Many apologies to my dear readers for the lack of blog updates these past months. As often happens in student life, things had become rather busy with exams and my impending dissertation, but I am happy to report that I am now with my head above water. Another reason for Job-Seeker John and my absence is that barring the European Elections, little has happened politically of late, thus limiting fodder for the blog.
Happily though that all changed when Rebekah Brooks was 
miraculously declared ‘not-guilty’ by a verdict of our peers. I say ‘our peers’ because it’s well known that the abomination known as Ms. Brooks only keeps company with evil reptilian aliens hell bent on world domination via impoverishing the less fortunate and hacking into our voicemail. A dastardly bunch if every there was one.
The one element throughout the trial of Ms. Brooks that made me feel ever so slightly sorry for her was the vitriol she was served up in the press over her infamous Country Supper text to David Cameron, head honcho of reptileville. Who doesn’t love a Country Supper I ask? And can you blame her? After all, even reptilian humanoids need nourishment and where better than Oxfordshire?
In honour of our completed exams I held my very own Country Supper with some friends from uni. While it can’t in earnest be declared as such (given that I live opposite a gigantic partially used brownfield site in zone 2,
although I do like to think that my Christmas Tree partially makes up for it) the Pimm’s, festive atmosphere and unrelenting rain made it feel almost like it was one.
Here is a selection of our menu items:
Honey Ginger Glazed Pork
Any of you who know me in real life will likely be wondering why I haven’t uploaded a recipe using Pork Tenderloin, my favourite cut of meat. The answer is: I do not know. But here is one I made up last week then recreated the other day.
Ingredients
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup honey
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Salt. Lots of salt.
1 teaspoon cayenne peper
one inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
3 clover garlic
2 pork tenderloins
Step one: combine all ingredients bar the pork tenderloin in a dish large enough to marinate in. Taste and adjust seasoning using salt and soy sauce until it is well balanced.
Step two: Marinate the pork for about 2 hours.
Step three: Light your barbecue and heat to about 200-250 degrees celsius.
Step four: Grill the pork for 3 minutes on each side, ensuring grill marks are done in an elegant way (look this up). I like to cook my pork medium rare. I know this is controversial but I like living on the edge. While the pork is grilling bring the additional marinade to a boil in a pan, drop to a simmer and reduce by 1/3rd.
Step 4: Slice pork into delicious pieces and serve with sauce on the side.
Quinoa and Mango Salad
This recipe is entirely stolen from my mother’s blog, with some elements adjusted to ensure maximum frugality.
Ingredients
2 cups quinoa
4 cups vegetable stock
1 mango, diced
½ cup walnut pieces
1 carrot, shredded
4 green onions
Vinaigrette
½ cup vegetable oil
Juice of one lime (make it a juicy one though)
2 tablespoons rice vingar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
4 tablespoons mild curry powder
Step one: Prepare quinoa according to packet directions using the vegetable stock as the liquid base. Allow to cool.
Step two: mix vinegrette ingredients together and mix very, very well.
Step three: Combine everything together, mix well, and place in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.
Fennel and walnut vinaigrette
This recipe is also pilfered, this time from the Guardian (Sorry Guardian), but I don’t feel that badly because I actually invented the pork one on my own. I was worried that the fennel was too ‘fennelly’ to I soaked it in cold water for three hours beforehand to make it less so. I think to good results. This is definitely easier with a mandolin but I don’t have one so I slaved away with a knife especially sharpened for the occasion.
Ingredients
2 whole heads fennel
100g walnut halves
25ml white-wine vinegar
25g Dijon mustard
Salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Trim the fennel of any green fronds (save these for garnish, if you like), then cut horizontally into paper-thin ribbons and discard the root end. Toast the walnuts at 150C/300F/gas mark 2 for 10 minutes, then chop roughly. Whisk together vinegar, mustard and 5g of salt, then slowly add 200ml of oil, whisking or blitzing with a hand blender to emulsify, then add the nuts.
To serve, dress the fennel with olive oil, lemon juice and salt, and dribble over some walnut vinaigrette, but do this only at the last minute, so the fennel retains its crunch.
Cost
This mean was slightly more expensive than my usual threshold of affordability (it came in at 15.10 or £2.52 per person) so I redeemed my nectar points for it. I’m not going into the nectar scheme because I find it creepy (they send you lots of vouchers for things you buy frequently with weird incentives built in) but clearly it’s semi-useful for rainy days.
Until the next time ya’ll! And if you see Ms. Brooks in the streets of London (or Oxfordshire) don’t forget to shout your displeasure at her. She likely has no feelings anyways.
austerilicious 