I'm sorry that I am just getting around to updating this four days after the fact, but I had a wonderful, busy weekend that prevented me from writing this blog earlier.
On Thursday, I cooked my HelloFresh dish #2 for the week. This was Figgy Balsamic Pork!
It was a second HelloFresh WIN! In my opinion, it was not as good as the Pecan-Crusted Trout, but it came extremely close. I would 10/10 order this again or attempt to make it on my own.
The pork came with potatoes and green beans for roasting and topped off at a whopping 550 calories, which was about 500 less than the trout. This is a bit surprising to me because you think of fish as being low calorie (usually), but I assume the panko/pecan/butter crust for the trout ran the calorie count up. I can tell you, that for a less than 600 calorie meal, this dish was extremely filling.
This meal required less utensils than the trout, needing only 2 baking sheets and a pan. Again, I had to provide salt, pepper, oil, and butter. Everything else was provided by HelloFresh.
The recipe was in 6 easy to follow steps. The recipe card touts a 10 minute prep time, but I would say 15-20 minutes is more realistic between washing, drying, peeling and chopping. Even then, it puts the total cook time at less than 45 minutes.
This dish contained fresh rosemary, which is absolutely one of my favorite fresh herbs to work with. The smell is divine. Picking the rosemary from its stem is way easier than most herbs. HelloFresh does suggest starting small with the rosemary, presumably if you're new to it or unsure about the taste. I went all in and used all of my rosemary because I know I love it. The rosemary was ultimately divided between the potatoes and the pan sauce for the pork.
Prep for this dish was easy. I'd never used a shallot before. Honestly, I'm not sure I'd seen a shallot before. Grocery stores around these parts tend to have your typical red, yellow, and white onions, but that's about it. I would probably have to go to a specialty store like Whole Foods or The Fresh Market or somewhere similar in a bigger area like Knoxville to be able to purchase a shallot.
The shallot made me cry, like a good onion should.
I'm just going out on a limb here, but I think I could substitute onion for a shallot if necessary. The taste wasn't as strong as an onion, so maybe a little less onion than whatever the recipe calls for.
My prepped potatoes, shallot, and rosemary. The potatoes for this dish were cubed instead of in slices. I had flashbacks to my days of working prep at Applebee's and cubing up pounds and pounds of potatoes.
The trout recipe was very clear about putting the trout into the oven halfway through the potatoes baking cycle so everything would come out at the same time. This recipe, however, was not clear. At first glance, it seems that the potatoes should be roasted first and then the pork and green beans. I saw no need for this, since both are cooked at the same temperature, and I timed it out to where my pork and beans would go into the oven at the midway point for the potatoes.
I loved that this recipe has you put a sear on the pork before finishing it in the oven. The browning of the outside of the meat adds so much more flavor, PLUS we then get to use that juice from the searing to make a pan sauce.
I'll admit, I was skeptical about these green beans. They are what I would call "french green beans" which are different from the green beans you grow up eating as a Southern woman. I've cooked long beans like this one other time where I steamed them and served them with some butter and light seasonings. I had never roasted green beans before. They were good, but different. I would maybe prefer some roasted asparagus or Brussels sprouts in their place, and would do that if I were to make this dish on my own. This is absolutely a personal preference. There is nothing wrong with these green beans. They were good, just would not be my first choice of vegetable pairing with this dish.
The two baking pans ready to go into the oven. Look at that nice pork sear.
While the potatoes, pork, and green beans were finishing up in the oven, we needed to make a pan sauce. I'll admit, this was my first pan sauce. I'd say it's kind of like a gravy, but more complex. The pan sauce for this recipe used the shallots, the rest of the rosemary, chicken stock concentrate, balsamic vinegar, fig jam, and butter. The recipe was a little misleading on the fig jam. The Ingredients list says 2 TBSP while the recipe instructions call for 1 TBSP of the jam. I went ahead and added the full amount of the jam supplied, which was 2 TBSP. I felt the sweetness from the jam would counter the acidity of the balsamic vinegar. Plus, I didn't have any need to keep a tablespoon of fig jam laying around. I'm glad I used the full 2 TBSP in the sauce. The way HelloFresh supplies the ingredients makes it really easy to make things like this sauce. The small package of chicken stock concentrate was great! If I had a recipe that needed that little chicken stock, I'd inevitably have to throw away whatever was left.
Another "pro-tip" instruction on this recipe was about letting the pork rest before cutting it into slices. This was something I was already familiar with, but many people trying out meal subscription plans might not be.
Why do we let meat rest before we cut it? For something like a pork tenderloin or cut of steak, we want the moisture to redistribute throughout the meat. If you cut it immediately, all that tasty juice is just going to run out! Giving the meat a few minutes to rest lets the juice reabsorb into the meat, to leave it tender and juicy.
For a large piece of meat, like a whole turkey, the meat will continue to cook for a few minutes after it has been pulled from the oven. Often, the cook time takes that into consideration. If you start cutting it too soon, your meat might not be completely finished cooking!
Everything came out of the oven at the same time looking and smelling delicious. I let my meat sit for a few minutes before I sliced it up in order to plate it up just like the picture.
The dish plated beautifully, but what about the taste?
The pork was extremely tender and juicy. The rosemary was a great addition to the potatoes. I've already discussed my thoughts on the green beans. The "figgy balsamic" part of this dish, being the pan sauce, was AMAZING. I am glad I added the full 2 TBSP of fig jam to the sauce. It off-set the balsamic vinegar. The sauce was really perfect for this pork (although the pork was delicious without a sauce on it).
I let my parents and my boyfriend try some of this dish, and they all agreed it was delicious. So this opinion is not solely my own.
If you saw my unboxing video, I was a tad concerned about the portion sizes and whether this food would make enough for me to have two decent dinners from each meal. The portions were perfect. I'm used to shopping with a week of leftovers in mind and often cook large amounts for myself to cut down on cooking the rest of the week. This was exactly the right amount of food.
I will be reviewing HelloFresh for a few more weeks because of promo discounts before I try another service. On Tuesday (TOMORROW!!!!), I'll be receiving three meals: a vegetarian Mediterranean Couscous dish, Louisiana style tilapia, and Gouda Pork Burgers.
I'm hoping to stream at least two of these dishes.
I'm extremely impressed with HelloFresh for the first box. I'm looking forward to my delivery on Tuesday to see how the second box looks!
Stay tuned here for my thoughts on next week's meals!
For now,
IndigoSol
***************************************
Subscribe to my YouTube channel here to catch future review vlogs!
If you’d like to support this project monetarily you can send me promo codes for other food subscription boxes or donate directly at paypal.me/indigosol1
Stay tuned here for blogs and reviews!
On Thursday, I cooked my HelloFresh dish #2 for the week. This was Figgy Balsamic Pork!
It was a second HelloFresh WIN! In my opinion, it was not as good as the Pecan-Crusted Trout, but it came extremely close. I would 10/10 order this again or attempt to make it on my own.
The pork came with potatoes and green beans for roasting and topped off at a whopping 550 calories, which was about 500 less than the trout. This is a bit surprising to me because you think of fish as being low calorie (usually), but I assume the panko/pecan/butter crust for the trout ran the calorie count up. I can tell you, that for a less than 600 calorie meal, this dish was extremely filling.
This meal required less utensils than the trout, needing only 2 baking sheets and a pan. Again, I had to provide salt, pepper, oil, and butter. Everything else was provided by HelloFresh.
The recipe was in 6 easy to follow steps. The recipe card touts a 10 minute prep time, but I would say 15-20 minutes is more realistic between washing, drying, peeling and chopping. Even then, it puts the total cook time at less than 45 minutes.
This dish contained fresh rosemary, which is absolutely one of my favorite fresh herbs to work with. The smell is divine. Picking the rosemary from its stem is way easier than most herbs. HelloFresh does suggest starting small with the rosemary, presumably if you're new to it or unsure about the taste. I went all in and used all of my rosemary because I know I love it. The rosemary was ultimately divided between the potatoes and the pan sauce for the pork.
Prep for this dish was easy. I'd never used a shallot before. Honestly, I'm not sure I'd seen a shallot before. Grocery stores around these parts tend to have your typical red, yellow, and white onions, but that's about it. I would probably have to go to a specialty store like Whole Foods or The Fresh Market or somewhere similar in a bigger area like Knoxville to be able to purchase a shallot.
The shallot made me cry, like a good onion should.
I'm just going out on a limb here, but I think I could substitute onion for a shallot if necessary. The taste wasn't as strong as an onion, so maybe a little less onion than whatever the recipe calls for.
My prepped potatoes, shallot, and rosemary. The potatoes for this dish were cubed instead of in slices. I had flashbacks to my days of working prep at Applebee's and cubing up pounds and pounds of potatoes.
The trout recipe was very clear about putting the trout into the oven halfway through the potatoes baking cycle so everything would come out at the same time. This recipe, however, was not clear. At first glance, it seems that the potatoes should be roasted first and then the pork and green beans. I saw no need for this, since both are cooked at the same temperature, and I timed it out to where my pork and beans would go into the oven at the midway point for the potatoes.
I loved that this recipe has you put a sear on the pork before finishing it in the oven. The browning of the outside of the meat adds so much more flavor, PLUS we then get to use that juice from the searing to make a pan sauce.
I'll admit, I was skeptical about these green beans. They are what I would call "french green beans" which are different from the green beans you grow up eating as a Southern woman. I've cooked long beans like this one other time where I steamed them and served them with some butter and light seasonings. I had never roasted green beans before. They were good, but different. I would maybe prefer some roasted asparagus or Brussels sprouts in their place, and would do that if I were to make this dish on my own. This is absolutely a personal preference. There is nothing wrong with these green beans. They were good, just would not be my first choice of vegetable pairing with this dish.
The two baking pans ready to go into the oven. Look at that nice pork sear.
While the potatoes, pork, and green beans were finishing up in the oven, we needed to make a pan sauce. I'll admit, this was my first pan sauce. I'd say it's kind of like a gravy, but more complex. The pan sauce for this recipe used the shallots, the rest of the rosemary, chicken stock concentrate, balsamic vinegar, fig jam, and butter. The recipe was a little misleading on the fig jam. The Ingredients list says 2 TBSP while the recipe instructions call for 1 TBSP of the jam. I went ahead and added the full amount of the jam supplied, which was 2 TBSP. I felt the sweetness from the jam would counter the acidity of the balsamic vinegar. Plus, I didn't have any need to keep a tablespoon of fig jam laying around. I'm glad I used the full 2 TBSP in the sauce. The way HelloFresh supplies the ingredients makes it really easy to make things like this sauce. The small package of chicken stock concentrate was great! If I had a recipe that needed that little chicken stock, I'd inevitably have to throw away whatever was left.
Another "pro-tip" instruction on this recipe was about letting the pork rest before cutting it into slices. This was something I was already familiar with, but many people trying out meal subscription plans might not be.
Why do we let meat rest before we cut it? For something like a pork tenderloin or cut of steak, we want the moisture to redistribute throughout the meat. If you cut it immediately, all that tasty juice is just going to run out! Giving the meat a few minutes to rest lets the juice reabsorb into the meat, to leave it tender and juicy.
For a large piece of meat, like a whole turkey, the meat will continue to cook for a few minutes after it has been pulled from the oven. Often, the cook time takes that into consideration. If you start cutting it too soon, your meat might not be completely finished cooking!
Everything came out of the oven at the same time looking and smelling delicious. I let my meat sit for a few minutes before I sliced it up in order to plate it up just like the picture.
The dish plated beautifully, but what about the taste?
The pork was extremely tender and juicy. The rosemary was a great addition to the potatoes. I've already discussed my thoughts on the green beans. The "figgy balsamic" part of this dish, being the pan sauce, was AMAZING. I am glad I added the full 2 TBSP of fig jam to the sauce. It off-set the balsamic vinegar. The sauce was really perfect for this pork (although the pork was delicious without a sauce on it).
I let my parents and my boyfriend try some of this dish, and they all agreed it was delicious. So this opinion is not solely my own.
If you saw my unboxing video, I was a tad concerned about the portion sizes and whether this food would make enough for me to have two decent dinners from each meal. The portions were perfect. I'm used to shopping with a week of leftovers in mind and often cook large amounts for myself to cut down on cooking the rest of the week. This was exactly the right amount of food.
I will be reviewing HelloFresh for a few more weeks because of promo discounts before I try another service. On Tuesday (TOMORROW!!!!), I'll be receiving three meals: a vegetarian Mediterranean Couscous dish, Louisiana style tilapia, and Gouda Pork Burgers.
I'm hoping to stream at least two of these dishes.
I'm extremely impressed with HelloFresh for the first box. I'm looking forward to my delivery on Tuesday to see how the second box looks!
Stay tuned here for my thoughts on next week's meals!
For now,
IndigoSol
***************************************
Subscribe to my YouTube channel here to catch future review vlogs!
If you’d like to support this project monetarily you can send me promo codes for other food subscription boxes or donate directly at paypal.me/indigosol1
Stay tuned here for blogs and reviews!
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