One of the best things about Easter for me is being able to have the time to have a lovely brunch with family and friends, especially if we are lucky enough to catch the weather and eat outside on the deck before winter settles in.
The last few weeks have been a mad rush with cooking for the Sanya Ocean Racing Team and various other catering jobs, so tomorrow is family time to be savoured.
A proper Eggs Benidict is so easy to do and makes the occasion so special. I know that you can buy hollandaise in the shops these days, but now and again it’s really cool to make your own, trust me the taste makes the effort really worth it. Many people are put off making there own hollandaise by all the horror stories of how it can go wrong. To be honest all the chefs on TV will demonstrate how to make it by hand with a whisk in a bowl over boiling water and then as soon as the camera stops rolling and the kitchen door closes they will use the blender because it’s so easy and almost foolproof. Yes I know you’ve all just noticed the “almost”, let me explain, it is possible to make a hollandaise split but never fear all you need to do is drop a small ice cube in and whizz it again in the blender to bring it back to it’s former glory. See I told you it was easy.
Happy Easter to you all, enjoy you’re long weekend and also the changing of the season as we start to look at all the wonderful winter comfort foods that are to come over the next few months.
Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon
Serves 2
2 English muffins
4 pieces ‘Aoraki’ smoked salmon
4 poached eggs (see below)
4 tablespoons ‘Quick Blender Hollandaise’ sauce (see below)
Method
Split each muffin, toast and butter. Cover each half with smoked salmon. Top with a poached egg and a good dollop of hollandaise sauce.
Perfect Poached Eggs
Serves 1
2 very fresh, free-range eggs
Plenty of boiling water
Method
Fill a large pan with water and bring to just below boiling. Use a spoon to get the water moving in a gentle circle and break the eggs in. Keep swirling the water gently while cooking the eggs – it may take up to 10 minutes. Do not rush the process; otherwise the white will separate from the egg.
To check if the egg is cooked, lift gently with a slotted spoon and check that none of the white is still transparent; it should be fairly solid and plump around the yolk.
Quick Blender Hollandaise
Makes 600ml
175g butter
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
4 tablespoons lemon juice
6 large egg yolks
A large pinch of salt
6 rounded tablespoons fresh chives, snipped
Method
Melt butter slowly in a small saucepan. Place wine vinegar and lemon juice in another pan and bring to the boil. Meanwhile blend egg yolks in a food processor or liquidiser, then – with the motor still running – gradually add the hot lemon and vinegar. When the butter reaches the boil, trickle this in very slowly, with motor still running until it is all added and the sauce is thickened. Stir in snipped chives.
Wine Match
What else with a late brunch but a bottle of bubbles, and why not the local option of the sparkly from Mortons in Katikati.
This time of year we all crave the sort of comfort food that reminds us of our childhood and for me that means Sticky Toffee Pudding with a Butterscotch Sauce.
I first tasted this sublime dessert at the Sharrow Bay Hotel in the English Lake District over thirty years ago. The owners, Brian Sack and Francis Coulson, ran this iconic hotel for more than fifty years and are, quite rightly, credited with inventing the country lodge- of which there are now several hundred in Britain – and they epitomised the characteristics which made their hotel perhaps the best known of its kind in the world.
It was a different time then, a time when the major goal of every chef was to make the food as rich as possible, so much so that the famous quote was one doctor’s jest that dining at Sharrow Bay was “the quickest and most pleasurable way to a coronary I know”. Now times have changed and we all worry about what is in our food, how much animal fat or sugar, and it is the role of us chefs to be at the forefront of the fight for good food. We are right to recognize the fact that what we eat is the single most important decision that we make everyday.
On the basis that we are what we eat, today I am cold and in need of comfort, so as a treat I’m going back in time to sit in that chintzy dining room surrounded by bazaar cherubs where Coulson was dedicated to his kitchen, championing local food and cooking, while Sack cosseted and entertained their many devotees. Ah, nostalgia is a wonderful thing.
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Serves 8
110g softened butter
175g caster sugar
3 beaten eggs
225g self raising flour
225g stoned dates chopped and covered with 275ml boiling water
1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 tablespoon coffee extract
For the topping:
75g brown sugar
50g butter
45ml double cream
Method
Cream butter and sugar and slowly add the beaten eggs. Fold in the sifted flour. In a separate bowl put the chopped dates and boiling water, then add the vanilla essence, coffee extract and lastly bicarbonate of soda. Mix together the two mixes, folding carefully and turn into a buttered 23cm cake tin. (The batter will be very runny.) Bake for 1½ hours at 180˚C. Meanwhile, bring together topping ingredients in a pan and place over a medium heat. When well melted, pour over cooked pudding and place under a hot grill until it bubbles.
For those that need a little extra comfort try the Little Sweetie from Mills Reef, Bliss.
The nights are starting to draw in and getting much cooler so the time is right for some warming snacks. If you’re the type of person for some dusk fishing or maybe just watching some evening sport then what could be finer than a beautiful hot Cornish Pasty. Try wrapping it in foil and slipping it into your pocket, the anticipation from the warmth will drive you mad.
Pasties have probably been made in England since 13th century. Originally they were eaten by the wealthy upper classes and even royalty although the pastry wasn’t eaten as it was merely there to protect the meaty contents.
Around the 18th or 19th century the cornish pasty came into existance. With the development of tin and copper mining in Cornwall, the miners who worked long hours in terrible conditions, needed a nutritious yet portable meal to last them through the day.
The traditional cornish pasty contained beef mixed with potatoes onion and turnip. Pasties could even have a savoury end and a sweet end, rather like a two course meal. The glorious half moon shape with the ropelike crimp on one side made it easy to hold in the fingers whilst eating the filling and then the ropelike crimp could be discarded. This was very important as the miners fingers were dirty and worse, where there is tin there is often arsenic.
Now I really don’t want to enter the debate on what pastry to use, I prefer puff pastry but savoury pastry is probably more traditional and if the delicious ones that I had at the Earth Hour Market the other week are anything to go by then the choice is yours.
Cornish Pasties
Serves 4
750g puff or savoury pastry
225g beef skirt, sliced thinly
1 medium potato, thinly shredded
1 large onion, peeled thinly sliced
1 small swede, thinly shredded
1 carrot, thinly shredded
25g butter
1 beaten egg
Salt and pepper
Method
Preheat oven to 200°C / 400°F.
Roll out pastry and cut discs approx 20cm in diameter. Season the meat and vegetables separately with salt and pepper. Melt butter and trickle over vegetables. Layer the meat to one side of pastry between individual layers of swede, carrot, potato and onion. Brush border of the pastry with beaten egg. Fold over and seal. The edge can now be rolled and pinched from one edge to the other, giving a rope effect.
Place pasties on a greased baking tray and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Reduce temperature to 180°C / 350°F and continue to cook for 30 to 35 minutes. Serve hot from oven or cold on a picnic!
Too often we forget the humble beer and in New Zealand we have some extraordinary artisan brewers, I had the pleasure of working with Mike’s organic beer on a recent filming for the food channel and let me tell you their Whisky Porter is stunning. They’re hard to find but if you are in Taranaki bring some back with you.
Easter’s coming, the musicians are warming up and the weather’s going to be great (I hope!!!) and that makes it time to celebrate before winter is upon us. How and why chocolate, eggs and bunny rabbits ended up being associated with Easter I have no idea, but on the basis that we barely need an excuse to eat chocolate, I say bring out all the good stuff.
This recipe is made up of the most wonderful sunken chocolate cake and quite simply the best chocolate mousse in the world. Separately they are both great but together they will knock your socks off. The difference in textures makes this one of the most decadent desserts that you will ever eat and with the sharpness of a raspberry coulis, simply divine.
The big trick with this one is to use the best chocolate that you can find, at least 70% coco solid. If you ignore the commercial brands and don’t want to use imported brands then try the Whittaker’s or, if you can find it, Donovan’s Chocolate from Hamilton. You’ll also notice that we’re using raw eggs in the mousse, so best to use the freshest organic eggs that you can.
Chocolate Marquise
Serves 10 for a dinner pasty or less if you’re taking sneaky spoonfuls from the fridge.
Cake Base
Melted butter for greasing
2 tablespoon ground almonds
300g dark chocolate
275g caster sugar
165g unsalted butter
pinch of sea salt
5 large eggs
Mousse
250g dark chocolate broken into pieces
50g softened unsalted butter
Whites of 9 very fresh eggs, plus 6 yolks
125g caster sugar
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush 20cm springform cake tin with butter and dust with some ground almonds. Melt the chocolate, sugar, butter and salt in a large bowl over boiling water. Whisk the eggs with the ground almonds and fold into the chocolate mixture off the heat until it thickens. Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake for 35 – 40 minutes. Leave to cool for a couple of hours before starting the mousse.
Place the broken chocolate in a heatproof bowl and melt in the microwave; it should take about 3 minutes but keep checking every 20 seconds with a fork. When melted, beat in the butter until smooth and light.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until frothy, then add 1 tablespoon of the sugar and whisk until stiff. Now slowly add the remaining sugar while whisking all the time. Beat the meringue mix until strong and elastic, and then mix in the egg yolks. Stir half the egg mix into the chocolate mix and then gently fold in the remainder. Pour the mousse over the cooled cake base in the cake tin and refrigerate overnight to set.
Remove from the fridge about 15 minutes before serving. Dip a palette knife into boiling water, dry it and slide it around the sides of the cake to loosen it from the tin, and then remove the ring. Re-heat the palette knife and gently smooth the side of the mouse. Dust with cocoa before serving and enjoy.
Wine match
Always difficult to match wine with chocolate, but for me port is the best option. Try the port from Mills Reef for a real treat.
I realise that over the last couple of months I’ve been a bit remiss with my recipes, let’s face it savoury is great but it’s always nice to be sweet. So here goes with one of those fruits that is bang in season at the moment and if you pop along to the farmers markets this weekend I’m sure you’ll find some, probably from Mamaku Blue (the same wonderful people who do the gooseberries).
The blueberry is one of the few fruits native to North America. For centuries, blueberries were gathered from the forests and the bogs by Native Americans and consumed fresh or preserved. Revered by Northeast Native American tribes, blueberries, leaves and roots were used for medicinal purposes while the juice made an excellent dye for baskets and cloth. In food preparation, dried blueberries were added to stews, soups and meats.
In New Zealand, blueberries are prospering due to interest in the health attributes associated with the blue pigments. Studies from Tufts University USA claim blueberries as the ‘miracle berry’. Research shows half a cup per person per day has enough antioxidants to reverse the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, reduce or reverse arthritis, skin ageing and has some positive effect on cancers. Blueberries may also be effective at lowering cholesterol and have fewer side effects than commercial drugs.
Blueberry Frangipane Tart with Vanilla Sauce
This dish brings back memories of walking past pâtisseries in Paris and drooling over a window full of glossy frangipane tarts just begging to be eaten! The tart works well with any berry fruit, stone fruit or pip fruit, but what tastes better than New Zealand blueberries fresh off the bush?
Serves 8
1 Sweet Pastry case
175g plain flour
40g icing sugar
75g softened unsalted butter
pinch salt
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp water or milk
seeds of 1/2 vanilla pod and grated zest of 1/2 a lemon
Almond Paste or Frangipane
225g cold unsalted butter
225g caster sugar
175g ground almonds
50g plain flour
4 eggs
150g blueberries
2 tbsp apricot jam
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tbsp water
- Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and process until it forms a firm dough.
- Turn out and knead lightly before placing in a polythene bag and leaving in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.
- Preheat oven to 200˚C and place a solid baking sheet inside as well to preheat.
- Roll out pastry as thinly as possible and carefully line a 24cm flan tin. Prick the base with a fork (or use baking beans) and brush all over with beaten egg white. Bake on the baking sheet on the middle shelf for 20 minutes.
- Once cooled, the pastry case can be brushed with melted chocolate to stop it going soggy from the filling.
- Cream butter and sugar until almost white.
- Mix together flour and ground almonds.
- Add one egg at a time to the butter and sugar mix, sprinkling in a handful of ground almonds and flour at the same time to help the butter and sugar accept the eggs.
- Once all the eggs have been added, continue to fold in the remaining almond and flour mixture.
- Place half blueberries on base of pastry case. Pour over frangipane mixture. Place remaining blueberries on top of mixture in an attractive pattern.
- Bake at 200˚C for approximately 40 minutes, but check after 30 minutes to see if cooked. For smaller tarts, adjust time accordingly.
- Heat apricot jam with lemon juice and water. Sieve out seeds.
- Once cooled, turn tart out of tin, glaze with apricot jam.
- Serve with vanilla sauce.
Vanilla Sauce
Serves 10
6 egg yolks
120g caster sugar
500ml cream
2 vanilla pods, split
- Boil cream with vanilla in a saucepan.
- Meanwhile boil a second pan half filled with water.
- Mix eggs and sugar until pale and then add boiled cream very slowly.
- Mix well and place over a pan of boiling water, stirring continuously until the mixture thickens.
Wine Match
I’m one of those cooks that has a fascination with the seasons, not just for the different foods that become available but also for the different cooking styles that we can use. Imagine the cosy warmth of coming home on a cold winters evening to find this leg of lamb just coming out of the oven, bliss.
And it all just keeps on getting better as for me this seasons lamb is only now starting to show its true flavour, you see the little beasties have had a good six months on the paddock instead of the flavourless early season lamb. The end result is a wonderful full flavoured leg of lamb that quite frankly is so tender you could cut it with a spoon.
Just a final note on the bouquet garni, I know you can buy weird tea bag like things in the supermarket, but I beg you to make your own, especially with this dish. All you need to do is put together the fresh herbs that you want and tie them up with a bit of butchers string, don’t be shy about big sprigs of herbs as this will make it easier to tie up. For this dish I use parsley, thyme, a bit of rosemary and a bay leaf.
Seven Hour Leg of lamb
1 Large leg of Lamb about 3kg
50ml olive oil
8 shallots, thinly sliced (you can use 3 white or red onions instead)
6 medium carrots peeled and chopped to large dice
20 cloves of garlic (2 peeled and sliced, the rest just peeled)
300ml dry white wine
1 bouquet garni
seasoning
200g plain flour
200ml water
Method
Preheat the oven to 150°c while you prepare the lamb. Make small incisions in the lamb and push a slice of garlic into each one. Rub all over with the olive oil and then season with salt and pepper. Put the leg of lamb in a dutch oven along with the onions, carrots and the rest of the garlic, finally add the bouquet garni and the wine, and put the lid on.
Next comes the sneaky bit, make a rough bread dough out of the flour and water and use this to seal the lid on, much like grout. You won’t be eating this, it’s job is to create a seal. Place the dutch oven in the preheated oven and go and find something to do for about 7 hours.
Remove from the oven, break the seal and serve.
A good red wine would obviously work with this, but why not be a bit original and try a Viognier, the white wine with body and as luck would have it Mills Reef make an absolute cracker.
Oh what a changeable summer we’re having! And now those lovely people at weatherwatch are saying that we’ve seen the best of it and really we only have winter to look forward to. Well if that’s the case then its fast approaching time to dust off the comfort food recipes while quietly hoping that they are wrong and that late summer revival is on the way.
Just in case here’s one of those recipes that will comfort the whole house as it cooks and get the family eagerly sitting at the table. We all know that garlic and rosemary work so well with Lamb, but anchovies you must be joking. Trust me this really works by adding a maritime saltiness to the lamb, and for those that refuse to try anchovies or have only ever tried those nasty processed ones so beloved by pizzamakers, you won’t taste them as fish, it’s the flavour they impart to the lamb that is important. Also you won’t even be able to see them as they pretty much break down during the cooking process, so for the sneaky cooks amongst you try it and don’t let on, the only thing anyone will notice is just how amazing the lamb tastes.
The recipe is set up for a hooded BBQ, which works really well, however in the oven at 225 º c for the first 5 minutes and then down to 180ºc for the rest is just as good.
Roast Leg of Lamb
Serves 6 – 8
1 Leg of NZ Lamb
4 large cloves garlic, peeled and sliced into 3
75g tinned anchovies
1 bunch rosemary
75g softened butter
Juice of 1 lemon
Method
Stud the surface of the lamb with garlic, rosemary and half the anchovies. Beat the butter, lemon juice and remaining anchovy and spread over the skin. Place on a preheated hot barbeque for 5 minutes to sear, then turn down heat and cook with lid down for a further 50 minutes until core temperature reaches 62˚C (for medium rare.) Rest and serve.
WINE MATCH
I love a good merlot with lamb and you have to go a long way to beat the Bay’s own Mills Reef, try the Elsbeth Merlot 2009.
Apparently the next big thing in cooking is South American food, which is my cunning link to bring in Spanish food or more specifically Tapas. Now we all know Tapas as that endless array of nibbles on a Spanish bar or more recently the Tapas restaurants spread around our cities, but is that the real thing?
In a strange way it is as Tapas was invented by bar owners not by chefs, it is food that is intended to make you drink more by being salty and spicy. However the clue to its origins is actually in its name, tapa means, “to cover” and was literally that. The bar owner would put a little cover over the sweet sherry to stop the fruit flies getting in there before you did. It didn’t take long for one bar owner to realise that he could get an advantage over the bar down the street by popping some nice treat on the cover for you to eat, and so a new food style was born more than 400 years ago.
These two recipes are from different regions and are very traditional; as is often the case in old food cultures these are symphonies of balance with each ingredient playing its part. I’m using Serrano Ham but any air-dried ham can be used instead and please don’t miss out the green capsicum as their acidity really works with the sweet fattiness of the pork. Saludos y disfrutar.
Serranitos
This tapa is usually enjoyed around ’feria’ – or festival time – in May. Its origins are the sierra, or mountains, and it is a simple but delicious combination of flavours, rather like the Italian ‘saltimbocca’ and it too certainly ‘jumps in the mouth’!
Serves 4
1 pork fillet, about 400 to 500g, cut across into 8 slices and flattened with a knife
1 garlic clove, crushed to a paste with salt
½ teaspoon sweet Spanish smoked paprika
2 green peppers
10 tablespoons olive oil
8 slices ciabatta, sourdough or baguette, cut on the diagonal
70g thin slices cured ham (jamon Serrano)
Sea salt and black pepper
Method
Rub the garlic, paprika and freshly ground black pepper all over the pork and set aside for a good half hour to marinate. Halve peppers lengthways and pull out core and seeds. Cut each half into half again. Heat half the olive oil in a frypan over a medium heat. When hot, add peppers and fry on both sides until soft. Season and set aside.
When you’re ready to eat, lightly toast the bread. Heat remaining oil in a pan over a medium heat until it begins to smoke; add pork and fry quickly on one side for about a minute and turn over. Fry for another minute until cooked through but still juicy. Turn off the heat and season the meat well. Immediately transfer the fillets onto the bread, followed by the pepper and then the jamon. Grind on a little black pepper and eat immediately.
Spanish Ham on Tomato Bruschetta
Catalan in origin, bread with tomato and cured ham (jamon) is a Spanish institution. You can also grate the tomato, mix it with garlic and olive oil and spread it on the bread.
Slices of fresh bread – sourdough, ciabatta or a crusty roll
1 clove garlic
1 ripe tomato
Slices of Spanish air-dried ham
Olive oil
Method
Toast or grill the slices of bread. While still hot, rub with the clove of garlic until they absorb the flavour and then with half of the tomato. Add a pinch of salt, olive oil and finally top with the slice of Spanish ham.
Tapas are usually quite salty and spicy so need something that can cope with that, try a Maimai Creek Riesling from the Hawke’s Bay
It seems odd that as a person that comes from the UK, the spiritual home of the tea drinker, my day always starts with a wonderfully rich black coffee. To be honest I‘ve never been a tea drinker and have a sneaky feeling that the English need to drink tea has actually played its part in the steady decline of its economy, after all the tea break says it all.
Coffee on the other hand gives me a chance to get the old grey matter working and with the totally amazing choice of coffees in New Zealand that means anywhere anytime. When you look around the world there are only a few countries that truly love coffee, for me they are New Zealand, Australia and Italy. What about the rest of the world I hear you ask, well we’ve already touched on the English with their need for Tea so they can’t join the club, the Americans serve insipid dish water with the sole purpose of making a profit and the French use the coffee as a way of diluting the Cognac after dinner. As for the rest they either don’t care or serve it so strong that it would dissolve the spoon and keep you awake for 24 hours.
So here we are in one of the true homes of the coffee lover, where we have what seems like hundreds of small boutique coffee brands all steeped in the combination of science and alchemy that is the art of the coffee roaster.
This is New Zealand so I don’t need to bang on about buying local, as you already know which coffee you love and head for the café that serves your favorite brew. What I will say is don’t forget that coffee can be a great ingredient in cooking too, from cakes to coffee crusts on lamb, it can be incredibly versatile. This weeks recipe is the Italian classic Granita, the wonderful combination of coffee ice crystals, cream and warming liqueur. The perfect pick me up as we head towards summer.
Coffee Granita
Visit any of the wonderful pavement cafes in Rome and you’ll find this refreshing late-morning favorite being enjoyed by locals and tourists alike.
Serves 4
750ml Espresso or very strong hot coffee
150g Sugar
300ml lightly whipped cream
2 tablespoons of 8th Tribe Dark Spice
Method
Dissolve the sugar in the hot coffee, allow to cool, then pour into a shallow metal tray and freeze for 30 minutes.
Remove from the freezer and, using a fork, bring the partially frozen coffee from the edges into the still liquid centre and return to the freezer.
Repeat the fork treatment every 20 minutes until the mixture has become soft crystals of coffee ice, all separate, opaque and pale brown in colour. This should take about 2 – 3 hours.
Serve the Granita in well-chilled glasses, layered up with the whipped cream and 8th Tribe Dark Spice Liqueur.
My Tip
Don’t be tempted to use a whisk on the freezing coffee as the idea is to coax the ice crystals to form, and this is best done with a fork. Remember this is a granita not a sorbet , and the delicate crystals are what you’re looking for.
Booze Match
You’ll see from the recipe that I’m using 8th Tribe Dark Spice Liqueur, For those of you that haven’t tried it yet it’s a Green Walnut and Spice Liquer made right here in the Bay by Distillerie Deinlein at the top of the Minden. Whats more it tastes fantastic.
Yippee summer’s here, the garden is in full production mode and, after all the rain, the problem now is to use everything before it spoils!
Now we are constantly being told not to put tomatoes in the fridge, which is true, but here is an even better trick if you want the best flavour from your tomatoes, eat them straight from the plant still warm from the sun, there’s nothing better and if your plants are anything like mine at the moment then they are needing to be harvested almost daily.
This dish is a glorious blend of fresh and spicy and just aches to be plated on those lovely deep bowls and served to friends and family out on the deck with a lovely crisp and cold New Zealand Gewürztraminer.
You’ll see from the recipe that the cumin seeds and mustard seeds should be toasted and ground first, this is really worth it and so simple, just heat a frying pan and throw the seeds in and toast them for a few minutes without any oil and grind them in the pestle and mortar, then without washing the pan continue to the shallot cooking stage, this will increase the flavour profile of the whole dish.
ROASTED PORK TENDERLOIN WITH BOK CHOY, CURRIED TOMATOES AND AVOCADO
Ingredients
• I punnet cherry tomatoes
• 3 Tbsp. avocado oil
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1 chilli, sliced thinly
• ½ tsp. cumin seed, toasted and ground
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds, toasted and ground to a paste
• 4 Tbsp. lime juice, freshly squeezed
• 3 Tbsp. cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• ¼ cup chopped mint
• ¼ cup chopped parsley
• 1 tsp. plus a pinch r salt
• 3 ripe, Fresh Avocados
• 900g. trimmed pork tenderloin, trimmed of all silverskin and connective tissue
• 3 cups cleaned and thinly chopped bok choy
Instructions
Preheat oven to 180 degrees c. make the curried tomatoes. Place the tomatoes in a glass or ceramic bowl that can withstand a little heat. Season the tomatoes with the salt.
In a large fry pan bring avocado oil to a simmer over medium high heat, just below smoke point. Add shallot and then jalapeños. Fry off until tender, about two minutes and then add the cumin and the mustard seeds. Toast for about a minute and remove from heat.
Let cool slightly and then carefully add half of the lime juice and vinegar and then pour this over seasoned tomatoes. Add mint, parsley and about ½. of the salt. Let the tomatoes sit at room temperature for the flavors to mature while you roast the pork.
Slice the avocados in half lengthwise. Slice each half lengthwise again, gently removing seeds. Peel and discard the avocado skins and slice avocado into ¼-inch slices. In a medium bowl toss the avocado with the remaining lime juice and season with a pinch of salt. Add them to the curried tomatoes and toss gently.
Place a large frying pan over medium high heat and add the vegetable oil. Season the pork tenderloin with the remaining salt and then carefully add the pork to the pan, searing on all sides for a total time of 5 minutes on the stovetop. Place the pork in the oven and roast for 10 to 15 minutes, Remove the pork from the pan and let it rest on a cutting board for three minutes. While the pan is still hot add the bok choy and let it wilt in the pan, adding a pinch of salt to season. When the pork has rested slice it into thin rounds, about ¼-inch thick. Add the pork to the bok choy, toss lightly and then place the pork and bok choy on a platter, topping with the pickled tomatoes and avocados.
Wine Match
A good Gewürztraminer will really work with the spices and chilli better than most other wines, try the Bird Wines one for a great example.
