Sweet and Sour Pork

Ingredients
500g Pork (cut into bite size cubes)
1/2 Teaspoon 5 Spice Powder
2 Tablespoon Sherry
1 Egg
3 Tablespoons Cornflour
Vegetable Oil for deep frying.
2 Tablespoons Groundnut Oil
1 Clove Garlic (crushed)
1 Onion (roughly chopped)
1 Green Pepper (cored and de seeded)
250g Can Pineapple Chunks (keep the juice, DO NOT USE PINEAPPLE IN SYRUP)
3 Tablespoons White Wine Vinegar
50g Sugar
4 Tablespoons Tomato Ketchup
Salt and Pepper

Equipment
1 SHARP Knife
1 Chopping Board
1 Wok (for deep frying)
1 Large Frying Pan
1 Sauce Pan
1 Mixing Bowl
1 Wooded Spoon
1 Spatula
1 Garlic Press
Kitchen Paper

The Good Bit

1. Boil a Sauce pan of water and add the pork until it changes colour, drain and dry the pork on the kitchen paper
2. Mix the sherry, egg, cornflour, 5 spice and a sprinkle of salt and pepper together, dip in the pork until it's coated all over, then in the wok (or chip pan) heat a good amount of oil up to 190c 375f (a cube of bread should take 30 seconds to brown) Deep fry the pork until it browns all over, remove and set aside on kitchen paper.
3. In the frying pan, heat the groundnut oil, fry the garlic until it is brown then add the onion and pepper for 1 minute, then stir in the pineapple juice, vinegar, ketchup and sugar, heat and keep stirring until it has thickened than add the pineapple and pork, heat well and serve.
   

Serves 4

Sausage and Mash

Ingredients
8 Sausages (choose thick ones, flavoured if you like)
2 Onions (cut into wedges)
1Kg Potatoes (peeled and quartered)
75g Butter
1 Tablespoon Wholegrain Mustard
3 Teaspoons English Mustard (you can try Dijon or other varieties, just be carefull of over powering the taste)
1 Clove Garlic (crushed)
Parsley (roughly chopped, optional)

Equipment
1 SHARP Knife
1 Chopping Board
1 Griddle
1 Large Pan (2/3 rds full, boiling salted water)
1 Potato Masher
1 Garlic Press

The Good Bit

1. Dry fry the sausages in the griddle pan for about 4 minutes then add the onion wedges and cook for a further 6 minutes, keep an eye on the sausage and turn occasionally to brown evenly, try to only turn the onion once or twice to caramelise it in strips to give a lovely effect.
2. Boil the potatoes for 10-12 minutes until you can stick a fork in them and they break easily. Drain the pan and then mash the potatoes with the butter, when it's well mashed add in the mustards and garlic and a little drizzle of oil and mash again until you have a smooth mixture, you can even add a little chopped parsley at this point for extra flavour, Season to taste with salt and pepper.
   
3. Serve a helping of mash with a couple of sausages and top off with a couple of onion wedges.
   

Serves 4

Spicy Ribs

Ingredients
1kg Pork Ribs (cut into 5cm strips)
A Splash of Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Chilli Powder
1inch Fresh Ginger (finely chopped)
1 Clove Garlic (thinly sliced)
Salt
for the sauce
4 Tablespoons Honey (clear)
4 Tablespoons Wine Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Sherry
150g Tomato Purée
1 Teaspoon Chilli Powder
2 Cloves Garlic (crushed)

Equipment
1 SHARP Knife
1 Chopping Board
1 Mixing Bowl
1 Garlic Press
1 Frying Pan

The Good Bit

1. Mix the sauce ingredients together in the bowl and set aside then sprinkle the ribs with salt.
2. Heat a good splash of oil in the frying pan and add the chilli powder, garlic and ginger and stir fry for 30 seconds, add the ribs and cook until golden brown, then reduce the heat and cook for a further 10 minutes.
3. Add the sauce to the pan, stir well, cover and cook for 25-30 minutes then serve.

Serves 4

Piri Piri Pork

Ingredients
500g Pork Fillet
2 Lemons
1 Bottle Piri Piri Sauce
Oil
Stir Fried Vegetables or Chips to Serve
Equipment
1 SHARP Knife
1 Chopping Board
1 Pastry Brush
Cocktail Sticks

The Good Bit

1. Pre heat your grill to high and soak your cocktail sticks in water, slice the lemons as thin as you can then cut discs from the fillets the same diameter as the lemon and about 1cm thick.
2. Brush each of the discs of pork with a little of the sauce then place a slice of lemon on top of each, pin the lemon on with a cocktail stick then brush lightly with oil, grill for 4-5 minutes on each side.
3. Serve with stir fried vegetables or chips and another splash of the piri piri sauce.
   

Serves 4

Sunday Roast Chicken

Ingredients
1 Chicken
300ml Vegetable or Chicken Stock (if you are doing carrots, peas or any vegetables, then use the water from that pan once the vegetables are cooked for a really excellent flavour)
Vegetables of Your Choice (boiled in unsalted water)
6 Medium Potatoes (quartered)
Oil

Equipment
2 Roasting Tins
2 Large Pans
1 SHARP Knife
1 Chopping Board

The Good Bit

1. OK now before I start here, there are many ways to make this meal, I'll cover the ones I like and throw in suggestions. Pre heat your oven to 160c/325f gas 3.
2. Weigh your bird! then work out the cooking time with this simple formula (don't worry!!) 30minutes for the first 1lb in weight then after every pound add another 15 minutes so a 1lb bird would take 30minutes, a 2lb bird 45minutes, 3lb 60minutes, 4lb 1hr15 and so on.
3. Wash the bird, place it on the roasting tin and place in the oven for the desired time!
4. Now for the vegetables, i like roast potatoes (quartered) with this meal so i chuck them in the other tin, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with sea salt and put in the oven when the chicken has 45 minutes left, you can also do this with carrots and parsnips.
5. I love carrot with this meal and peas, so i cook them in pans of unsalted water until they are tender, sliced carrots take 10-15 minutes, peas only take 5-10 minutes.
6. For the gravy, this is a thin one, I pour some of the carrot juice and some of the pea juice into the roasting tin, stir it in well and ladle it over the meal, if you want to make it slightly thicker add a tablespoon of flour and fry until the flour has begun to brown then add the carrot/pea juice or stock.

Serves 4

Lemon and Lime Chicken

Ingredients
4 Chicken Breasts (chopped into chunks)
1 Red Pepper (cored, de seeded and sliced)
1 Green Pepper (cored, de seeded and sliced)
1 Onion (sliced)
1 Lime (jested and juiced)
1 Teaspoon Chilli Powder
250g Long Grain Rice
1/2 Lemon
A Splash of Oil

Equipment
1 SHARP Knife
1 Chopping Board
1 Large Frying Pan/Wok
1 Large Pan (2/3rds full with boiling salted water or chicken/vegetable stock)
1 Spatula
1 Zester

The Good Bit

1. In the large frying pan heat gently the onion, chicken, peppers, chilli powder, lime zest and juice, stirring occasionally until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender, 10-15 minutes. Season to taste.
   
2. Meanwhile in the large pan boil either the water or stock and squeeze in the juice of half a lemon and then drop in the used lemon half, stir in the turmeric and then add in the rice and cook to packet instructions, usually 10 minutes, this should be ready about the same time as the chicken.
3. Serve the rice in a ring with the chicken inside.
   

Serves 4

Summer Sundays Chicken

Ingredients
4 Chicken Breast
1 Lettuce (divided into leaves)
375g New Potatoes (cooked/from a can)
8 Tomatoes (skinned sliced, don't worry about skinning if you are not sure)
1 Onion (cut into wedges)
175g Asparagus (boiled in salted water until tender then refreshed under a cold tap)
A Handful Fresh Parsley (chopped)
175g Melted Butter (unsalted is best)
2 Eggs (split and keep just the yolks)
1 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1 Lemon (juiced)

Equipment
1 SHARP Knife
1 Chopping Board
1 Blender (or mixing bowl and balloon whisk)
1 Griddle
1 Pan (2/3rds full with boiling salted water)

The Good Bit

1. A couple of things to do first, if the potatoes need cooking, get them on for about 10 minutes in the boiling slated water, check with a fork, when they are done there should be very little resistance to the fork going all the way through. Do the same with the asparagus, that only takes a couple of minutes though, set both aside and allow to cool, or for speed run under cold water.
2. Next griddle the onion wedges turning once so they char on two sides, set aside and griddle the chicken, that should take about 10 minutes on both sides.
3. Whilst the chicken is doing plate up, start with the lettuce leaves, then decorate with the tomato slices, new potatoes asparagus and onion wedges.
4. In the blender mix in the egg yolk, mustard and 4 tablespoons of lemon juice then pour in gradually the butter until you have a smooth sauce, this can be warmed up gently using a bain marie (pour the sauce into a bowl and stand in a saucepan of warm water.
5. Finally when the chicken is done, lay on top of the salad sprinkle over some of the chopped parsley and drizzle over the hollandaise sauce.
   

Serves 4