Pork roulade with prosciutto and sausage: PDO Cookery Challenge, part III

You might remember reading earlier that I was recently invited to take part in a PDO Cookery challenge, competing against nine other popular food bloggers. The challenge involved cooking with two Italian Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) products: Grana Padano cheese and prosciutto di San Daniele. The products arrived in a wicker hamper with some cooking equipment and a press release with recipe ideas and background information.
"The "PDO - The taste of origin and tradition" campaign, launched in partnership with the Consortium of Prosciutto di San Daniele and the Consortium of Grana Padano Cheese, is designed to promote PDO products. Now in its third and final year, and funded by the EU and Italian government, it is focused on sharing the unique qualities & characteristics of these products in the UK and raising awareness of what PDO status means".

This recipe - Pork roulade with prosciutto and sausage - is my third and final entry for the challenge.

It all started with a bit of a trouble, as instead of a 1.75kg piece of pork, Tesco delivered a double amount, which I only discovered later, once I started unpacking. I wasn't planning to cook for an army, so had to cut the piece of meat in two. Why do they never-ever get it right, I don't know.

Pork roulade with prosciutto and sausage
Ingredients:
1.600kg shoulder of pork, boned
2 sausages (pork & Bramley apple)
3 slices of prosciutto
50g Grana Padano, grated
125g cooked basmati rice (1 pouch of Tilda Kids sunshine rice)
1tbsp ground almonds
1 small shallot, finely chopped
a bunch of basil, chopped, about 15g
1tbsp olive oil
salt, freshly ground pepper

Open the boned shoulder of pork and season well. If the skin is not scored, score it before adding the stuffing. In a small bowl mix the skinned sausage meat with the ground almonds, chopped shallot, grated Grana Padano, chopped basil, cooked basmati rice (Tilda sunshine rice has pieces of pumpkin, sweet corn and carrot among other flavours) and mix well.
Place the slices of prosciutto inside the open shoulder of pork, slightly overlapping each other. Place the sausage mix on top. Roll the shoulder, and tie with a string.
As you might notice from the photos, I used a ribbon, as I have run out of the string. So, my pork roulade looked a bit unconventional.
Pour the oil over the pork once you place it in a roast dish, and using hands, make sure the oil is spread all over the meat. Season again.
Place the tray in the oven preheated to 200C. Cook for 35 minutes per every pound of weight. Turn it over a couple of times, so that the meat gets crispy evently, then you will have lovely crunchy crackling.
Serve with the roast potatoes, baked apples and a dollop of the quince jam or jelly. Apple sauce or apple jelly is another tasty alternative.

I have recently discovered an innovative and inspiring producer of jams and chutneys called The Artisan Kitchen, and having browsed their online shop, placed an order. It was a tough choice, as the jams and marmalades look absolutely stunning. I love the quince jams and jellies, and make my own. Sadly this year, I haven't been able to get my hands on any quinces.
Gloucester Quince & Lime Jam from The Artisan Kitchen is a true winner. It tastes exactly like a homemade jam/jelly should taste like. The colour is gloriously claret rich, sparkling like a ruby. And it tastes heavenly.

If you missed my previous PDO cookery challenge posts, you can catch up, just follow the links:
Crespelle with spinach and prosciutto
and
Sea bass with prosciutto and crispy sage

Disclosure: I received a hamper of PDO products to take part in the cooking challenge. All opinions and ideas are mine. 
For more information on these products including recipes from the renowned chef Giancarlo Caldesi, visit Prosciutto di San Daniele and Grana Padano.
For more information on the PDO programme, please visit
Ec.Europa.Eu site

Tilda Kids goodie bag giveaway (CLOSED)

My blog is slowly approaching its 3rd birthday in October. It all started on 14 October 2010. Three years later my baby blog has acquired a life of its own, taking over my time and way of thinking. I look at almost everything around me with a silent question in my mind: is it a bloggable material? My husband complains that the food gets cold, because I need to take a picture of our dinner. My kids are groaning when I ask them to pose for yet another photo.
I have discovered a lot of blogging friends along the way and love sharing my life stories and lots of recipes and reviews with my blog readers. Some of them drop by only to never visit again, some stay behind, visit regularly and have become my good friends.
The eponymous hero of the blog, Maximka (or Edgar Maximus in real life), is now over 3 and is going to the nursery.

In three years I have posted over 200 recipes on my blog and reviewed over 150 products. It has been a learning curve for me, and I enjoy discovering new foods and products.

Tilda Kids rice has been one such great discovery. If you check my kitchen, you'll find I have a pouch or two of Tilda Kids rice as well as the Tilda steamed basmati rice. Very handy for a quick tasty meal.

Tilda rice have kindly offered a prize for one of my blog readers. One lucky winner will receive the following: four pouches of Tilda Kids rice, an apron, two bowls and spoon and a string bag.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


If you would like to win this prize, please fill in the Rafflecopter form.
T&Cs:
Only the first step is mandatory: all you need is answer the question by leaving a comment 
(if you login as Anonymous, please leave you Twitter name or FB name, so that I could identify you, I do not suggest leaving the email address in the comment)

All the other steps are optional, you don't have to do them all. All it takes to win is just one entry.
Only one entry per person is allowed (however, you can tweet daily to increase your chances).
The giveaway is open to the UK residents only.
Once the Rafflcopter picks the winner, I will check if the winner has done what was requested. I will contact the winner, if they do not reply within a week, the prize will be allocated to another person.

The giveaway will close on 14 October 2013 at midnight (the night from the 13th to 14th)


Many thanks to you all for all entries! The winner has now been picked by the Rafflecopter, it is Emma Wolski. Big well done, Emma! I am going to email you regarding where to send the prize.

Chicken, prawn and chorizo jambalaya

Just yesterday I've been telling you all about the Tilda Kids cooking session with Dhruv Baker at the Big Feastival. It was a lovely event, and I came back home inspired and enthusiastic.
If you were in the vicinity of Tilda Kids' stand on that day, you'd have been drawn in by the enticing smell of food wafting in the air.

It was the chicken, prawn and chorizo jambalaya, a dish I wanted to recreate at home, full of robust flavours and textures. A feast for eyes and absolutely mouthwatering.

This dish has been cooked with the Limited edition Tilda rice - Barbecue rice - a great addition to Tilda range of steamed basmati. What makes it different from the other rice in this range?
It combines" smokey Paprika, Chipotle chilli, aromatic fennel and a touch of maple syrup – Dhruv’s creation combines Tilda’s trademark long and slender Basmati grains with unique flavours inspired by the great British Barbecue".
We loved the new Barbecue rice and hope Tilda would change the Limited edition into a permanent addition to their range. It's too tasty to only be available for a short time.

Chicken, prawn and chorizo jambalaya (recipe reproduced here with the kind permission given by Tilda rice)

Ingredients:

1 pack of Tilda Barbecue Rice

2tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp. Cajun seasoning

1 large chicken breast, diced

50g, chorizo diced

1 stick celery, finely chopped

1 orange pepper, chopped

200ml chicken stock

Handful freshly chopped parsley

8 large whole prawns

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Guacamole dip and lemon wedges to serve

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or a paella pan if you have one. If using a paella pan pop on top of a hot BBQ
2. Add the garlic and Cajun seasoning until sizzling
3. Add the chicken breast and chorizo and coat well. Cook over a high heat for 4-5 minutes
4. Add the chicken stock and rice and simmer gently for 5 minutes
5. Add the celery and peppers and cook for a further few minutes
6. Stir in the parsley and heat through.  Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
7. Brush the prawns with a little oil and cook on the BBQ or in a griddle pan for 3-4 minutes on each side
8. Place the prawns on top of the Jambalaya and serve with Guacamole and  a squeeze of lemon juice

My notes: I didn't have a celery, and used a red pepper. I also cooked 2 chicken breasts and more prawns to feed us all, and didn't cook the prawns separately. 

It was a very tasty chicken dish, easy to make, quick and it cheers the tastebuds.

For more recipes and culinary ideas, visit Tilda/recipes page.

Tilda Kids Kitchen: a cooking session with Dhruv Baker

A week ago Eddie and I had an opportunity to spend a day at the Big Feastival. This was an event for both foodies and music-lovers who descended on the fields at Kigham for a celebration of all things culinary and musical. It was the third year of the Big Feastival hosted by the rock star Alex James at his farm together with Jamie Oliver.
As a foodie, I was very interested in the culinary side of the event, and the festival promised a good line-up for the gastronomic entertainment.
I was a guest of Tilda Kids, and was looking forward to a cooking demo at Tilda Kids' stand.

I was very impressed with how things were organised by Tilda Kids. Their show room was by far one of the best demo areas at the festival, with wide clean tables set up for the children and their parents, a lovely photo cut out with the characters familiar from Tilda kids rice packs and tables with kits for colouring.

We were greeted by friendly smiley staff and signed in for the first cooking session. There was a wonderful enticing aroma: Dhruv Baker was cooking the chicken jambalaya (it was very tasty, and if you are interested in the recipe, keep an eye on my blog, as the recipe post is coming very soon!).

The children's cooking session was a lively event. Dhruv Baker has a great rapport with children, it was a pleasure to watch him in action, he knows how to inspire and interact with the kids.

All the children present at the cooking session listened attentively and followed the cooking instructions. I was amused to observe how competitive some of the kids were. And their parents even more. Once all the tuna bites were rolled and shaped, Dhruv cooked them in the frying pan. Later the children ate with gusto the food they prepared. And then they started asking who did the best.

All children received a certificate that they cooked a yummy meal in Dhruv Baker's Cookery School.

Inspired by the cooking session, Eddie and I wanted to recreate the tasty tuna bites at home.
If you fancy to have a go, here is a recipe (reproduced with the kind permission from Tilda rice).

Tilli's Tasty Tuna Bites
Ingredients:
1 pouch Tilda Kids Sunshine Vegetable Rice
1 x 120g tin tuna with sunflower oil, drained
50g mozzarella cheese, grated
4g chopped chives
20g egg, beaten, approx half an egg
fine breadcrumbs for coating
sunflower or vegetable oil for shallow frying

method:
1. Mix together in a large bowl 1 pouch Tilda Kids Sunshine Vegetable Rice with the tuna, mozzarella cheese, chives and egg - using a fork to bring all of the ingredients together.
2. Divide the mix into 20g pieces, this mix should make enough for approx 15 bites.
3. Flatten into nugget shapes or round into balls and coat with fine breadcrumbs.
4. Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the tune bites until golden brown on all sides.
5. Serve with ketchup or other favourite dips.

My notes: I couldn't get to the bigger supermarket on the day we cooked the tuna bites, so couldn't find a proper block of mozzarella at the shop. The only available mozzarella was a bag of ready-grated cheese. Once I added it to the mix, I realised that I would never be able to make neatly-shaped bites, as the mozzarella was grated into the really long strings. There was no way I could shape the mix into the fish-shapes, as requested by Eddie.
To make the fish mix smoother and more manageable, I gave it a whizz with the hand blender. Then I managed to roll it into the semblance of fish-shapes. What do you mean, they don't look like fish? Well, I did try my best.
I coated all the bites in breadcrumbs and fried.
I confess these were the best fish cakes I had in a very long time. The combination of rice and tuna with cheese was really lovely, they were delicate and delicious.

I made a whole lot of differently-shaped tuna bites, as I didn't think my husband would particularly fancy the fish-shaped ones.
I had my tune bites with the Luchito mayo which has a great chilli kick.
What about my little man? He bit the fish tails, then commented that the fish didn't look like fish anymore. So much for the grateful child.

Visit Tilda/kids for more great recipes and fun stuff.

If you liked this post, you might want to read more about the event here: My busy day: Eddie at the Feastival.

My busy day: Eddie at the Feastival

Mama says "If in the years to come anyone asks you when you started going to the festivals, you could always answer: at a grand old age of 3"

Yesterday Mama, our friend Jen and I went on a trip. We arrived to a huge field: there were thousands of people, cars and tents. Mama said this place is called The Big Feastival. And she promised me I would have fun.

So many things to do! Where do I start? Mama took me to the Tilda Kids area first. I love colouring. Tilda Kids have set up a table with the crayons and lovely pictures to colour in. At Tesco's stand you could colour in one segment of the wall.

Believe it or not but I met a Celebrity chef. Yes, I did. In the Tilda Kids Kitchen I learnt how to make the tuna bites with my favourite Sunshine rice (for recipes and more visit Tilda). Now I can cook them for my Mum. And to prove it, I have a certificate to show all and everyone that I cooked a yummy meal in Dhruv Baker's Cookery School.
When I'm older and famous, Mr Baker might even say that he met me at the Feastival and taught me how to cook the tuna bites.

Hobnobbing with the celebrities: meeting Dhruv Baker

Tilda Kids was packed full with hungry kids and their parents, and we sampled some yummy dishes. I was glad to see my favourite characters from Tilda rice on the photo cut outs.
So I pretended to be a tiger.

And a crocodile. And a monkey.

We left the Tilda Kids area to explore the Feastival grounds and stands. Adam Henson aka the UK’s favourite farmer brought lots of farm animals with him to the Feastival's Touch Farm. We could pet and feed the goats, laugh at the ducks' antics and most importantly, climb inside the pigsty and pet the piglets. Aren't they the cutest thing ever? Mama says they are called kunekune pigs. I think they should be called cutecute pigs.

"Mama, could I have one? Can we take one home with us? Please?"

That's my bum. That's piggie's bum.

Mama was a meanie. She didn't let me climb inside the Ecover van. I put on my best tragic face mask, but she only laughed at me.

She didn't want to buy this spanking brand new red tractor. What's wrong with this woman? Doesn't she see how mighty beautiful it is?

I had a full blast riding the yellow JCB pedal tractors. I need one just like that in our garden. I didn't want to leave.

The Funfair in the Little Dudes' area had all sorts of traditional British fun and games from a helter-skelter to the swing seats and other funfair attractions. And again, cruel mother didn't let me go on the helter-skelter. She said it's for the big kids only. Sigh.

Jen and I had so much fun on the teacup ride. Mum claimed she felt dizzy just looking at us. Silly Mama! She missed such a great opportunity. You can see me enjoying the ride in the video at the top.

I wasn't allowed to sit inside the real red tractor, but don't I look darn cute as an Old McDonald?

Thank you, Jen, for driving us to the Feastival and back! Can we go there again today?

Mum's note: big thanks to Tilda rice for offering us free tickets for the day, to Jen for taking us to the event and looking after Eddie when I needed to explore the stands and to Elizabeth for staying with Sasha, without your help I wouldn't have been able to attend the Big Feastival!

Tilda Kids e-book and giveaway (c/d 31 October 2012)

Eddie loves rice, he calls it risik (pronounced in Eddienese as ree-sik) and is happy to eat it any time. In fact, each time I ask him what he would like for lunch or dinner, he says "Risik". He likes the egg-fried rice with peas, he likes it with sweetcorn and grated carrot, with sausages and tomatoes, as long as it is rice, he is happy.

Back in May I have reviewed a new range of Tilda Kids. Tilda and its cute mascot - Tilli the elephant - offer busy Mums and their hungry little monkeys a range of tasty meals of rice and vegetables.
Tilda Kids rice comes in four varieties: Sweet Vegetable & Wholegrain rice, Mild & Sweet Curry, Cheese & Tomato and Sunshine Vegetable rice.

I buy these easy meals for times when we return home after a long walk, Eddie is hungry and wants a quick fix of "risik". We even brought Tilda Kids pouches with us to Cornwall, they were super handy when we staggered back to cottage to have lunch after hours of running on the beach and exploring the rock pools. Here is Eddie, eating one of Tilda rices (he just sat next to me while I am writing this blog post and commented on his photo "Eddie eating risik").

Tilda Kids and Tilli the elephat have released an e-book which accompanies the Tilda Kids rice range. Tilli the elephant knows how important it is for kids to eat healthy food. That's why she has created an e-book with lots of lovely rice-based recipes that would appeal to both kids and their parents.
You can download the e-book from http://www.tilda.com/kids/kids-ebook  It is full of fun things to do: along with the recipes you will find lots of idea on how to keep your kids busy and active.

Who can resist a bowl of fruity rice for breakfast or a chocolatey rice cake as a dessert?
You can do some colouring and read all about yoga for kids. It is a colourful e-book, with the cute characters that kids love.
Download it to keep your little monkeys and tigers busy during the October mid-term break.

Tilda Kids have kindly offered a lovely prize for my blog readers: three lucky winners will receive goodie bags with a Tilda Kids backpack, bowl, spoon and two packs of Tilda Kids rice.

To enter this giveaway, please fill in the rafflecopter form.
Answering the question and leaving a comment here in a mandatory step, all the other steps give you bonus entries.
Good luck!






a Rafflecopter giveaway