Frugal Feasts 4

Chipotle Pork Patties with a spiced Apple Chutney

This is another Mexican inspired recipe with a nice smoky heat coming from the chipotles while the traditional apple and pork combo is given a spicy kick with the addition of the habanero. If you are cooking this for children you may want to reduce the chillies, particularly in the chutney.

I serve this with a simple green salad or baby gem lettuce leaves used as scoops for the patties and this works extremely well for relaxed evenings with friends, although you could serve them with the Mexican slaw from an earlier post. I must admit I keep making more as it’s so much lighter than regular coleslaw and the lime juice makes it something quite special.

Ingredients

For the patties

750g pork mince (I found this on special at Sainsburys for £3.00
1 onion, finely chopped
2 fat cloves garlic, grated
1 bay leaf
Small stick cinnamon
2 chipotle chillies, soaked in warm water for 20 minutes
2 tsp oregano (Mexican if you can find it)
2 slices bread, blitzed into breadcrumbs
1 egg
Salt and pepper

Method

• Fry the onion, garlic, bay leaf and cinnamon stick in a little oil until the onions are just beginning to brown. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
• In a large bowl add the minced pork to the cooled onion, remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaf and mix well.
• Season well with salt and pepper and add breadcrumbs. Chop the chipotles finely removing the seeds if you want to temper the heat a little.
• Add the chipotles and oregano, mix well and add an egg to bind the mixture. Form the mix into balls slightly smaller than golf balls and squash a little. Put in fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
• Heat the oven to 180, meanwhile pan fry each pattie for 3 minutes a side in a little vegetable oil. Place on a tray in the oven for 8 minutes to finish cooking.

For the chutney

Ingredients

4 apples, (cooking or eating apples are fine for this) chopped into chunks
1 large onion, roughly chopped
100g muscovado sugar
2 tsp mustard seeds
50g sultanas
2 tsp ground ginger
200ml cider vinegar
1 habanero chilli, finely chopped with seeds removed
* If you made the patties, add the cinnamon stick to the chutney as it will still impart flavour

Method

• Add all ingredients to a large saucepan, simmer on a low heat for 1 hour stirring occasionally. If using eating apples, mash slightly as the apples soften to break them up a little more.
• Put in a bowl and serve cold.
• The chutney can be stored in an airtight sterilised jar, otherwise cover in the fridge and use within a week.

Costings

Pork Mince £3.00
2 onions £0.20
Garlic £0.05
2 slices bread £0.05
1 egg £0.24
4 apples £0.60
50g sultanas £0.15
Cider vinegar £0.70

Total £4.99