Delia's Pork Chops with a Confit of Prunes, Apples and Shallots

By Helen
Main Ingredients:

• Pork chops
• Pint of dry cider and cider vinegar
• Cooking apple
• Tinned prunes
• Shallots

Pork chops. Flour, salt and pepper, fried in butter and oil. Done.

Now onto the good bit - a bubbling pan of sliced Bramley apple, dry cider, prunes, brown sugar, ground cloves,  shallots and cider vinegar. Half mulled wine, half apple sauce, it simmered down over the course of an hour into a rough chutney which is apparently also good with pork pate or duck.

The rest of the cider was then reduced in the frying pan as a glaze, but to be honest it would have been easier and quicker just to drink it.

Sweet, sticky prunes, tender shallots and lots of lovely gravy for the mashed potatoes AS WELL as the traditional apple sauce - finally we've matched a meal to exactly the right time of year.

The meat itself was pretty nondescript but it didn't take much extra expenditure to make them much more memorable (£2.48 a head).

Best for...  A bright, mild day at the end of October (and the only day this week we have time to cook)
Taken from... Delia Smith - How To Cook: Book Two
Chris says... Very rich and so won't suit every palate, but tasted great and wouldn't look out of place at dinner party.

Delia's Jerk Marinated Pork Chops with Chargrilled Pineapple Salsa

In case you hadn't guessed - we forgot to take a photo again

By Chris,

Main Ingredients:

• 5x Pork Chops
• 1 large tin of pineapple
• Chilli, red onion, garlic, ginger and mixed spice
• Coriander, lime juice and honey

With the weatherman predicting some late summer sunshine, we decided to fire up the barbie for one last time and Delia's pork chops sounded ideal for the occasion. As with many of her dishes, this required preparing well in advance, to give the marinade plenty of time to soak in.

Half a red onion was blended together with a red chilli, a clove of garlic, a chunk of ginger, a teaspoon of mixed spice, the juice of one lime, one tablespoon of soy sauce, a tablespoon of brown sugar and a tablespoon of oil. This made a nice runny sauce which was spread over the chops and then left overnight.

The next day, I started off by prepping the salsa. The recipe said to chop up a fresh pineapple, but using a tin seemed so much easier. The chunks were drained and then glazed in a mixture of equal parts oil and honey. Then they were spread out under the grill for ten minutes, turning half way through, to blacken them up. These were then mixed with a whole diced onion, half a red chilli, the juice of another lime and a fistful of coriander leaves.

When it came to cooking the chops, it was all about taking it slowly and being patient. Thankfully they didn't give off too much fat and they were cooked all the way through after just 20 minutes. Served up with a simple potato salad, these went down a storm and weren't as spicy as I'd feared. The salsa also worked nicely with a normal burger for those who missed out on the pork chops. Best of all, at £1.61 a head, this was pretty good value.

Best for... An exotic twist to liven up a soggy barbecue

Taken from... Delia Smith - How To Cook: Book Two

Helen says... Very impressive-looking: they gathered quite an audience and the salsa was a perfect, colourful accompaniment.

Jamie's Wicked Souvlaki Kebabs

By Chris,

Main Ingredients:

• 400g Diced Pork
• Green and red peppers
• Warm flatbreads
• Greek Yoghurt
• Dill, Mint, Oregano and Lemon Juice

As Jamie says in the preamble to this recipe, kebabs are often regarded as a guilty pleasure, but there's nothing guilty about these kebabs. In fact, they're probably the healthiest kebabs I've ever eaten. First up, the meat was marinated in the juice of half a lemon, 50ml of olive oil, half a tablespoon of dried oregano and half a tablespoon of dried mint. This combo was pepped up with some red wine vinegar, a finely chopped garlic clove, a pinch of salt and some cracked black pepper, and then left for half an hour.

Next up, I made some tzatziki by grating and wringing out a quarter of a cucumber, which was then mixed with 50ml of Greek yoghurt, chopped mint, more red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. The next step would probably be much easier (and quicker) on a gas cooker, as I had to blacken two peppers under the grill. This took about ten minutes under an electric grill, so in the meantime I prepared the dill and mint garnish, which would go on these peppers later.

Once the peppers were done, I took them out from under the grill and put them into a covered bowl to sweat for a while. The pork was then skewered and fried in a dry pan for ten minutes and the flatbreads were warmed in the bottom of the oven. After the meat had nicely soaked up all the marinade, we were ready to roll. The flatbreads were filled with a dollop of the tzatziki, a generous skewer's worth of meat, the peeled and sliced peppers and the garnish.

The result was a lovely, zingy, herby wrap that was both filling and taste-bud tingling. With my predilection for spice I would be tempted to chuck a red chilli into the marinate next time, and if I was feeling a bit more plush, I'd upgrade the pork to diced lamb. Otherwise, this was fairly simple and very satisfying. The catch? At £4.13 a head, this is one of the priciest dishes we've made so far...

Best for... A super indulgent lunch on a stonking hot summer day

Taken from... Jamie Oliver - Jamie Does... Greece

Helen says... Surprisingly filling and beautifully rich and herby. Plus I'm sir you could cheat and use jarred peppers if you were in a hurry!

Jamie's Tapas Feast

By Helen
Main dishes:

• Chorizo and lentils
• Smashy chickpeas
• Pork and parsley meatballs
• Rosemary and tomato bread
• Cheese and ham croquetas
• Tinto de verano sorbet

Why learn one new recipe when you can attempt five or more at once?

Now it's finally the right time of year for nibbly, share-y food that doesn't have to keep out the chill, I decided to revisit the tapas-style meal. The chorizo fried with a tin of lentils was my personal favourite - the spicy oils making otherwise dull pulses more substantial. The chickpeas - a sort of hot hummous - weren't that spectacular but were very simple to make and added some useful carbs along with the bread.

The meatballs were a little more complicated than I'd expected (peel my own tomatoes? Me?) but very tasty and only the croquetas (deep-fried cheese balls) were disappointing. I think I needed to make the thick cheesy mixture a bit thicker and leave it to chill for longer (then coat with some slightly less... 'rustic' breadcrumbs) and they might have been more successful. But that's the point of tapas I suppose - there's a certain amount of trial and error from a cook's point of view as well as a guest's.

The real surprise was the sorbet - a mixture of lemonade, sugar syrup, water, lemon juice and not especially expensive red wine which came out a beautiful raspberry colour and velvety smooth after 24 hours in the freezer. Really refreshing and not nearly as sharp as lemon but it still looked pretty classy in small glasses.

At £2.69 a head this really wasn't too pricey and I'd definitely use a couple of these dishes again, alongside some more adventurous ones - baby clams or deep-fried squid anyone?

Best for... A long evening gradually eating to a standstill (if you can stop being punctual!)

Taken from... Jamie Does...Spain

Chris says... There's something for everyone on a lovely tapas platter, just pity the poor soul who has to do the washing up!

Hugh's Overnight Home Cured Bacon Chops

By Chris

Main Ingredients:

• 4x Pork chops
• Carrots, butternut squash and potatoes
• Leeks and cabbage
• Salt, pepper, sugar, juniper berries and bay leaves

This is the first recipe in a while that I got properly excited about and it turned out to be one of the best yet. As an avid fan of bacon, the name of this recipe jumped out at me as a challenge that had to be accepted and, overnight curing aside, this was quite straightforward.

Four normal pork chops were cured in a mixture that was 2/3 salt and 1/3 sugar. Shredded bay leaves, crushed juniper berries and ground black pepper was added for a bit of variety, but little of that was noticeable at the end. After roughly 24 hours in the fridge, the salt had drawn much of moisture out of the chops and it was washed off.

The chops were then grilled for six minutes on each side and served with three-root mash and some lovely buttery greens, as suggested. I was initially worried that the chops would be too dry without gravy, and bought a jar of wholegrain mustard to accompany the chops. We didn't even open it, and I'm a massive fan of mustard.

This has to go down as one of the tastiest and most satisfying meals I've done so far, with the tangy, salty pork being perfectly complimented by the sweet mash, which was topped with nutmeg (a seemingly left-field suggestion, which really paid off). 

At £2.36 a head, this was very reasonable, and I'd say you can leave out the juniper berries if you don't already have them and you won't miss much. 

If you've got the time to do it, I definitely recommend giving this a try - Like bacon? You'll love this!

Best for... Bacon lovers who are willing to try something a little different.

Taken from... Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - River Cottage Every Day

Helen says... Really tasty, not too fussy and worth all the effort

Hugh and Jamie's Pan-Mediterranean Feast

By Helen

As the food gets better, the photography is still lacking..

Dishes:

• Chorizo in wine and honey
• Fried halloumi with sesame seeds
• Tortilla (Spanish potato omelette)
• Rosemary and tomato focaccia
• Parma ham and olives
• Hummous

As a weak wintery sun shone hopefully down, our thoughts naturally turned to warmer times and climes. 

Cheered by the thought that it might not actually be winter FOR EVER I decided to celebrate the coming of spring with a mezze/tapas style meal, combining all the best dishes from Hugh and Jamie.

This was a really fun one to make and to eat - none of the dishes was especially complicated or needed to be served hot, so it didn't matter that each one made it to the table at slightly different times. For the second week in a row we made bread, which swelled up to an alarming size and could have done with some more tomatoes, but was excellent for mopping up leftovers.

Hugh almost threw a spanner in the works by suggesting (unnoticed by me) that I should boil the tinned chickpeas for three hours (!) before blending - again proving that although Jamie's meals may take over 30 minutes, Hugh's certainly aren't feasible for most people to make everyday. Thankfully an Internet recipe suggested that this was unnecessary and sure enough the chickpeas blended happily enough with oil, garlic, lemon, water, tahini and cumin to make around 1ab (one abundance) of moreish hummous.

Everything else was pretty self-explanatory - fried potatoes and red onion were set and grilled with six eggs and lots of rosemary for the tortilla, and the chorizo was fried with honey, a splash of red wine and balsamic vinegar which made a lovely sticky glaze. Sesame seeds (from last week) were pressed into chopped halloumi and fried until the cheese was golden.

Even between three hungry people there was a huge amount left for some rather impressive weekday lunchboxes - assuming that four hungry diners could have made more of a dent, the per-head cost comes out at a remarkably reasonable £2.93. Roll on spring!


Best for... Lazy summer picnics without a cloud in the sky (or as close as you can manage in the UK).
Taken from...Hugh, Jamie and BBC Good Food
Chris says... One of the best yet - the halloumi and chorizo were fan-bloody-tastic!

Delia's Fast Roast Pork with Rosemary and Caramelised Apples

By Helen
Main ingredients:

• Pork Fillet
• Rosemary
• Granny Smith apple
• Cider vinegar and dry cider
• Garlic

Ah, good old Delia. 

That boeuf en croute must have just caught me on a bad day, since this is the second of her recipes in a row which has been easier and more delicious than I'd anticipated.

A fillet of pork was studded with garlic and roasted for 25 minutes with cider vinegar, onions, rosemary, a little sugar and a few wedges of apple. Once cooked it was hoisted out and left to rest while all the lovely juices were combined with double cream and cider to make the sauce.

We tucked into thick slices of the pork with roast potatoes (as recommended) and minty savoy cabbage (from a couple of weeks ago). The end piece of the fillet was a little chewy but the slices from the middle were no match for even our feeble butter-knives. I didn't have the patience to craft the sauce as lovingly as instructed but that was mainly because it smelled SO GOOD and I was hungry. 

It came off none the worse and as Queen Smith points out, a couple of fillets would make a substantial roast for six people in less than an hour - and works out around £2.78 a head. 

Next week: something not Delia and not a roast!

Best for...A bit of Sunday indulgence on a soggy weeknight

Taken from...Delia Smith - How to Cook: Book Two

Chris says... Lovely subtle flavours and very moreish - went well with minty cabbage too!

Jamie's Pork Chops & Crispy Crackling

By Chris
Main ingredients:

• Pork Chops (4x 200g)
• King Edward Potatoes
• Savoy Cabbage
• Wholegrain Mustard
• Honey, Sage and Garlic

This recipe doesn't sound like much on paper, but really worked out to be more than the sum of its parts. If nothing else, I learnt how to make my own pork scratchings, which is an invaluable life skill if ever I learnt one!

Jamie's recipe suggests cutting the rind off the pork (harder than it sounds), then frying on a high heat to crisp up. This made pretty decent scratchings, but filled my flat with smoke, which was mildly embarrassing since the guests had already arrived. Once they were done and the chops were seared, it all went in the oven with the honey, garlic and sage, which made for some very juicy, tasty chops.

I served this with boiled savoy cabbage, which was flavoured with mint sauce, and microwaved King Edward potatoes with parsley and mustard. None of this is exactly rocket science, but somehow it took 45 minutes - another fail by 30 minute meals standard. The dish didn't look spectacular, although the subtle flavours combined brilliantly to make a very satisfying meal, which at £1.75 per head was very affordable.

Best for... Entertaining friends on a budget (even if they don't normally like cabbage)

Taken from... Jamie Oliver - 30 Minute Meals

Helen says... A couple of extra ingredients made an initially rather uninspiring prospect much more impressive - I'll definitely be adding mint sauce to cabbage again.