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Porc Provençal

My son finally cooked off his first full meal - rather than being my sous-chef. No photos, I'm afraid, but tasty all the same. Taken from Rosemary Moon's 1995 book Classic French Cuisine (0 8317 1121 3), from which I have garnered many fine ideas and produced many a fine meal.
He used 3lb of sliced pork boneless chops, 1/4lb of butter, 4 cups of sliced onions, a large teaspoon of Herbes de Provence, 2lbs of sliced potatoes, and a 28oz can of diced tomatoes.
He browned the pork in half the butter (there were twelve slices, so quite a lot of taking and putting happened here!) and set it by. Then he browned the onions in the same butter before adding in the herbs, tomatoes, salt, and pepper. This mixture, was brought to a boil and reduced a bit before we filled a casserole with layers of vegetable, pork, and potato. Finally, it was cooked for 90 mins covered and then 30 more uncovered before serving.
Here's to Chez Mon Fils!

TTFN

Stuffed Mushrooms

  

I was late home this evening - not a healthy thing to do when your wife's hungry! 

Not only that, but I had to get on the phone and deal with things before starting to cook. By the time I actually started, we'd both snacked enough that the edges were off our appetites, so we remembered that we had mushrooms in the fridge, so why not that!

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter                    20 mushrooms, stalks removed

1 egg                                   2 slices of bread, crusts removed

1 tblsp vegetable oil             2 tsp Herbes de Provence

3 clove garlic, chopped (I used 2 tsp of pre-chopped)

salt & pepper                      grated Parmesan cheese

You'll need just a frying pan and a small mixing bowl - and a safe source of flame. I used a gas candle lighter. A spatula and a pair of tongs comes in very handy!

Method:

1. Tear up the bread, add the oil, Herbes, garlic, some salt and pepper, and the egg. Mash all this up well and you should get a fairly loose paste.
2. Take the stalks out of the mushrooms and fill the resulting holes with the mixture - don't heap is, because you're going for taste, not quantity.
3.  Melt half the butter gently in a pan. Once melted, add ten mushrooms and leave for about five minutes. By this time the mushrooms should be hard on top, still, but lightly-browned on the bottoms.
4. Flip all the mushrooms and cook for a couple more minutes, on a higher heat. This will cook the egg, which will expand, forcing the mix further into the mushroom.
5. Take out the mushrooms and arrange on a plate. Sprinkle each with Parmesan cheese.
6. Go over the top of each mushroom with the flame, browning the cheese.

The ten should be enough for two people: for another two, repeat the process, but add about a quarter stick of butter, as it'll be getting "used" as well as absorbed by the mushrooms.

Enjoy your meal! We did!

TTFN