We had some Tomatillos given by a friend to play with. These made a great Salsa ( Recipe here ) but not really a meal on their own. I found a Mexican recipe for Pork Loin with Charred Tomatillo Salsa and as we had a “Yellow Sticker” Pork Loin in the freezer which cost us the princely sum of £2 we thought we’d make a bit of a fusion dish.
Mexican flavours work really well with Rice Glass Noodles, it seems!
Roast Pork Loin
Ingredients:-
Pork Loin
Oil
Whole grain Mustard
Salt & Pepper
Method:-
(1) If your Pork has not been frozen and you fancy crackling (Why wouldn’t you?!) Cross cut through the Pork rind.
(2) Rub with Oil, Whole Grain Mustard, Salt & Pepper.
(3) Roast at 160c for 45 minutes.
(4) Turn up to 180c for the remaining 10 minutes if you are aiming for crackling.
(6) Set aside to rest.
(7) When ready to serve slice.
Tomato, Shallot and Coriander hot Salsa
Ingredients:-
1 Tin of chopped Tomatoes
Tomato Puree
2 Shallots, finely chopped
2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
Chilli Flakes
Fresh Basil & Coriander leaves, finely chopped
Jerk Sauce
White Wine Vinegar
Sat & Pepper
Oil to fry
Method:-
(1) Gently fry the Onions and then add the Garlic.
(2) Add the Tomato Puree and stir in.
(3) Add the Tinned Tomatoes and Chilli Flakes.
(4) Season with Salt, Pepper, Jerk Sauce and a dash of White Wine Vinegar.
(5) Simmer to reduce for 20 minutes.
Rice Noodles with Tomato, Shallot and Coriander Salsa.
Ingredients:-
Rice Noodles
Salsa
Method:-
(1) Boil a kettle of water.
(2) Add to a pan over a high heat and drop the Noddles in.
(3) Boil another kettle of water.
(3) Boil and then reduce the heat in the pan until the Noodles are translucence and soft.
(4) Remove from the heat and pour the fresh boiling water over in a sieve and allow to drain.
(5) Empty the pan and return the noodles.
(6) Stir in the hot Salsa.
(7) Serve on a bed under your sliced Pork Loin.
Build the plate with Noodles, Pork, Hot Tomato Salsa and cool Tomatillo Salsa and dress with a few chopped Coriander leaves and Cherry Tomatoes.
We've had a trip to 10 Downind Street Today. Below is the official Press Release. We are doing everything we can to assist those who become victims of a system which simply does not work and also the various charities who are picking up the pieces when Univarsal Credit puts people in real danger.
Press Release:-
" Universal Credit claimants take national petition to Downing Street, as thousands more go hungry
A NATIONAL petition calling on the UK government to Fix Universal Credit will be handed over at 10 Downing Street on Wednesday November the 7th.
The petition by the End Hunger UK campaign has been circulated and signed in food banks around the country by Universal Credit claimants, people experiencing hunger, and food bank volunteers and supporters. In total, over 18,000 people have signed it.
The petition will be presented at Downing Street by Tony Carson and Sue Rimington from York, who spent several weeks living in a tent this summer after moving on to Universal Credit, surviving on £4 a day between them. They will be joined by managers from Trussell Trust and independent food banks and Amanda Button, who has worked with many Universal Credit claimants through her voluntary work with anti-poverty organisation ATD Fourth World.
Tony said: “Universal Credit does not work and it’s the fault of the system. It doesn’t help you get back on your feet, it traps you.”
Sue said Universal Credit was not the only cause of their problems but said: “Universal Credit has swept us further into difficulty because you can never, ever, be in credit with Universal Credit.”
The petition calls for:
1) Urgent action to improve the flexibility and support for people on Universal Credit, including:
Flexibility for claimants (more scope for telephone applications)
Focused training for all staff including work coaches and call centre staff.
Increased awareness and implementation of Alternative Payment Arrangements
2) Improvements to its design to ensure it does not leave more people at risk of debt and destitution, including:
Debt advice included as part of Universal Support
Reducing the waiting time for payments from five weeks to two weeks
Introducing true yellow cards for sanctions
Reducing the level of loan repayments from 40% to 10%
3) A long-term commitment by the Government to ensure Universal Credit provides people with enough income to afford good food on a regular basis, including:
Increasing Universal Credit levels to the real cost of living
Restoring essential benefits including disability benefits and bring their levels up to the real cost of living.
Last week’s Budget statement suggests that the Government recognises that Universal Credit must be fixed. Some changes announced by the Chancellor are welcome, but for many living in food poverty in the UK these changes do not go far enough.
In July, nine organisations who are members of the End Hunger UK campaign published a report entitled ‘Fix Universal Credit, no one should go to bed hungry’. This recommended short, medium and long term changes to Universal Credit, based on information and insight from more than 70 food banks, emergency food aid providers, and those assisting people in food poverty across the UK.
End Hunger UK welcomes the UK government’s announcement that it will reduce the maximum rate at which deductions can be made from Universal Credit from 40% to 30%. Our report however, highlighted that repayments should be reduced to 10% a month. We are also concerned that these changes will not be put in place until October 2019 meaning thousands of claimants will not feel the benefit of this change. One food aid provider told us: “I saw one client who said he’d had an advance payment and had such a struggle paying it back he wasn’t ever going to risk asking for another. Advance payments don’t really solve anything in the long run.”
Sadly, the budget statement did not address the administrative and design problems inherent within Universal Credit. For example, a short-term, much-needed change would be to allow new applications to be made over the phone, as opposed to operating a solely online system, which is not accessible to those without internet access.
There has also been no recognition of the need to end the ‘benefits freeze’. Universal Credit payment levels fall far below the actual cost of a decent standard of living in the UK.
Emma Revie, chief executive of The Trussell Trust: “We created our benefits system to make sure support would be in place for each other, but if Universal Credit is to continue this legacy, more must be done. Foodbanks in our network have been clear: waiting weeks for a first payment, not being able to access support and receiving payments that just don’t cover the cost of essentials, are forcing people to use foodbanks. The time to act is now. We have to make sure our benefits system can help people to keep their head above water and afford food on a regular basis - no one in the UK should need a foodbank’s help.”
Sabine Goodwin, of Independent Food Aid Network, on behalf of End Hunger UK, said: “Around the country, the Universal Credit system is not working. The changes in last week’s budget were a step in the right direction, but do not go far enough and lack the urgency required. The Fix Universal Credit petition has drawn support from all over the country. We’re grateful to everyone who has signed or helped to circulate it, and call now on the Government to hear and heed what people are saying.”
Not before time realistically. Let's not get into the Politics here. But at least they have had the decency to admit that Universal Credit simply isn't working.
" The rollout of Universal Credit will be delayed until 2023 after an open rebellion from Tory MPs amid warnings it would become a "poll tax" moment. The system, which merges six benefits into one payment, has been beset with problems amid warnings it will leave people facing hardship. Esther McVey, the Work and Pensions Secretary, said that the "migration" of claimants onto Universal Credit will not start until next Summer. " - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/10/16/universal-credit-rollout-delayed-2023-rebellion-tory-mps/
Following the Yorkshire Evening Post article relating to the failures of Universal Credit we have been invited to visit London to present the petition - http://endhungeruk.org/ucpetition/ in early November. We will also be featured in The York Press next Monday (15 /10/18) and we have been approached by the National PR team of The Salvation Army to deliver some cooking demonstrations. Not bad for a couple of ex tent dwellers cooking on a budget of £4 a day for us and our dog Buster!
This is a “Not For Profit” venture on our behalf. We will never take anything for ourselves. Any donations however large or small are gratefully accepted and will only ever be used to supply materials for food presentations. Any surplus will be donated to The Salvation Army or other chosen homeless related charities.
So thank you all. Please continue to share, like, download and enjoy our recipes! Sue & Tony
Everyone should have access to good food. No one should have to go to bed hungry.
This petition is a call on the UK Government to fix Universal Credit to prevent more people going hungry. We all rely on the welfare safety net being there for us in times of financial stress or hardship. But Universal Credit is currently failing in this task. In areas where Universal Credit has been rolled out, Food Banks and other food aid providers report a surge in the numbers of people pushed into greater debt, destitution and hunger as a result of delays, errors, a lack of flexibility and adequate support.
Sue and I are going to London to present this petition to No.10 Downing Street on the 7th of November 2018, by invitation of friends who probably prevented our death.
This is simply wrong on every conceivable level. The basic premise of the Citizens Advice service is that they are able to provide free and impartial advice. How do they propose to do that when the Department of Work and Pensions are funding them to offer advice about their own broken and dysfunctional Universal Credit system? We don't intend to get involved in the background politics behind Universal Credit, that is outside of the remit of this site. But surely £51 million would be better spent providing support for the most needy in our society? Or simply fixing UC so that people unfortunate enough to be its victim can actually afford to feed themselves?
“From April 2019 Citizens Advice (CA) and Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) will receive a total of £51 million to help claimants with universal credit claims, the DWP has announced today. The DWP says that CA and CAS will be able to support claimants through every step of making a UC claim and managing their money when it arrives. The main focus will be on budgeting advice and digital support. The help will be provided via the Universal Support scheme which is currently administered by individual local authorities with grants provided by the DWP. £12 million is being provided to CA and CAS to set up the service by April 2019, with a further £39 million being paid from April onwards.
The funding may raise concerns about the ability of CA and CAS to campaign in relation to the failings of UC.”