Piquant Pork Chops - MS Word document for downloading

Trust me, this is a lovely dish. It comes from “The Dairy Book of Family Cookery”, (published in 1983!). I tried it for the first fairly recently and was quite intrigued by the unusual combination of ingredients. Just before I started this blog, I gave the recipe to a couple of friends. I think both thought I was teasing when I said it was delicious. They soon realised I wasn’t and this has now become a firm family favourite. You can’t really taste the mustard, even though it sounds like a lot. Children eat it happily, (particularly if they don’t know it’s there!)

Serves 4

I’d used all the mushrooms in the Soup so didn’t have any to fry to go with this! To begin to make room for Christmas foods, I wanted to use up some frozen Broad Beans which had been in the freezer for ages. They were very pleasant with the sauce, but as you can see a more colourful vegetable would have looked better in the photograph.

Piquant Pork Chops.

Preparation time: 5 minutes at the start and then 5 minutes at the end to make the sauce, fry the mushrooms etc

Cooking time: 45 minutes

You will need a flameproof dish. Read more »

Chutney In The Raw - MS Word document for downloading

This is a quick- to- make chutney and keeps really well. I found Chutney in the Raw in a Rose Elliot cookbook in a school I was working in. I couldn’t quite believe how easy it was and confess to being very sceptical about it.

Once you’ve tried this, you may not want to eat those bought chutneys that leave such a nasty acid after-taste. I think it’s good with cheeses as well as cold meats. I also like it with curries. It doesn’t last long with us, as you can eat straight away and it smells so appetising! You can vary the type of vinegar and sugar. I prefer red wine vinegar and dark soft brown sugar. A cheap malt vinegar will not give a good flavour.

Wash the storage jars and lids really well. Sterilise the jars by placing them on a kitchen towel-lined oven tray. “Bake” in a preheated oven at 160C or Gas Mark 3 for 10 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before filling with the chutney. Store in a cool dark place. (I store mine in the fridge). Read more »

No-Cook Chocolate Cake - MS Word document for downloading

This versatile recipe can be used either as a cake or as a dessert and you can use any biscuits, broken or other wise. Bear in mind that if you don’t have a processor, ginger biscuits can be very difficult to pulverise! For No-Cook Chocolate Cake, the biscuits can be chopped as much or as little as you want. The raisins add an extra flavour which is very pleasant.

Serves 6-8

Preparation time: 5 minutes

One 7″ (18cm) round tin

Chilling time 1-2 hours

If served as a dessert, I like a little cream with it (you might have guessed!). Read more »

Mediterranean Lamb - MS Word document for downloading

I love cooking with fresh herbs! This sauce in Mediterranean Lamb is lovely with fresh basil. This is one herb I have real difficulty in keeping alive and healthy, so I do substitute dried basil sometimes. I couldn’t get black olives for some reason, so substituted green ones. The black ones do provide a more pleasing colour contrast.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes Read more »