Clinging on to the Heat - Chili and Barley Stuffed Pork Rolls with Mango Sauce

A few years back now I received the Readers’ Digest Kitchen Garden Cookbook as a Christmas present. It’s quite a fun little cookbook, divided into sections by food plants that grow easily in backyard gardens in Australia. It gives you a rundown of when to plant, what climate it works best on and then a handful of recipes that use that plant. One of my favourite recipes from that book is chilli stuffed pork fillets with raita. This is an adaptation of that recipe, using a mango sauce to provide a sweet contrast to the heat of the chillis, rather than the cooling raita. I also added barley to the stuffing to make it a more filling meal, rather than make a separate side dish.

 

I used two jalapenos and didn’t remove the seeds, as mine weren’t particularly hot peppers. My bush (tree? Shrub?) provides really inconsistent heat in each peppers, so I have to taste them individually before adding to a recipe! Feel free to take the seeds out depending on your own heat tolerance.

I used my own mangoes, but feel free to use frozen mango cheeks, given we're not in the right season anymore.
 

Chili and Barley Stuffed Pork

200g pork fillet

¼ cup cooked pearl barley

2 jalapenos, finely diced

1 cup finely chopped coriander, basil and mint.

Salt and pepper to season.

1 tbsp olive oil.

Mango Sauce

2 mangoes, diced.

2 tbsp dark rum

1 tbsp butter

½ tsp salt

 

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the mangoes, rum and salt. Mix well, turn the heat up to bring to the boil, then lower and leave to simmer while you make the rest of the meal. Stirring here and there to make sure it’s not sticking to the bottom.

Slice your pork fillet into two, lengthwise, to make two thinner fillets. Cut each of those into 3 pieces, giving 4 rectangles. Season on both sides.

 

In a small bowl, mix the barley, jalapenos, and herbs. Place a tablespoon or so on each piece of pork and roll up tightly. Pin together with a toothpick.

Heat the olive oil in a frypan to medium-high heat. Carefully place  the pork rolls into the frypan and cook for a few minutes on each side, until nicely browned. You’ll need to rotate around 4 times to brown the entire roll.

 

Serve with the mango sauce and a side salad