Old Spuds and Chops

 

A day in the garden today, like everyone else. Here is a useful breakfast recipe. I don’t have a name for it. Serves 2/3.

 3 rashers of bacon

5 eggs

A pinch each of tarragon, salt & pepper

30g grated parmesan

¼ of an onion finely diced

70ml cream

Oil spray

 Thoroughly spray a 6 berth friand tin, these boys stick so be generous. You may have better tins than my budget ones with the non stick surface disappeared, no doubt on the bottom of a friand at some time previously! Cut the bacon rashes in half and lie one in the bottom of each cavity. Mix all the other ingredients together and spoon on top of the bacon, don’t overfill, you will regret it. Bake at 180 for about 20-25 minutes. And, you really do need to let them cool before you eat them!

 I was rather pleased that despite no announcers The Most delivered up 4 hours of great music today to ease the burden of weeding and cutting overgrown things back resulting in a big bloody mess to clean up. Had to have chops again for dinner tonight, oh dear, how sad. Chops are so good you need to be careful not to adulterate them, salt really is the only permissible addition in my book of rules about chops and other things, and I was going to have to be good to improve on last nights. I decided to brine them, brining never fails to deliver the goods and is particularly effective with chicken. Normally I would do some elaborate gig with salt, herbs and all sorts of show off shit, but I was just gasping to get out and pull weeds this morning so I went for the primer one option. I tipped the last of the salt in the jar into some water, stirred it with a dirty knife off the bench and tipped it over the chops with an afterthought of a stick of rosemary. So if you want the flashness, look it up on the internet there will be a plethora of brining experts offering you their considered wisdom and recipes on the subject.

 I have been reading my cookbooks of course, I have so many now I feel I need to apply myself to this task frequently or they would just be another example of needles consumption and most people have heard my rant on that, it has just about usurped the TV one. The Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater is a long term favourite. And, it is more like a diary than a cook book, which I love, there is nothing more boring than a recipe without a story. Anyway he had new spuds and chops so this recipe was inspired by that.

 Old Spuds & Chops for One

A potato

The aforementioned brined chops, dried with kitchen towel

A clove of garlic finely sliced

A small handful of torn mint leaves

½ a lemon

A good glug of good olive oil, mine is homemade in Ohura

 I have recently read a book called Extra Virginity all about olive oil production and the skulduggery that goes on. It led me to believe that the garden variety we all buy at the supermarket is probably dyed canola oil or similar, or at least only partially “extra” virgin. Anyway I digress.

 Get your spud, cut a cross in it and fire it in the oven. After about an hour it should be right, I moved it from the top to the bottom of my coal range oven which is significantly colder while I cooked the chops. Heat the oil, cook the chops, ensuring the fat gets crisp, my mate Linc text me up today to check I had the fat crisp last night………………..silly question I told him. Once they are nearly cooked add the garlic and mint and cook briefly, then squeeze in the juice from the lemon. Squash your spud so the insides burst out the cross, plate it all up and pour the pan juices including garlic and mint over it all. I had it with brussel sprouts cooked in butter. Probably didn’t do much for the width of my arse this dinner.