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 »

Fruit & Nut Pilaf - MS Word document for downloading

I must remember this recipe after Christmas, as a way of using up the leftover meat. It’s a meal in itself. You can vary the dried fruits you use, according to the meat. Fruit and Nut Pilaf is delicious without meat, in which case, this quantity would probably serve 4. Don’t substitute oil for the butter. The butter is essential for the flavour, unless you are going to be very generous with the seasoning and/or herbs.

Serves 6
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes, if you need to cook the rice

This is turning out to be quite a week! No time for lunch again today and it was duty day as well, so I hadn’t managed a coffee at morning break! Both staff are back, I am delighted to say, so I thought things might be getting easier, but not just yet. A kind colleague clearly saw that I was “wilting” as I was going to my afternoon class and offered me some chocolate. Just what I needed! That and a bottle of water kept me going!

After school, another meeting, so I was late going to the supermarket and getting home. I definitely needed a quick to prepare meal this evening! I put the rice onto cook before I started to unpack the shopping. The apricots and sultanas soaked in boiling water for ten minutes, while the onion cooked. Lovely black grapes were on special offer in the supermarket again, so they made a lovely quick pudding.

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Pork In Mustard Sauce - MS Word document for downloading

Pork in Mustard Sauce is so good it used to be sold (at quite a price!) as a ready meal, with the meat cut up and the sauce already mixed. It may still be sold like that. If you make your own version, you can add the amount and type of mustard you like. You can also choose whether to use cream, crème fraiche, or half fat crème fraiche, which was my choice this evening.

It’s this recipe, and a very similar one using chicken, which first made me realise how many people wanted really quick and easy recipes. So many colleagues tried it and then told others just how simple it was! I particularly liked the fact that some people who said they couldn’t cook could make this in next to no time and be really proud of the result.

Serves 4

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 10-15 mins
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Pork In Stuffing - MS Word document for downloading

This Pork in Stuffing meal takes minutes to prepare and smells just so appetising as it cooks!

Feeds 4

It needs a sauce with it, so I make that in the microwave to cut down the washing up. You can vary the stuffing mix - ones with apricot and apple are good, as well.

Preparation time: 5 mins

Cooking time: 45 -55 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of the steaks. Read more »