Cauliflower & Pork Stroganoff
This is something I put together ahead of time for when there’s a group of people going to turn up on my doorstep and I don’t want to be tied to the kitchen for more time than is necessary.
I can partially make this Cauliflower & Pork Stroganoff ahead and finish it off when everyone arrives, giving me time to be with my family for longer than I would have if I was tied to a stove – See Recipe
It’ll also freeze for up to three months too.
When wanting to eat, defrost completely, add the double cream and make sure the pork is piping hot all the way through before serving – See Recipe
For that someone in the group who isn’t a meat eater, just leave out the pork all together and replace it with the other half of the cauliflower. This way everyone can have the taste of stroganoff without more work for me.
Win, win!
Serve the piping hot stroganoff the way the lovely Mr G loves, ladled over rice, or maybe my favourite way, over some plain spaghetti.
Go on give it a go and enjoy your sweet life!
Serve it with rice of pasta.
What You Need
4 Pork Loin Steaks – Sliced thinly - See Tip Box
600ml Double Cream – See Tip Box
300g Button Mushrooms – Cleaned and Sliced – See Tip Box
2 Chicken Stock Cubes dissolved in 200ml Boiling Water
½ Cauliflower – Broken into small florets
1 Large Red Onion – Peels and chopped into small pieces
4 tsp Dijon Mustard
3 tbsp Worchester Sauce
3 tsp Smoked Paprika
2 tsp Paprika
Vegetable Oil for Cooking – See Tip Box
Malden Salt - See Tip Box
Fresh Black Pepper
Serve with chopped parsley or sliced spring onions. With rice or plain pasta.
Cut the pork into thin strips
How It’s Done
Add some vegetable oil to a heavy bottomed pan and let it heat up.
Once hot, add the mushrooms, a small pinch of Malden salt along with a grind of black pepper, and let them cook until all the moisture has evaporated and they start to have a brown colour – cook the mushrooms in batches, so don’t overcrowd the pan. – See Tip Box
Once the mushrooms are cooked, remove them from the pan onto a plate, and set them aside until needed.
Fry the mushrooms in batches so they have room to go brown - See Tip Box
Add a little more oil to the same pan, and then add the cauliflower florets, the chopped onions, a good grind of black pepper and a good pinch of Malden salt into the pan. Let them cook on a medium heat until the onion is very soft and pieces of the cauliflower start to get a little charred.
Once this has happened, (it may take around 10 minutes) remove them from the pan onto a plate and set aside until needed.
Cook until the cauliflower has sone colour and onions are soft.
Add a little more vegetable oil to the same pan, and start to cook the sliced pork.
Cook it until each of the pieces of pork are cooked all the way through, this will take some time, so don’t rush it.
Once the pork is cooked, add the mushrooms and the cauliflower onion mix back to the pan.
Add both the paprikas, the Dijon mustard, Worchester sauce to the pan and mix together so everything is coated.
Add the 200ml of chicken stock and mix again – This is the stage at which to cool and finish later or to freeze for up to three months – See Tip Box
Mix in both paprikas. Dijon mustard, Worchester Sauce and stock - This is the time to freeze - See Tip Box
If cooking straight away, add the double cream to the mixture, and let is simmer on a low heat for around 5 minutes, giving an occasional good mix.
Give it a taste and season with more Malden Salt and black pepper if needed.
Serve piping hot with rice or spaghetti.
Serve with some chopped parsley or spring onions on the top.
Tip Box
Pork - 1) Cutting the pork into strips of the same thickness, will ensure the slices will cook at the same time.
2) This dish works with pretty much most cuts of pork. If you can only get your hands in pork chops, use that.
Malden Salt – I use Malden salt because I think the flavour is better than table salt. Table salt is iodised and because of this, has a bitter taste. So if using table salt, be careful not to add too much.
Mushrooms – 1) It’s not a good idea to clean mushrooms by washing them. They’re really absorbent, so will soak up the water.
The best way to clean, is to cut off the end of the stalk and then use a damp piece of kitchen paper to wipe away any dirt.
2) Overcrowding the pan when cooking the mushrooms will mean when the mushrooms let out their liquid, they will just boil instead of fry. Cooking them in two or three batches, adding a little more oil after each cook, will let them fry and get a good colour.
Make it meat free – This dish is really easy to make meat free. Just forget the pork altogether and add lots more cauliflower when cooking with the onions. Everything else stays the same.
Double Cream – Traditionally with soured cream, I prefer to add Worchester sauce and to get that slightly soured mouth feel.
Vegetable Oil – I used around 6 tbsp for this dish, but you may need more or less than that.
Freezing – Freeze in an airtight container once the stock is added and before the cream. When ready to eat, defrost completely and
Finish cooking later - If cooking later that day, or the next, take it out of the fridge and bring it up to room temperature before adding the cream and bringing to a gentle simmer. Make sure that the pork is piping hot all the way through.
A dish of delicious.
