Balsamic-glazed Pork Steaks

Can I say right out that I am not a fan of Balsamic Vinegar?  Unless it is very good quality (and, therefore, very expensive) stuff from Modena, I tend to find it sharp and overwhelming.  This is a good way to use it, however - in small quantities, and tempered with the sweetness of honey.  It is dead simple - saute a couple of boneless pork steaks (organic, free-range, outdoor reared, and British, please) in a knob of butter and dash of olive oil.  Make sure the meat is well seasoned with salt and pepper, and don't fiddle with it.  Let it get a good crust on each side, around 5 minutes for the first side and 4 for the other.  Unless your pork is very thick, this will be plenty of time to cook through, yet still be moist and juicy.  After about 9 minutes is up, pour in 120ml of white wine, 2 tablespoons of Balsamic vinegar and a tablespoon of runny honey.  Stir and baste the meat with the sauce and let it reduce down to a syrupy glaze.  Serve straight away with the glaze poured over.  It went very nicely with simple boiled rice, some braised fennel and steamed broccoli.  Mash would be good too.

Honey and Mustard Baked Pork Fillet with Parsnips [#223]

I love Donna Hay. I could so easily have made her the subject of the Challenge for the entire year, and might well do in 2011! Her recipes are elegant, simple, healthy and always work. This could scarcely have been simpler - pork fillet spread with grain mustard, honey and oregano, and roasted over chunky parsnips, which in turn absorb the fragrant juices from the pork, emerging tender and soft, not tough and charred, like roast parsnips often do. Loads of leftovers for tomorrow, too. We drank an Alsace Pinot Gris with this - crisper and less sweet than a Riesling, but still with enough fruit and honeyed sweetness to match the pork.

Sweet and Sticky Chicken Wings [#166]

...or skinless chicken thighs in my case, as I'm not hugely keen on the skin and bones of chicken wings. Lovely, sticky coating of lemon, honey, mustard and garlic, and the chicken cooked to a glossy umber succulence. Nigel suggested a salad of beanshoots and cucumber to follow, so we went back to the May section of the Diary for a very nice Hot, Sour Beanshoot Salad (see next entry). Washed down with Vintage Somerset Cider, this was a yummy Saturday supper! One tip if you cook this - you should fastidiously and copiously line the baking sheet with foil, or else you will be washing up for a week.

Pork Ribs with Honey and Anise [#161]

My other half has just said 'yum', which for him, is quite an emotional outburst. These have just gone into our top 10 of recipes cooked so far in this challenge - but a word of warning....you MUST cook them my way, not Nigel's!!! Nigel puts the delicious marinade/coating of oyster sauce (hoisin in my case), honey, chilli and garlic onto the raw ribs and then bakes them. As any of my Chinese readers will attest, this is anathema! My lovely friend, Gi, who makes the world's most delicious ribs, insists that you simmer them in water first for an hour. This renders some of the fat and tenderises the meat. It then soaks up the marinade much more readily, and cooks in the oven to a succulent tenderness. But, apart from that, top recipe Nigel, with sweet, lightly spiced flavours enhancing the meat to perfection. We served ours with a stir-fry of bitter kale and sweet red peppers, which were a lovely counterpoint to the pork. If you cook this recipe - and I strongly recommend that you do - you might think that 1.5 kilos of ribs is waaaay too much for two. Let me tell you, it isn't, and you will find yourself greedily wondering why you didn't double the recipe as you sink your teeth into your twelfth piece.