I never thought, when I auditioned for Recipe to Riches, that I would win or that my life would be so crazy as a result. I wouldn't trade a minute of it, mind you, but I've spent the last few weeks doing TV, radio, magazine, newspaper and blog interviews. It's been a zany thrill ride but one that has left me little time for breathing let alone cooking, blogging or coming up with my own recipes!
Be that as it may, I still have a few old favorites to pull out of my hat.
Like my easy peasy Peameal bacon roast.
Here's some neat facts about Peameal:
Peameal, back bacon, or Canadian bacon, is actually a very lean cut of meat unlike regular bacon. It's made from boneless pork loin, which is one of the leanest parts of the pig. The fat is usually trimmed down almost to the meat and then the loin is pickled in a brine and rolled in cornmeal.
Historically it was rolled in ground peas - peameal - but in the 1900's people switched to cornmeal as it was a better medium for preserving the brined meat.
There's about 50 calories and 2 grams of fat per ounce of peameal where regular bacon is approximately 165 calories and 14 grams of fat per ounce. The only negative is that Peameal is still fairly high in sodium... but it tastes sooo good!
Impromptu lesson over.... on to the recipe!
Peameal Roast Pork
- 2 lb peameal pork roast
- 2 tbsp grainy mustard
- 1 tbsp of honey
- Mix together honey and mustard
- Score top of peameal with cross hatching
- Smear honey mustard mixture over the whole roast
- Place in roasting pan (I use a pyrex loaf pan – it’s just the right size)
- Pour ½ an inch of water or apple cider into bottom of pan
- Cover with foil
- Bake in oven at 450 degrees for an hour and 45 minutes.
- Remove from pan, tent meat and rest it for 10 minutes before slicing.
Orange Fennel salad
- ½ a head of fennel – sliced super thin or shaved on a mandolin
- 5 dried figs, finely chopped
- 1 orange, halved, sliced then and then quartered
- Cider vinegar
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- Combine fennel, figs and orange in a bowl
- Drizzle with vinegar and oil
- Season with salt and pepper to taste
Eat!
Enjoy!!
