MasterChef quarter-finalist and WanderSups supper club host Hannah Gregory cooks up a romantic meal for us all to try
We’re all missing a lot of things in lockdown at the moment, but Hannah says it doesn’t mean we have to miss out.
Using many ingredients that you will have lurking in the back of a cupboard, in the freezer or the bottom veg drawer she shows us how we can still enjoy a date night with a loved one.
But it’s not just about the recipe ingredients, Hannah believes there’s some special ‘ingredients’ needed to make a successful cook
Cooking should be a joy, not a stress, she says, so advocates taking your time, pouring yourself a drink and putting on some music to enjoy the process.
Hannah has specially curated playlists to listen to while making her recipes. They can be found on WanderSups Spotify, just search for WanderSups and you will find all of them ready for your listening/cooking/eating pleasure and each are titled to correspond with recipes.
FILLET OF PORK, WHITE BEAN MASH, GREENS AND HERBY LEMON VINAIGRETTE
(Serves 2)
Ingredients:
1 fillet of pork (500g), can be subbed out for chicken
Salt & pepper
Olive oil
2 x 400g tins of white beans – you can use butter beans, cannellini beans or a mix of both
1 big clove of garlic
1 lemon
Sprig of rosemary
Dash of double cream
2 big handfuls of dark leafy greens – you can use spinach, cavolo nero, kale, chard or a mix of everything
For the vinaigrette:
125ml extra virgin olive oil
A big handful of fresh herbs such as oregano, parsley
or tarragon, or a mix
of all of them
1 shallot
1 lemon
1 tsp runny honey
Chilli flakes
Method:
Take your meat out of the fridge and bring it up to room temperature, should take about an hour.
Preheat the oven to 200C. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil.
Season your meat generously with salt and pepper.
Throw some olive oil into the pan and get it nice and hot and then sear your pork fillet all over, you are looking to get colour over the whole surface of the meat. Once nice and golden, pop onto a baking tray and into the oven for 15-20 minutes. (We need a light blush when you slice this bad boy up – people tend to be a bit scared of serving pork pink but with a fillet, as there is no fat, you really need to keep it on the blush side otherwise it will be dry as Ghandi’s flip flop and feel like you are eating cotton wool.) Transfer it to a wooden chopping board and allow it to rest whilst you get on with the rest of the dish.
Empty your cans of beans into a sieve and rinse well.
In a saucepan, add 60ml of olive oil, a sprig of rosemary, one crushed clove of garlic and the zest of a lemon. Heat gently until all the aromas start popping.
Take the flavoured oil off the heat, discard the rosemary and throw in the beans to warm through. l At this point you can either mash with a potato masher (for the rustic look) or throw into a blender and blitz till smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning as required – it is important to do this at the end as different types of beans have different salt levels. If your mash is looking claggy, dash in some cream and olive oil to get it to your preferred consistency.
Set aside.
Throw your greens into the boiling water and blanch for 3-4 minutes, drain and set aside.
To make your vinaigrette, finely dice your shallot and add to a bowl, finely chop all your herbs and add to the bowl. Grate in the zest of a lemon and add its juice along with a teaspoon of runny honey, a pinch of chilli flakes and 125ml extra virgin olive oil. Stir and muddle everything together, add more oil if it’s looking too thick and season to taste.
To plate – this is if you want to earn extra brownie points – spoon your mash into the middle of the plate and gently smooth down with the back of a spoon, place your greens on top of this. Slice your pork into 2.5cm slices and place 3 slices on top of the greens and mash. Using a teaspoon, drizzle each piece of fillet with some of the herby vinaigrette and then let your inner fabulous artist come out as you dress the rest of the plate with the herby oil. Finish with salt flakes and thank me later.
Spotify playlist: WanderSups Date Night
Find out about Hannah’s upcoming Supper Clubs and what she is currently cooking via Instagram @WanderSups
