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 »

Speed Peppered Lamb Chops MS Word document for downloading

Late again! As I was driving home, I was racking my brains for a lamb dish which would cook far more quickly than the one I had planned. I remembered my friend Jane had recently given me a recipe booklet on English Lamb. The recipes sounded delicious. I decided to try Speedy Peppered Lamb Chops, by chef, Oliver Rowe.

Serves 2- easily doubled or trebled

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: about 25 minutes, depending in the thickness of the chops.

He suggests you serve this dish with Parmesan mash and seasonal vegetables. Sounds wonderful! We had my emergency vegetable - a can of sweet corn! I will certainly make this dish again as it is so quick and very tasty. I did cheat a bit - I used freshly ground black pepper for even more speed and normal salted butter. Read more »

Farmhouse Soup - MS Word document for downloading

This is another of Audrey Ellis’s recipes for a family of four - you eat one portion and freeze two. I love home made soup for lunch on Saturdays when it’s cold and wet. You can vary the vegetables in Farmhouse Soup - just use what you have to hand. I used onion, turnip, carrots, swede, and parsnip. I had some cooked left over sweet corn and peas, so I added those just before the end of cooking time. If you are worried about the time needed to dice all the veg, buy a packet of diced frozen mixed veg instead.

Much of the success of soup making depends on the stock. Rather than making my own stock, (it takes too long!) I often use Marigold Swiss Bouillon, as it gives a good flavour without being salty. No GM is also an advantage. You can liquidise the veg and add some milk if you wish to make it a Cream of Vegetable Soup. Serve with grated cheese, lots of fresh bread (or Soda bread - recipe coming shortly!) and butter.

Serves 4, (plus 2 batches for the freezer). Makes about 5 pints (2½ litres)

Preparation Time: 10 minutes (5, if using frozen mixed veg)

Cooking time: About 1 hour

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Cauliflower/Macaroni Cheese - MS Word document for downloading

Cauliflowers were on “special offer” today - very fresh and good quality, so I bought two - one for a very tasty soup which will go into the freezer (recipe shortly!) and another for supper tonight. We haven’t had Cauliflower Cheese for a long time. I like the variations possible with this dish, not only with the different cheeses you can use, but also by adding chopped fried crispy bacon, mushroom and onion to the sauce, (as shown in the photograph) or a well-drained can of salmon. A mixture of cauliflower and broccoli florets makes a colourful and even more attractive dish.

You can use the same sauce recipe with macaroni. Depending on the size of the appetite, allow between 50-100g (2-4oz) of macaroni per person. Cook according to the instructions on the packet.

Not into sauce making? I’ll give you an alternative recipe, based on crème fraiche which you could use with the cauliflower, macaroni or mixed vegetables - preparation time then would be 5 minutes.

Serves 4.

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