This evening’s dinner was a bit of an experiment, a flutter with unfamiliar flavours? Did it work out? Was it edible or did I have to resort to cereal and omelettes? It was fantastic! My family of overly honest home cooking food critics gave the combination of spices used on the roast pork the thumbs up and everyone scooped up seconds of the rice salad. Playing it safe with tried and tested recipes, dishing up family favourites is fine especially during a busy school and working week. But on the weekends I like to mix it up a bit in my kitchen by looking for new and exciting ways to prepare basic ingredients. 

I had purchased a packet of star anise, an attractive looking spice with an appealing liquorice-like taste and perfume. This curious looking ingredient is a staple spice in Asian dishes and the key ingredient in the robust flavoured Chinese Five Spice Powder. I had read that it complements pork beautifully, and so I decided to leap in and give it a go. 

This evening I combined 8 star anise, 1 heaped tablespoon grated ginger, 2 teaspoons dried fennel seeds and 1 teaspoon ground coriander with sea salt. This was roasted with a splash of olive oil in my cast iron Le Creuset pot over a gentle heat for a couple of minutes. 

My 1.7 kilogram piece of Plump Pork Neck, this time without crackling, was added to the pot and turned over several times until all sides were seared and coated with the fragrant flavours. A cup of white wine was poured into the bottom of the pan, before being placed uncovered into a fan-forced preheated oven at 220 degrees. After 30 minutes I reduced the temperature to 200 degrees and placed the cast iron cover over the roast pork. If you don’t have a solid cover, use a double layer of aluminium foil. Tip – make sure the star anise is snugly wedged under and around the base of the pork to prevent it from burning. 

I left the pork neck to roast for another 60 minutes before removing it from the oven and leaving it to rest, still covered, for another 15 minutes before carving and serving with the Sticky Honey Coriander Leaf Carrots and… 


Warm Spiced Brown Rice Salad (to serve 8 as a side dish)

425 grams brown basmati rice
1 Spanish onion finely diced
4 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon sumac
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 heaped cup of whole fresh mint leaves 
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 punnet sweet cherry tomatoes sliced into quarters
juice from a small lemon

Cook the rice using your preferred method. I like to steam rice for this dish because it leaves the grains coked but still fluffy. 

While the rice is cooking, combine the olive oil, onion, spices, salt and pepper into a small baking dish and place in a fan-forced oven at 200 degrees for 15 minutes. Add the frozen corn kernels and return to the oven for another 10 minutes. 

Tip this mixture into your serving bowl and add the cooked brown rice, cherry tomatoes, lemon juice and fresh mint leaves that have been finely chopped (I use my mini KitchenAid food processor for this). Toss gently to combine and serve either as a side dish or as a light meal with Greek style yoghurt. 


 As for the Sticky Honey Coriander Leaf Carrots… what a delicious way to encourage little ones to enjoy eating their veggies. Simply combine 500 grams of baby carrots that have been sliced lengthwise, with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 2 tablespoons runny honey, 1 tablespoon of finely chopped coriander leaves and sea salt to taste. Cover with aluminium foil and place in a fan forced oven at 200 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove the cover and continue to cook for another 15 minutes until the carrots deepen in colour and become satisfyingly sticky. These are best eaten warm.