork with various leftover veg, however, the following recipe arrived in my email from MyRecipes.com on Monday so I adapted it to use cooked pork. I shredded some cooked pork and then near to serving time I warmed it through in the microwave. Obviously that means I skipped steps one and two. It was delicious and I will be doing it once more whilst we still have the pork. Not worth buying Almond Sauce specially, not something we would eat normally.

Noodles with Roast Pork and Almond Sauce

Serve this delicious Thai-inspired pork dish over noodles or, if you prefer, rice.
Cooking Light OCTOBER 2009

• Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups)

Ingredients

• 1/2 teaspoon canola oil
• 1/2 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed ( I used cooked pork and warmed it in the microwave)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 8 ounces uncooked fettuccine (I used egg noodles)
• 1/4 cup almond butter 2 1/2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce (I used peanut butter)
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce (used Tabasco and fresh garlic)
• 1 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint (didn’t have so left out)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Drizzle oil in an ovenproof skillet. Sprinkle pork with 1/8 teaspoon salt and pepper; place pork in pan. Bake at 425° for 10 minutes. Turn pork over, and bake an additional 10 minutes or until a thermometer registers 155°. Place pork on a cutting board; let stand 10 minutes. Shred pork into small pieces.
3. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain pasta in a colander over a bowl, reserving 2 tablespoons pasta water; keep pasta warm.
4. Combine almond butter, 2 tablespoons pasta water, remaining salt, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, and chili garlic sauce. Divide pasta evenly among 4 bowls; top evenly with sauce, pork, onions, and mint.

Have a great day