Grilled pork skewers

with saffron pilaf and wilted herbs

Preparation time: 30 mins

Serves: 4 people

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Ingredients:

Ingredients for Pork skewers:
2 small pork tenderloins, trimmed. About 700g.
6 sage leaves
3 cloves of garlic
1 large lemon, juiced and zested
½ red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
16 mint leaves, finely sliced, a little kept for garnishing
A little smoked paprika, to garnish
4 long wooden skewers, soaked in water

Ingredients for Saffron pilaf:
60g unsalted butter (can be substituted with Olive oil)
1 small cinnamon stick
5 whole green cardamom pods, cracked
200g basmati rice, washed and drained thoroughly
1 good pinch of saffron threads soaked in 4 Tbsp of boiling water.
Maldon Salt

Ingredients for wilted herbs:
200g of baby spinach leaves, washed
10g each of tarragon, parsley, mint and dill leaves, washed and roughly chopped

Instructions:

1. Cut the meat into evenly sized cubes, roughly 3cm.
2. Make the marinade by crushing the garlic and sage leaves along with a little salt in pestle and mortar until you have fine paste.
3. Add the chilli, mint, lemon juice and zest but do not crush.
4. Add the marinade to the meat and leave to marinate for 15-20 minutes.
5. Place a griddle pan on a low to medium heat.
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6. Melt the butter in a small sauce pan and add the cinnamon and cardamom pods.
7. Fry on a low heat until the butter starts to caramelise and the spices release their aromas.
8. Add the rice and stir to coat in the spiced butter.
9. Turn the heat up to medium-high.
10. When the butter starts to sizzle, add enough water to cover the rice by about 1cm and season with salt.
11. Place a small piece of greaseproof paper on the surface of the water and cover the pan with a lid.
12. Turn the heat up to high and as soon as you see steam escaping from the pan, turn the heat to back down a simmer. Leave to steam for about 10-15 minutes.
13. When the rice has absorbed all the water, drizzle the saffron infused water over the top along with the threads and leave in a warm place until needed.
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14. While the rice is cooking, skewer the meat pieces and drizzle them with a little olive oil.
15. Turn the heat under the griddle to high and when very hot, start cooking the skewers.
16. Cook for about 4 minutes on each side and set aside to rest in a warm place, loosely covered with tin foil.
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17. In a large pan or wok, heat a little olive oil until very hot, add the baby spinach and herbs.
18. Stir these until just wilted, season to taste with salt and pepper.
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19. Stir the saffron rice before serving on to four plates along with the pork skewers and the wilted herbs.
20. Garnish with a sprinkling of smoked paprika and some of the reserved mint leaves.Note:
    If you do not have a griddle pan, you can just as easily cook the skewers under the grill; the cooking times will be very similar.
    The skewers are done when no longer pink in the middle but still very moist looking.
    This dish is lovely served with a dollop of Greek yoghurt seasoned with a little salt and pepper as a garnish.