Tessa Says 'Thanks For All Your Entries/Comments .....!'

It's a cat's life ! Tessa takes a nap in the filing trays in my office ......

Mum said I should just pop in to thank you all for the entries/comments on this post last week. The 'competition' has now closed, and a winner will be drawn soon & announced next week.

Until then, I'm just going to stay curled up in the filing trays in her office. Because I like sleeping in odd places which you can read more about (& see photos of !) over here. Mum says it's okay though, 'cause I had rather a rough start in life (which you can read about over here) so now she lets me have/do whatever I want !

Slow Cooked Pork & Carrot Casserole with Baked Potato Rosti

This slow cooked Pork & Carrot Casserole is perfect for lazy Winter days .... served with individually baked Potato Rosti, it makes a warm and filling meal

Here is a lovely warming Winter recipe for pork casserole served with individually baked potato rosti.

Some time ago, one of my regular blog readers, Pam, recommended a great newsletter to me which is sent out monthly by ‘Glenacres SuperSpar’ supermarket (South Africa) and the rosti recipe comes from one of these newsletters. It is unusual in that the rosti are baked – in muffin tins ! (As a result they are so simple to make).

I make the pork casserole on the stovetop, but I’m sure that you could adjust the recipe & cooking times for making it in a slow cooker or crockpot, too.

You can adjust the recipe to taste – adding more or less of each vegetable, altering the herbs used and even adding chunks of potato if you wish. Each time I make it, I adjust it slightly and it always tastes different – so have fun experimenting!

It fills the house with a wonderful aroma as it cooks – and is perfect for cooking on a lazy Sunday at home -:


Slow Cooked Pork & Carrot Casserole (for Potato Rosti recipe, see below)

1 kg Pork meat suitable for stewing, chopped in to cubes (mine had the bones removed)
4 - 5 cups of Stock (You can use chicken/beef stock cubes to make it)
3 red Onions, chopped
3 Carrots, chopped
3-4 sticks of Celery, chopped
4-6 cloves of Garlic, chopped
2 Bay Leaves
Small bunch of Thyme, rinsed
A few dashes of Worcestershire Sauce (optional)
Salt & Pepper to taste

Place all the ingredients into a large, heavy based pot and bring to a slow boil. Reduce the heat & simmer for 2 – 3 hours until the liquid has reduced and thickened, the meat is tender and the vegetables are soft. (Check it occasionally during the cooking time, stirring every now and then to prevent sticking and adding a little more liquid if necessary.)

Individual Baked Potato Rosti (taken from the ‘Glenacres SuperSpar’ Newsletter - April 2010)

500g (about 1 lb) waxy potatoes, peeled
30g (about 2 tbsp) butter, melted
1 onion
Salt

Preheat the oven to 220°C/425’C/Gas Mark 7. Cook the potatoes in a pan of boiling, salted water for 7 minutes, or until just tender - drain and cool. Brush 12 muffin tins with a little of the butter. Grate the potatoes and onion, mix in a bowl and add the remaining butter - season with salt and mix well. Divide the mixture into the muffin tins, gently pressing in. Bake for 45 minutes, or until cooked through and golden brown. With a small palette knife, gently loosen each rosti around the edges and lift out for serving.

Blog Problems !

No, it's not me who's causing the problems (although I do love to chew on Mum's computer cords & cables every now and then !) but Mum has been frustrated with her slow internet connection this weekend, & now there's something called a floating box on her - blog ? Well I don't really care, to be honest - as I've found a cozy desk drawer to curl up & keep warm in until Dad comes home from work & lights the fire later on. Once I've had my supper of beef mince & imported cat biscuits, that is ..... I tell you, it's a hard life here on the farm for a cat .............. Purrs & Meows, Toby xxx (yes, I am the famous 'Kitchen Cat' who walked in the fudge over here and the story of how I came to live on the farm is over here)

I'm having a few problems with my blog - have you seen that awful little Photobucket box floating across my posts saying 'This image or video has been moved or deleted' ? Well, that's to tell me that the entire background for my blog - is gone ! (Did you notice that it has reverted back to plain yellow ?!)

I am trying to find out what the problem is, it has something to do with the background image designed for me ..... so is out of my hands at the moment. I am trying to sort it out as soon as I can though - as that little box is MOST annoying !

We've also been having internet connection problems over the weekend .... poor signal strength, losing our connection for hours on end etc .... as you know, I blog via satellite internet & it is as bad as dial up at times ;) so please bear with me - I am still here .....