Pig - Cooking with a passion for pork by Johnnie Mountain

Johnnie Mountain is the chef and owner of a London restaurant celebrating the versatility of pork called, unsurprisingly, The English Pig. You might also know him as the chef who walked off Great British Menu in a tirade of beeps after he was (in my view) harshly judged by Marcus Wareing. If he's going to write a book, it can only be about pork, can't it?

Johnnie kindly arranged for a copy of his book to be sent to me to give it the once over. Even from a distance, there is no mistaking what this book is about!

The front section is full of useful and interesting information about pork, its different cuts, how to buy and how best to cook each part. I had never really thought too much about the different cuts so I found it very useful.

The pork recipes are divided into 4 chapters  - home favourites, cured, dried, preserved and smoked, spicy and aromatic and slow-cooked. There is an enormous variety of recipes - pretty much something for everyone. Some will be very inexpensive family recipes, others much grander for special occasions. They cater for every occasion, every budget and pretty much every level of cooking ability, whether you have a few minutes or several hours to cook. The layout of the recipes is nice and clear, with lots of lovely photographs which just make you drool.

I always worry that cookery books written by chefs will be, well, too cheffy. I have one book from which I have never cooked a single recipe - all the recipes are over a page long (and we're talking a large A4 book) and the list of ingredients is huge, with some ingredients difficult to find. I was glad to see that this was nothing like that. As you can see, the recipe is short and you can see at a glance how long it should take to make (although I always take those with a pinch of salt). For this recipe, the most unusual ingredient was smoked pancetta which I bought from a supermarket. I had a lot of ingredients already in my store cupboard.

The instructions are clear and simple, and easy to follow. However, if you need some extra help, some of the recipes (including this one, it's just out of shot) have QR codes which if you scan them, take you to videos that show you how to do some of the techniques described in the book. This is a brilliant feature of the book as sometimes, it's just so much easier to watch someone make something and then do it yourself with confidence. In this recipe, the video shows Johnnie moulding and wrapping the meatloaf. Here's my attempt.

The recipes really are mouth-watering. I have a list saved on my computer of things I want to make soon so I will be working my way through them over the coming months. They range from burgers to curries, stir fries to pasta dishes. And perhaps, one day, I'll try curing my own bacon or doing Johnnie's signature dish of slow roasted pork belly.

There's also a section at the end of the book containing recipes for standard accompaniments like mashed potatoes, gnocchi - even sticky red cabbage.

So far, I have cooked two recipes from the book. This is how my spicy pork meatloaf, which is served with a sauce a lot like home made brown sauce, turned out.

I also made a pork chilli which was very hard to determine was made from pork not beef, lifted by adding some dark chocolate near the end. Both dishes were very popular with all the family. Monkey particularly liked the sauce on the meatloaf but I feel this is just his northernness coming out. Missy Woo wasn't wild about the sauce but loved the meatloaf. Both were requested again by the children, which I always take to be a very good sign.

Quite simply, this book is THE definitive guide to cooking pork and turning even the humblest cut (pig's ears anyone?) into something delicious. Popular dishes are adapted for pork as well as the old favourites, plus some new dishes you want to try. If you love pork, or would like to love pork and cook it better, you will love this book.

(I was sent a free copy of this book.) 

Sponsored video - Clean Like a Mother?

This article has been sponsored by Method but all thoughts are mine!

When you are a mother, your whole life is against dirty. Fighting a losing battle, I’d say. As always, you have to strike a balance – too clean and no-one gets to relax plus there’s the school of thought that a little bit of dirt here and there helps build everyone’s immunity (the children rarely get ill, enough said) but you don’t want to have your house condemned as a health risk either.

The problem is if you make a vague attempt to be clean AND green. The two appear to be exclusive – whenever I’ve tried eco-friendly cleaning products, they’ve not been up to the job and I’ve ended up going back to the chemical filled nasties because, well, they work. Yet you want to keep the chemicals away from the children – there is a good reason for the childproof lock on the sink cupboard.

But now, there’s a brand called Method, who are the People Against Dirty. Their products are completely non-toxic, so they’re safe to use with kids around. The products are cruelty free, so even vegans can use them in the knowledge no animals have been harmed in the production or testing processes. And they are environmentally friendly – Method actively seek to reduce the carbon footprint of their products and their company.

It’s all very clever, but I should warn you, they are slightly bonkers. How do I know? Well, I’ve seen their latest campaign. Exhibit A - check out this video, appropriately named “Clean Like A Mother” about their multi-surface cleaners. Dig the dancing. And the beard. I love the beard.



I guarantee you’ll be singing “Give a little squirt, give a little squirt” for the rest of the day.

Cheating - on my gym?!

Isn't it silly how small things can throw you off? I am contemplating changing gyms and I feel like I'm committing some form of adultery.

Husband wants to do the Ironman next year. If you don't know what that is, it's a triathlon in super size. You swim a stupidly long distance, then get on your bike and ride even further and when that's all done, you then run a marathon. Lovely. The UK event - for it has gone global - is held in Bolton but the cycle course passes within a mile of our house. I think the fact it's so close is tempting the husband.

This means he will need to train. That means hours on a bike or on the road. So far, so good. But then, he also needs to spend time in the pool and some time in the gym working on strength. Currently, he does not have gym membership. Two years ago, he bought family membership for the local public gyms in our area and that was what got me back into Body Pump. It was familiar as I had been a member for a few years before Monkey and Missy Woo landed on this planet.

After a few months, I was the only one using the membership although I did benefit from half price holiday clubs for the children. Come renewal time, I changed my membership to a single one which was limited to the centre where I go to classes. This doesn't have a pool.

When husband told me he was thinking of doing the Ironman, he started looking at the prices of gym memberships. He does get a NHS discount so thought he would consider everything available in the area.

Yesterday afternoon, he came home from work and told me that he wanted to go to see the gym I used to belong to ages ago. I joined it as it opened, which just happened to coincide with my moving into the area. I was a member there a few years but to me, it was just a little too far to encourage me to attend when I had had a long day. I decided to trail along. With the children. This could have been a mistake.

Well, we loved it. In particular, the children. As a non-parent before, I never really appreciated how brilliant the stuff they did for children was - nor how huge the kids area is. Free classes, up to 4 hours in the kids club every day, the pool, everything. The basic layout of the rest of the gym has not changed much but the gym floor is huge, the studios are enormous and most importantly, everywhere is so well equipped. This has been something that has been my major problem with where I go now - a lot of the Body Pump equipment hasn't been replaced in over 10 years, some of it is bent or broken, and in busy classes, they regularly run out of the stuff you need unless you get there 15 minutes early.

Apart from the cost, it should be a no-brainer. I could go to class, relax in the spa, even do some work there (free Wi-Fi) whilst grabbing coffee or lunch. If I went to classes when husband is at work in the evening, the children could go into the club and be occupied. Nearly all their out of school activities could be covered.

But all around the gym, I felt totally torn. Why do I feel so bad? Some of it is guilt, like I'd be cheating on the people I go to class with - some of whom I've known for 10 years. And yet, these people aren't really friends outside of the gym. I might bump into them out and about (usually in the supermarket!) but that's it. I like the teachers who take my classes - but one of them teaches at both places and I'd be able to get to at least one of her classes. Another teacher I'm familiar with already takes another. I know all the staff on reception - most of them know me pretty well and one of them even recognised my voice when I rang up to book a class. The only thing that really annoys me is the state of the equipment and the fact the management won't do very much about it. One of the weekend staff told me once that I was the only person who ever complained about the equipment; with the subtext that I was a moaning Minnie - but I know that even the teachers have complained.

It's convenient (round the corner from school, 5 minutes from home), and it's comfortable, despite its failings. Perhaps it's the suddenness of it all that's thrown me. Perhaps it's the fact that I'm almost part of the furniture there. Perhaps I am not so comfortable with change as I thought I was. Perhaps I'm only happy with changes that I want to make. Perhaps I didn't love the potential new gym enough - as it does have a few downsides around class scheduling.

I don't know what to do. Husband has offered to pay the difference whilst I try it out. I want to give it an extended try whilst not giving up my current membership so I don't have to rejoin if it doesn't work out. In reality, I don't think that's going to happen - husband wants to join, the children want to join (and to take them to activities, I have to be a member too). Guess that means I will be joining too.

How would you react to a situation like this? Would you follow your head or your heart? Having said that, I'm not actually sure which one favours which option! Perhaps I should just get a life...

My little evacuee

Yes, I know, two post from me in a day, you are spoiled!

Monkey's topic at school this half term is World War II. Yesterday, the class visited the Museum of Lancashire to learn about the war and they were asked to dress up as evacuees.

I could have gone off to eBay to buy a costume but I have better uses for the tenner it would have cost me. So, in the true blitz spirit, I put together this outfit from things we had. You can't really see but he's wearing old school shorts, grey socks (which I did buy but he's going to use for school now), the waistcoat he wore to my niece's wedding, an old check shirt, and a brown coat which he usually refuses to wear with his old school shoes. I didn't manage to get a cap but I looked at pictures of evacuees on Google and it seems like it was just as common for them not to have a cap as have one. I did try to slick his hair down with hair wax but his hair was too short. School sent home the label to attach to him and I wrapped a shoebox in brown paper and tied it up with string for his gas mask box. Unfortunately, he managed to pull the string off about 5 minutes before I took this pic, leading to swearing on my part, reattaching it with sellotape which meant he couldn't wear it round his neck as planned. Children, eh?

My sum totals of purchases was some grey socks and brown paper. Make do and mend in action. My grandparents would have been proud.

Do you like it?

Paxos fish stew - a Sunvil Supper Club recipe

You may have noticed this dish on my meal plan yesterday. I was asked if I'd like to try this recipe and share my thoughts on it for the Sunvil Supper Club. Sunvil are an independent travel company who specialise in holidays to destinations off the beaten track. Appreciating the local culture in the places their customers visit, they started the Supper Club to share their passion for these destinations using food. Every month, they blog a recipe linked to one of their destinations.

So, this month, the recipe is Paxos fish stew. Paxos is a tiny Greek island, roughly 7 miles by 3 at its widest. Being an island, fish dishes are very popular. This stew is very simple. Usually, it is made with grey mullet or sea bream but any old firm white fish will do, which is good as Asda had neither so I bought some haddock fillets. I actually made something similar last week and was just as simple with a few changes. It relied on paprika, wine, bay leaf and stock for the non-fishy flavours. I love prawns so I bought some to go in the stew as well. They were cold water ones - hardly authentic but I love them, so there.

I found the potato didn't need as long as 20 minutes to cook, so this was made from start to finish  in half an hour. This includes 5 minutes where I hunted for some potatoes that disappeared into thin air, so I may have used a little less than the recipe. The picture makes it look really dry but with the tomatoes, wine and stock, there was plenty of juice. Would have been good to dip in some bread but Monkey was in a ravenous mood after school and polished it off, helped it has to be said by me, equally ravenous.

This is a lovely, healthy meal, yet still warming and tasty. The only thing I was surprised it didn't contain was olives, given that Paxos is well known for its olive groves. Perhaps I'll add those in for me the next time I make it, when I will remember to ensure I have the right amount of potatoes in, and I have a reasonable amount of bread in that won't be wolfed down by a 7 year old beforehand.

(Sunvil sent me a £15 giftcard to cover the cost of buying the ingredients to make this recipe.)

Meal Planning Monday - the MAD edition!

Yes, it's MAD. I'm off to the MAD Blog Awards on Friday so yet another week of me planning to pack, travel and unpack afterwards, but I can't wait. This week has to be pretty easy meals wise and I've planned in a meal I can make in advance for my night away and can simply be plonked in the oven. It certainly reduces the likelihood of them ending up in the chippy.

Still, I've managed to find some nice things to make this week!


Monday - Paxos Fish Stew (More of which later in the week)
Tuesday - Mexican Chilli
Wednesday - Easy Ratatouille with poached eggs
Thursday - Prawn Laksa
Friday - Tomato Chorizo and Two Cheese Pasta Bake 
Saturday - keeping free
Sunday - Roast Chicken, possibly.

As usual, Mrs M has the linky where you can find lots of other meal plans.

Of small cars and balaclavas

I may have mentioned a few times that we've been away a lot recently at the weekends - a wedding down south and to the Paralympics in London. Last weekend, I took the kids to Coventry to attend a work commitment. These days, we tend to go in husband's car even though it's quite small because my car is getting old and I worry about it breaking down, and husband's car is less than a year old. It feels much bigger on the inside - its nickname is the Tardis - but it does have its limitations.

Skoda recently offered us the chance to test drive their Citigo model as they are the sponsors of the Best Family Fun category at the MAD Blog Awards in which I'm a finalist. We decided to put it through its paces by taking it to London for the Paralympics. After all, we'd not long done the trip down south in our car so we had something to compare it to.

Skoda used to be a figure of fun as a brand, the joke car. In fact, I remember that my former partner's sister and her husband bought one and their teenage son refused to be a passenger in it, unless he was wearing his balaclava so his friends wouldn't see him. That was before Skoda got bought by Volkswagen and these days, they are not quite so socially unacceptable. In fact, Skodas are some of Monkey's favourite cars, in the way that only seven year old boys can.

When the car arrived, I realised it was a 3 door model. Not surprising really, as I'd left it late to arrange, but it was the one thing I could have done without as I was then adjusting the seats all weekend. It had pretty much everything that we have in our car, with the addition of a sat nav that also gave information about the car.

Space wise, it felt a little smaller in the cabin but the boot was bigger and all our stuff fitted in easily (not that you can really tell from this photo!). And by stuff, I mean overnight bags, bags and backpacks for taking into Olympic Park, food, drinks, and the children's school bags. In terms of build, everything felt solidly built as you would expect from Volkswagen. Our car in comparison feels like a dodgem car! The side effect of this was it felt much larger than it really was, which when it's not your car, makes for slightly nervous driving. And total heart failure when someone pulls out of the inside lane of the M6 forcing you to brake suddenly and the car behind you to come bowling up behind you and change lane at the last minute. There was probably a bigger margin for error than I estimated but all the same. Thankfully, the car remained dentless and scratchless all weekend.

The small engine seemed to have enough power to cope with all four passengers and all our "stuff" and mean we were not crawling along, and the ride was solid and smooth. What we did find odd was the sat nav - we are not used to them although I use the Navigation app on my phone a fair bit but it did seem to come up with some strange routes. One of them was a return journey from the one we'd done that morning and it sent us a totally different way, along very dark narrow roads which were obviously rat runs for the local boy racers which made for an entertaining drive and I'm pretty sure that it was no quicker - it was past 10.30pm at night after all. We stopped using it after that.

Possibly a minor detail but one thing we found odd was that there was only one power socket and not two in our car. This allows us to power our DVD player - important on long journeys - as well as charge a phone up if we need to.

One thing that did really well was the fuel economy. We got to Essex, drove around a bit there and back again on 41 litres. We had to top up a little because the tank is quite small but I worked out we averaged nearly 50 miles per gallon, which is not bad considering we were either driving stop start in queues or driving at 70mph.

Did we like it? Yes, we did mostly. Minor details irritated - and it's reinforced my feelings that you need a 4/5 door car if you have a family because you are constantly readjusting your seat and driving position when you get in the car having let your kids in. As a small car, it's probably best for driving around town - I mean, why else would it be called a Citigo? However, we found it coped well on the motorways too and therefore great for a family weekend away. The children hoped we were keeping the car but it had to go back on Monday.

Not a balaclava in sight.