BBQ pork chops

I think this is another recipe for which I must thank my aunt Debbie! My friend Alexis informs me that she is trying to expand her cooking repertoire and so it was with her in mind that I made this dinner on Monday evening!

This marinade is fantastic with pretty much any meat and is really useful come barbeque season. I’ve used it to coat chicken drumsticks, breasts, kebabs, and lots of different cuts of pork.

I’m a bit lazy and stopped using exact quantities of the ingredients years ago, but try making it according to the list below and then adapt it to your taste as you feel necessary- there’s no right or wrong way to make the sauce, as long as you like it. I also like to add chilli or cayenne pepper for an extra zingyness but I know that not everyone likes it hot!

I feel it necessary to point out here that I really don’t like brown sauce but in this marinade you don’t taste it- it just melds with the ketchup and give it a yummy BBQy boost- if I didn’t tell you it was there you would never know from the taste of the dish. Anyway, if you don’t like it either, don’t let its inclusion put you off!

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 4 pork loin steaks or chops- I prefer loin steaks because there’s no bones and they cook quicker but go with whatever you like
• 1tsp butter
• 1tsp light brown sugar
• 4 big tablespoons of ketchup
• 2 big tablespoons of brown sauce (it doesn’t really matter how much of these sauces you use as long as you aim for roughly two thirds ketchup, one third brown sauce)
• Fresh ground black pepper
• Optional- 1tsp dried chilli flakes or cayenne pepper
• Your choice of accompaniments- I like rice, green salad or baked potatoes (see photo) but you can use anything you like

Method

• Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C or gas mark 6 and line a baking tray with tin foil (you don’t have to line it but it does make the washing up easier!)
• In a small sauce pan melt the butter over a low heat and add the brown sugar, stirring well until the sugar dissolves- this will only take a minute
• Then add the ketchup and brown sauce plus the seasonings. Taste to see what you think, you can add a bit more of either sauce if you like.
• Cook for 5 mins just to warm the sauce through then place the chops into the baking tray and coat well with the sauce on both sides.
• Bake in the oven for 20-25 mins (check the chops for pinkness) or until done. Then serve immediately with your choice of accompaniments, I like to pour a bit of the sauce over the chops from the pan too.

p.s. if you are having a barbeque you can make the marinade in advance, allow it to cool, then cover the meat in it and put it in the fridge to marinate for up to 24 hours making it even tastier!

The perfect chocolate brownie?

the guardian- chocolate brownies

I am undecided, while these sound good i still reckon Debbies chocolate cake mix makes the best brownies (still a good read though)- what say you my baking gurus?

Quick and easy roasted tomato sauce

After complaining about my slow ripening tomatoes last week on The Garden blog (the link is on the main page) I found myself faced with a glut of the damn things at the weekend- isn’t that always the way!?

So, in an attempt to be resourceful, I decided to make my own pasta sauce which we used for dinner last night. For a recipe which was made up on the spot, I must say it was delicious! I gently fried up half an onion and a clove of garlic until softened and caramelised which I then added to the sauce before mixing it through the pasta, but it’s delicious as is too. The sauce has a sweet, smoky quality about it, thanks to the natural sugars in the tomatoes and isn't at all vinegary like some shop bought ones can be.

If you too have grown some over-enthusiastic tomato plants this year or just fancy something different, give it a go. It could also be used as a base for a lasagne or would be nice stirred through rice for a lunchtime treat. It would jazz up roasted chicken breasts for an evening meal- serve with green salad, new potatoes or roasted Mediterranean-style veg, or can be frozen for use at a later date.

Ingredients

• Approximately 500-750gms of ripe tomatoes- try to use a mixture of varieties. I had beef tomatoes, tigerella, cherry and plum.
• 3tbsp good quality olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Big handful of fresh thyme (I used lemon thyme)
• 2-3 tbsp double cream

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C and find a big baking tray with sides (see the photos for rough sizing)
2. Wash the tomatoes and chop them into halves or quarters depending on their size, you may need to remove the cores from the beef tomatoes if they are still a little green.
3. Place cut side up in the baking tray so that they sit together snugly and drizzle over the olive oil.
4. Season and place the thyme sprigs over the top, don’t bother removing the leaves from the stalks.
5. Bake in the oven for 20 mins or until the tomatoes have gone all squidgy and caramelised in places. Remove and allow to cool for 15 mins.
6. Remove the thyme from the tray then pour all of the tomatoes and their juices into a blender. You can scrunch the thyme a little over the mouth of the blender to release some of the crispy leaves but don’t let the stalks fall in. Add the cream and blend until smooth.
7. Check the seasoning and divide the sauce up into pots for whenever it’s needed. It can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days.