The other day I was reading a post by John, from The Bartolini Kitchens, and the penny dropped.
John mentioned that he loved to make jam but wasn’t too keen on eating jam and toast. I smiled as I read that because I am the same. I can’t possibly throw out excess fruit so I make preserves and then we end up with jars and jars of jam that take us years to consume. My melon, lemon and ginger jam I made this time last year comes to mind. It tastes great but we have probably only eaten two jars in one year.
John’s post featured pork tenderloin with plum sauce. The base of his plum sauce was plum jam which John had made the previous summer. I was very impressed that John had found a use for some of his jam and it got me thinking about my melon, lemon and ginger jam. Melon and ham go well, as do pork and ginger. There and then, I decided to try pork with some of my jam.
The experiment was a raging success. Maus gave it the thumbs up. Now, I know you are not going to have the same jam as me in your pantry but check out what you have and think about with what you could marry it. Marmalade is an obvious choice for chicken or fish. You may like to check out this page for some great savoury ideas for jam.
My recipe was inspired by John’s post.
Serves 2
Pork with melon and ginger sauce
Ingredients:
- 1 pork fillet
- approximately 3 tbs* of oil
- ½ large onion, finely diced
- 2 cm knob of ginger, finely grated
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 glass of white wine or, if you are so unfortunate as not to have a wine glass in your hand: ½ a cup
- 125g melon, lemon and ginger jam (or any jam you think might go)
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 180°C.
- Heat the oil in an oven proof pan, brown the pork on all sides, remove the pork from the pan and set aside.
- Add the onion to the pan and cook for a minute or so.
- Add the ginger and garlic, stir to combine and cook for another minute.
- Add the wine and deglaze the pan.
- Turn down the heat, cover and cook gently until the onion is nice and soft but not brown (at least, 10 minutes).
- Add the jam and stir until the jam has melted and mixed with the other ingredients.
- Return the pork to the pan and coat in the sauce.
- Place the pan in your preheated oven and cook until the pork is cooked to your liking. Baste regularly with the sauce.
- Serve with the sauce piled on top of the pork.
As an accompaniment, I served bok choy in oyster sauce which was perfect.
Bok Choy in oyster sauce (based on a recipe from Marie Claire, Cooking by Donna Hay)
Ingredients:
- bok choy (I used three, but should have used four)
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 3 tbs* oyster sauce
- 3 tbs* chicken stock
- 1 tbs* soy sauce
- 2 tsp sugar
*These are 20mil tablespoons.
Method:
- Slice the stems of the bok choy and leave the leaves whole.
- Heat the oil for one minute, add the ginger and the stems and cook for a couple of minutes.
- Add the remaining ingredients, including the bok choy leaves and cook until the leaves are wilted.
Ok, this photo is not the best but the meal was delightful. I don’t know why, but the piece of fish in this photo looks huge. I don’t remember it being that big, it must be the camera angle.
The recipe (crushed olive oil potatoes and baked flathead with mint and caper dressing) was featured by Lona from Lona’s in the Kitchen. The recipe is from this month’s Cook Book Guru feature cookbook, Karen Martini’s Cooking at Home.
When I read the salsa ingredients, I began to get excited because I had all the ingredients for the salsa either in my garden or in jars from previous seasons’ harvests.
I bought barramundi farmed in New Zealand. I don’t know much about fish but I do know barramundi is lovely and I hoped our neighbours’ farming practices are ok. The salsa was to die for, the barramundi was fab and, as an added bonus, I was also able to add some of our millions of tomatoes to the plate for, as Lona mentioned, it needs a bit of colour. Absolutely lovely – you should give it a try.
Passion Fruit Garden 
We eat so much better since I started blogging, and there have been many influences, notable amongst them yourself, Chicago John and Celia. I may not replicate exact recipes but I am a great borrower of ideas. Inspired by you I used my Tagine for the first time. Seeing what other people do gives me confidence and impetus to try something new 🙂
Hi Ella, thanks so much for the compliment. I too have picked up so many ideas from other bloggers.
I’ve had John’s roast with plum jam on my mind since he posted it and have been on a hunt for the plum jam.. Of course I suggested that if he wanted to ‘get rid’ of some he could ship a few out to me. Chicken and pork seem to go so well with jams. That mint and caper dressing on the fish also sounds very interesting.
Hi Diane. I don’t know that John will be relinquishing any of his plum jam. Oh well. The dressing was really, really good. Better than I imagined it would be.
Your roast sounds delicious, Glenda. I bet your jam went perfectly with pork. It sure looks good. You’ve got me thinking of what other jams may work. Pork does seem to go very well with fruit. and berries. Thank you so much for the shout-out. That was very kind of you. I’m just sorry it took me so long to get here to acknowledge your kindness. i have to get caught up!!!
Hi John, Thank you for the idea. It worked a treat.
Your plate presentation is lovely!
Thanks so much Pamela
Hi Glenda
Do you have that recipe from Doc for the biscuits as I really want to make them tomorrow morning?
Also hope the roof is going well.
Thanks Sue
Hi Sue, I sent you the recipe by email.
Hi Glenda – sounds good. For more ideas on using up jam (and other preserves) try Sally Wise’s books – she has excellent ideas …
Hi Jenny. I have Sally’s books I will get them out and have another look.
A post written for me! I usually end up making steamed jam puddings to use up my excess jam supplies, but a savoury option is a good idea. Thanks Glenda.
Hi Anne. I love making preserves, but better still, I love finding ways to use them up 🙂
I read John’s post with interest too as I’m also a person who makes jam but doesn’t each much of it. I have vintages of cumquat marmalade at least dating back to 2009! I’ve bought the pork fillet but haven’t tried the recipe yet. I look forward to it one night next week!
Sandra, I am sure you could make a lovely cumquat sauce to go with chicken or duck with that marmalade. Check out this cumquat sauce recipe for inspiration https://passionfruitgarden.com/2013/10/06/its-cumquat-time/
We *do* end up with a lot of homemade jam, don’t we? 🙂 You’ve found a delicious use for yours, thanks to John!
Hi Celia, It is just a great idea of John’s and it tasted fabulous.
What an awesome idea. I actually love jam on my toast but am pretty much the only one that eats it in my house so it takes a long time to get through a batch even with me gifting so much of it. Now my chutney and pickles on the other hand I can’t make enough of 🙂 Great post. Leah
Thanks Leah
I too have a couple of jars of homemade plum jam that aren’t really being eaten. Guess I’ll be adding some to that wonderful sauce recipe you posted. Sounds divine.
Yeah….. some people do read blog posts…..
Thanks Glenda.
Hi Lona, you should check out what John did with his plum jam.
Will do Glenda. Yum. I’m so hungry right now.