When I was a child, in France, Sunday was a special family day. All the shops were closed. Only bakeries, patisseries and restaurants would be open. Everybody gets well dressed, some goes to the church, then to the local pub to take the 'apero' (apéritif). I sometimes went with my grand father and would be given the permission to drink a lemonade with a tiny bit of bier, we call it a panaché. Then, it's lunch time, with the close family or the extended family.
In my family, it was a tradition to have Sunday lunch in the dinning room while we would have our meals in the kitchen the rest of the week. This lunch was not just a quick, improvised, lunch, but well planned. It could sometimes be a 3-course meals, but often offered a dessert. This Sunday meal looked amazing on our plates. As children, we were looking forward to this special family moment. But once the lunch finished, our tummies were so full that the elder ones could not resist a nap.
This has probably changed now, 25 years later... But I remember those Sundays. They are good memories.
Now, we live in New Zealand, a lovely and amazing country but far from our extended family. For these reasons and others, we tend to spend lot of our time keeping ourself busy with varying activities every Sundays, thus leaving little room to develop such custom in our family.
But now we have two kids, both working full-time, after the older one's activity on Saturday morning, we must acknowledge that we quite like spending a nice and quiet family Sunday at home - especially since we moved into our new house. Such a family Sunday would not be the Sunday of my childhood without a classy family lunch made with heart by mum.
Last Sunday, I spend just a minimum of time in the kitchen to make this surprising dish: Marinated pork fillet, quinoa, amaranth and green beans, with an orange and cranberry sauce. The pork marries very well with sweet flavours, and the sauce is very easy to make. While you could serve this dish with a classic butternut puree or egg noodles for an Asian twist, I opted for a healthy side: quinoa, amaranth and green bean. Even dinosaurs loved it!
What about YOU? Where ever you are, how does a Sunday lunch look like in your family?
Ingredients (4 servings)
- 2 pork fillets (1 kg)
- 1/2 cup light soy sauce
- 1 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed
- 3 tsp raw sugar*
- 3-4 tbsp dry cranberries* (to your taste)
- 1 cup quinoa and amaranth mix
- 250g green beans
- a pinch of chilli powder
Instructions (~ 45 mins + at least 90 mins for the marinade)
Prepare the marinade:
1. Trim any fat left off the meat.
2. Mix together the soy sauce, the orange juice, the chilli and the cranberries. Pour over the meat.
3. Cover and rest in the fridge for at least 90 mins but no more than 3 hours. Flip the meat occasionally.
Cooking the meat and the sauce:
1. Preheat the oven at 200C, grill.
2. Drain the meat over a pot. Put back the cranberries into the marinade and add the sugar.
3. Put the marinade on high heat until it boils and then reduce to medium heat until it reduce into a nice caramelised sauce (approx. 15-10 mins). Do not stir too often, but crush the cranberry into the sauce to develop the flavour. Taste regularly the sauce to adjust its sweetness to your taste. Be careful not to burn it.
4. Put the meat it in the oven at 200C. Flip the meat over after 5 mins and put them back in the oven for 5 extra mins. Then, reduce the oven at 170C and cook for 15-20 mins (depending on the size of the fillets). Take out of the oven and rest 5 mins.*
5. Cut 2-3 cm large pieces so you can serve 3 pieces each. Set the meat cuts on half a slice of orange (see on my pictures), it pushes further the tangy-ish flavour of this dish.
6. Pour the sauce over the meat on the plate.
Cooking the side:
1. Plunge the quinoa and amaranth mix into the same amount of water (1 cup). Cover and cook for 15 mins. Stir occasionally.
2. Steam the green beans for 15 mins.
3. Mix the green beans in the quinoa.
4. Season with 2 tsp of orange and soy sauce.
5. Sprinkle some more cranberries over the quinoa (optional).
Bon appétit!
Tips
* The quantity of sugar may need adjustment depending on the sweetness of the oranges.
* I found some orange-flavoured dry cranberries. They work too!
* Resting the meat before you cut it is crucial for a perfectly cooked and tender piece of meat. It continues to cook while resting, so you don't need to leave it too long in the oven.
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