Paul Newman, chef proprietor at Thyme of Errichel near Aberfeldy, focuses on summer ingredients in this dish for pan seared pork with tabbouleh salad.
Normally at this point in the year I would be thinking about braais, salads and other summery dishes. But today I am pulling on a second fleece and considering turning the heating back up. So here is a dish that can be enjoyed no matter the weather.
As ever, we recommend that you ask your local butcher for outdoor reared, high welfare pork. Animals which have been able to roam free and forage produce a substantially tastier and arguably healthier product.
For this recipe I use our own free range Large Black Pork and rhubarb from the garden.
Pan-seared large black pork fillet with tabbouleh salad
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 1kg Rare Breed Large Black Pig – pork fillet
- Herbs and spices such as chilli, garlic, thyme, rosemary, for marinading (optional)
- 300g rhubarb, fresh new season, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 400g stem broccoli
- 200g wild mixed mushrooms, sliced
- 100g button mushrooms, diced
- Salt and cracked black pepper
- Thyme petals, to garnish
For the rhubarb stock (recipe below):
- 2 drops vanilla essence
- 100g sugar
For the tabbouleh salad:
- 200g bulgur wheat, rinsed and drained
- 800ml boiling water
- 250ml rhubarb stock
- 1 cucumber, split down the middle and seeds removed, cut into diamonds
- 2 tomatoes, cut in half and seeds removed
- 12 mint leaves, chopped
- Zest and juice of one lemon
- Handful of pomegranate seeds
Method
- If you have time the day before, marinade the pork in some chilli, garlic, thyme, rosemary and a little olive oil. Place in a covered container in the fridge overnight.
- Next, make the rhubarb stock – you will need to use 200ml of it. Trim the tops and bottoms of the rhubarb and place into a saucepan with water and the vanilla essence.
- Add the sugar and reduce the liquid down to a syrup.
- Place a large frying pan on the heat and add a little oil. Heat the oil up until a light smoke appears.
- Seal off the pork fillets (fry them on all sides using tongs) so they are golden brown on all sides. Then, add the mushrooms.
- Add the stem broccoli and cook for a few more minutes. Try not to agitate the food too much in the pan.
- Add the rhubarb stock and cover the pan to allow the steam to help cook the broccoli.
- Remove the lid and reduce the liquid until the juices have nearly dispersed.
- To make the Tabbouleh salad: Place the bulgar grains into a large pyrex bowl. Add up to 800ml of boiling water to cook – this doesn’t need to be cooked on the stove.
- Cover the bowl to keep the heat and steam in, set aside while you prepare the other ingredients. The grains will soften within 30 minutes.
- Once the grains have softened (they should still have some bite), add the remaining ingredients for the salad, except the lemon juice, zest and pomegranate seeds, and stir gently.
- Add some olive oil, the lemon juice and zest, and some salt and pepper to taste.
- To serve: Place the Tabbouleh salad on the plate, top with the stem broccoli, mushrooms and pour the rest of the liquor over from the frying pan. Garnish with some Thyme petals and pomegranate seeds.
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