Red meat is not something we eat a lot of in our house.  We eat it only very occasionally, and when we do, it is bound to be either a steak or pork chops, with the odd bit of lamb here and there, and we both enjoy a good roast or a stew now and then.  

I adore steak. My husband adores pork chops.  Today I decided to treat him to some tasty chops by way of this deliciously spiced dish, which is not only quick and easy, but cooks all in one pan. No fuss. No muss.  Just the way I like things.

 

This easy recipe involves browning  seasoned boneless pork loin chops on both sides.  Simple enough.  Once browned, you remove and set aside. 

Onions and garlic are then cooked in the same pan, taking full advantage of any flavouring from the pork left in the pan, and adding a mix of herbs and seasonings and tomato puree towards the end. 

  

Raw long grained rice is stirred in to coat and then you add a quantity of chicken stock.  Those chops get nestled back into the mix, and the pan tightly covered. 

 

This is cooked for a short time until the chops are cooked through, but still tender and moist. Loin is such a lean cut of pork, that overcooking them will definitely toughen them. Take them out and set them aside to rest while you finish cooking the rice. 

You may find that you need additional stock to make sure that the rice is cooked through.  Just keep testing it and if you think it is going dry, add a bit more stock. 

 I only ever very rarely need to add stock. Better to do it this way than to have soupy watery rice.  You want the rice to be nice and dryish like in the photo.

 

The flavours are really spot on  . . .  onion, garlic . . .  oregano, ground coriander, chili powder, cayenne . . . just spicy enough without it blowing your head off. 

 I am not overly fond of blow off your head heat. I want to taste my food thank you very much!

 

The rice cooks to perfection in that flavourful mix . . .  you stir in some chopped dry roasted peanuts at the end and then the chops are sliced . . .

 

And returned to the top of the rice in a decorative manner . . .  doesn't everyone do that??  I do anyways. 

 I made liberal use of the fresh herbs in my garden in that beautifully sweet and tangy lime and honey vinaigrette that gets spooned over top of the chops prior to serving. 

 

I think that lime and honey vinaigrette is the star of this whole dish. All of the elements taste good in their own right, but when you spoon that vinaigrette over top, it just lifts and enhances everything beautifully!

 

So you get, meaty, spicy, savoury, sweet, tart, garlicky  . . .  all in one dish.  These really are fabulous.  Trust me.

 

No fuss, no muss, all in one dish  . . . fabulously tasty . . .  I am not sure what more a person could as for???  

Serve with a lovely tossed salad on the side and perhaps some crusty bread.  That's all she wrote . . .

 

 

 

 

I can't believe how fast the weeks are flying by.  A day no sooner starts than it ends.  Already we are at the weekend.  I wonder what I will cook up next??? Stay tuned and Bon Appetit!

 

This easy tiffin recipe is sure to become a favourite in your home! Creating something sweet that the family will love doesn't necessarily mean heating up the kitchen when the warmer weather comes.  

Simple bites like this Chocolate Tiffin Cake help you to keep your cool and are real family pleasers!  I think I read somewhere that this was Prince William's and Prince Harry's favourite cake. 

In fact I think it was actually served at Prince William's wedding, so not only is it delicious but its Royalty worthy! 

  

Chocolate Tiffin is a kind of refrigerator cake which is made from a simple sweet chocolate base into which broken biscuits and dried fruit are stirred.  

Its then pressed into a cake tin, and a quantity of melted milk chocolate is poured over top.  In this case I sprinkled some chocolate smarties on top because chocolate is notoriously difficult to photograph! 

 

It usually looks quite unappealing without a lot of editing.  

These photos are un-edited, except for cropping, so the smarties did their job . . .  however, it is not really normal or necessary to have additional candy on top of the cake.

  

However attractive it might be, although for a children's party it would be quite acceptable and probably very welcome!  

I am guessing that the children's eyes would light right up at the appearance of this tasty treat!  I confess my eyes would probably light up if it appeared!

  

They were rather difficult to cut through however, and mostly shattered when I did my cuts, so . . .  there you go.  Did you know orange smarties taste like orange???  

They do! I don't think any of the others have any flavour other than tasting like smarties however, but  could be wrong. 

 

This cake is really easy to make.  I think the hardest part is waiting for it to be ready to eat.  

You need to leave it in the refrigerator for at least an hour prior to cutting, so that it sets properly, and I actually think its even better, and cuts easier if you leave it longer than that.

  

It uses Digestives, the North American Equivalent would be Graham Crackers I think, but any plain biscuit/cookie would work.  

You want one that crumbles easily.  Social tea biscuits also work very well.

 

And you want to vary the texture of the cake by making some of the cookies into small crumbles, and crumbs and leaving other bits in larger pieces. 

The different textures are what makes this cake incredibly moreish!

 

Other than graham crackers some other North American choices might be Social Tea, short breads, or plain sugar cookies. You don't want anything with a really strong flavour.  

Just crunchy and sweet!  This is a very sweet cake without the biscuits being overly sweet, unless you like that sort of thing.  Single layer biscuits work best.  

I used a selection of large seedless raisins for mine.  There were red, gold and dark brown and they were quite large as compared to other raisins.  You can also add cherries if you like.

 

  

Butter an 8 inch square pan well.  Set aside. Melt the butter together with the brown sugar, golden syrup, and cocoa powder, until the sugar has melted and the mixture doesn't feel gritty.  Stir in the raisins. Make sure that you biscuits are a mix of crumbs and some larger bits for the best texture.  Stir into the chocolate raisin mixture.  Mix well to coat all.  Press into the prepared pan, making sure you press down firmly. (I use the bottom of a metal dry measuring cup to do this.)  Pour the melted milk chocolate over top smoothing over to cover completely.  Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour prior to cutting into squares to serve. 

  

There are quite a few versions of this cake out there.  This is the basic, simple version. Once you tackle this one, you could probably charge it up with a few changes, such as white chocolate with lotus biscuits and cranberries, etc.  You could also add nuts.  In any case, I do hope you will give this tasty version a go!  Great for picnics and parties!  Bon Appetit! 

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When I was a girl and at school, I could hardly wait to be old enough to be able to take Home Economics.  You had to be in Grade 8 to take it, in other words, 14 years of age.  

It was divided into three sections or units of tutelage.  One was sewing, where we learnt how to use a sewing machine and sew simple garments such as an apron on up to more complicated projects.  

The second was Homemaking, which taught us how to keep a home clean, simple mending and hand sewing, knitting, budget planning, etc. the home arts.  

The third was Cookery, where we learnt basic cooking skills that you could then apply to making more complicated dishes, food economy, etc.

 

No surprise I loved all three sections.  From the time I was a young girl, I really wanted to be a homemaker, wife and mother. 

I saw great value in each of those roles, and thankfully I was blessed to have been able to do just that for most of my children's growing up years.

 

Although I had always had a really keen interest in food and cooking, I had very little experience. My  mother was not a woman who enjoyed little fingers helping her in the kitchen. If we were in the kitchen we had to stay out of the way and were relegated to being spectators only.  

So, I had no hands on experience at all.  Being able to actually get into a kitchen and create lovely things to eat was really special to me, and I loved every second spent in my high school home economics kitchen! 

 

One of the first things I remember us making was this Five Cup Ambrosia Salad.  It was simple to make and employed only the skills of draining well, measuring and stirring together. 

 

It was super delicious!  Not too sweet, surprisingly . . .  and filled with lots of fruit.  You would think that the marshmallows would make it overly sweet, but they do not.  

They kind of melt into the sour cream, and everything comes out tasting quite marvelous.

 

So called Five Cup Salad, because it measures exactly five cups.  Five different ingredients, stirred together  to make something tasty!

  

You could cut down on the amounts of the fruit and use only half of each, adding equal amounts of banana and grapes, which is also quite popular.  

I have also seen it with apple and maraschino cherries. 

 

This is the way I like it best of all with just pineapple, oranges, marshmallows, coconut and the sour cream.  Simple.

 

Although the name references Ambrosia . . . nectar of the Greek Gods . . . it has nothing at all to do with Greeks.  It is very North American in origin.  

I suppose there are some who would poo poo me using a recipe like this in my English kitchen, but I am a North American in an English kitchen, so its only natural that sometimes the lines between the two blur.

 

My kitchen . . .  my rules.  Actually I am finding that food has really changed in the UK since I first arrived on these shores almost 18 years ago now.  

More North American ingredients are available than back then, and with the Internet and all it holds so readily available now, people are cooking pretty much anything that strikes their fancy.  

I do love the old traditional dishes, but I love things like this also.

 

 

 

It is imperative that you do leave this overnight.  The marshmallows kind of melt into the sour cream and everything just tastes pretty wonderful!  A summer treat!  Bon Appetit!

 

We quite like sliders in this house.  Sliders are small sandwiches or burgers baked all together in one  sheet in the oven, and then cut apart into single servings after baking. I have done a few versions of them on here in the past, including Heavenly Ham and Cheese Hots,  Reuben Sliders, Salmon Melt Sliders (You could also use Tuna), and  Turkey Fajita Sliders to name a few. Love them all.  They make quick and simple suppers when served with some chips or salad on the side, and are also perfect for game nights, etc. with the family. (Think FHE here!)

 

Today I made BBQ Beef Sliders with Caramelised Onions.  You can use deli sliced beef in them, or you can use leftover sliced roast beef.  Either one would work well.  Todd has an easier time eating  meat which is thinner sliced, so for things like this I tend to use deli meat as it is sliced much thinner than I can do myself at home.

 

I buy my buns at Asda. You can get a bag with 24, unseparated, called a freezer pack for about £2, and they work perfectly.  They are also in a nice study bag so you can freeze the ones you don't need to use right away.

  

You begin by caramelising some onions.  What is is about the smell of caramelising onions that gets the taste buds to tingling?  There used to be a guy with a sandwich/burger van in downtown Chester by the town hall that was always frying onions.  I always felt super hungry when I would walk past his van.  It didn't matter if I was really hungry or not, just the smell made me hungry.

 

You layer the caramelised onions on the bottom half of the buns and then top with a bit of BBQ sauce. Today I used Bullseye because that is what I had, but you can use whatever kind you like.  On top of that  you layer on the meat.

 

I then put a layer of cheese.  I buy a four cheese blend at the shops and just sprinkle it all over the meat in a nice layer.  It has orange and white cheddar, mozzarella, Gouda  . . . a nice mix that makes for good melting.

 

The cut side of the top bun gets spread with a horseradish mayo, which as you know goes very well with beef.  Aside from the flavour it also helps to hold the cheese in place before it start to melt.

 

Finally you simply brush the top with a mix of melted butter, Worcestershire sauce and herbs.  This gilds the lily, and adds another layer of delightful flavours!

 

And they truly are delightful flavours  . . .  you get the sweetness from the caramelised onions, a smoky touch from the BBQ, the richness of the roast beef, that creamy melty ooze from the cheese, a touch of creamy heat from the horseradish mayo, and of course that buttery, herbed crispy bun at the top.  Everything just works together heavenly.  I served them with some vegetable chips, which had carrots, parsnip and beetroot, but they would be nice just with coleslaw or even a green salad or potato chips.  Its all up to you!