Dazz Switalla Flavour Secrets No.1 The Strand Chef www.no1thestrand.co.nz

Why I let the mint run wild and take over the strawberries and the raspberry patch I never know. I think now it's time to rip it all out and do something with it besides new potatoes.

There are other herbs I had forgotten about growing wildly and making their presence felt by bursting into life: coriander, flat leaf parsley, and dill are all waiting for their moment in the spotlight to zest up a dull dish.

Some people have herbs in their garden and make little use of them. This week I have a quick way to use that mint, and a pork fillet dish that uses sorrel and mint to impart an interesting flavour.

First, let's deal with the mint.

Gather up large bunches of it and strip all the leaves off the stalks until you have enough to fill an ice cream container.

Then, in a medium-sized stainless pot put:

1c malt vinegar

¾c brown sugar

1t ground cardamom

2 finely chopped red onions

2 granny smith apples, peeled and finely chopped.

Reduce for 10-15 minutes then add the mint and stir in.

Cook slightly for a few more minutes, then blend in a food processor. Allow the mixture to cool and keep in a sealed container in the fridge until required.

This is great with grilled meats over summer or mixed with Greek yoghurt for a quick dressing on pork kebabs or burgers.

If you chop up ½c each of coriander, mint, parsley and dill, add 2T avocado oil and the juice of one lemon, you'll have fresh herb dressing that is stunning with a smoked salmon salad.

This week's recipe uses the sour notes of sorrel and sumac with the tropical taste of subtly minted pineapple.

Rolled pork fillet with minted pineapple and sumac.
Serves four.

Ingredients

2 large pork fillets

3T honey

2T sumac powder

Few small leaves of sorrel and mint

Salt and pepper

½ fresh pineapple

½ cup crushed toasted macadamia nuts

For the sauce

1c apple juice

2T soya sauce

¼c white vinegar

2 star anise

2 whole cloves

1T maize corn flour

Method

Trim the pork fillet and cut lengthwise in butterfly cuts to open out and expand it into a schnitzel-type.

Cut trim into neat rectangles, about 4cm by 8cm.

Flatten slightly between two sheets of plastic bags with a steak hammer or rolling pin. Try not to tear the meat.

Gather up all the trimmings from squaring off the pork. There should be about 1-2c minceable pork.

Add most of the honey and 1½T sumac. Add salt and pepper and blitz in a food processor.

Spread mixture on to the flattened pork rectangle.

Lay a long wedge of pineapple along it, then tear up some mint leaves and lay along the pineapple.

Roll the whole thing up, brush with a little warmed honey and roll in crushed macadamia nuts. Wrap in tinfoil and chill until required.

For the sauce, crush the star anise and cloves and put everything except the cornflour into a small stainless pot and simmer for 10 minutes.

Strain and thicken with cornflour mixed with a little water.

Cook the pork fillet in the tinfoil, first in a pan for a few minutes, then in the oven on 180°C for 20 minutes or until juices run clear.

To serve, unwrap foiled fillet and brown under grill, then slice with a sharp thin-bladed knife. Add a few sorrel leaves to the sauce just before serving.