Sunday Dinner

I love Sunday dinner, it's my absolute favourite meal and if I had to choose it would definately be my last supper!

It's been pretty busy here lately and quite exhausting, I've had a bad, bad cold and Deano still has the pot on (but a lighter one, it was changed today, I nearly posted a picture of his stiches but I thought it would put you off yer tea!). My mum has been helping out alot lately so I wanted to cook her a nice Sunday lunch, and a meaty one at that! I woke up on Sunday with a caveman type yearning for a pork chop! I consulted the books and came up with a recipe by Elisabeth David. Now, E.D. is a cooks cook and the one you will hear all of those TV cooks citing as one of their influences. I once saw on the TV that Delia taught herself to cook by giving dinner parties entirely from her cookbooks! Soo, I'm serving spiced pork chops with potatoes dauphinois, honey carrots, slow pan-fried fennel (Nigel Slater) and peas and absolutely yumptuous it was too. I like to give my mum veggies she doesn't normally eat, mainly because it secretly makes me laugh at her pretending she likes it 'mmmm, interesting' but I have to say she never stopped about the fennel, it was a winner.

PS- I posted another picture of Blix cos he looked so cute in his knight's helmet, sheild and sword which I made him today...I didn't cook him or anything!

The spices for the chops are easy but as E.D. says well worth the time it takes.
3 tsps white peppercorns
1/2 small nutmeg
1 tsp juniper berries
1/2 tsp of whole cloves
If you have a spice grinder then place everything in and wizz, if not and I don't then use elbow grease and a pestle and mortar. Then liberally cover the chops (both sides) in spices (don't think you have to use it all, you can place in a jar and save for another time and use on lamb chops). I cooked the chops on a grill pan for about 4 mins each side.

The Fennel was easy but tasted delicious
2 Fennel bulbs, quartered
Butter
Water
S&P
Parmesan

Put a generous knob of butter in a large fry pan, put fennel in and fry for a few mins then turn the fennel over and cover in water, up to about 1/4 of the height of the fennel.
Allow to boil then simmer gently with the lid on for about 1/2 hour.
Take lid off and let the water reduce then sprinkle liberally in Parmesan and serve.

carrots - I used those posh baby carrots and placed in a oven dish, a slug of olive oil and a good squidgy of honey then some sea salt and roasted.

Potatoes Dauphinois
About 5 lrg potatoes - peeled then cut very thinly, I used the processor.
A big pot of cream, about 250ml and about 1/2 pint whole milk
Garlic

This is my fave potato dish and dead easy. Put the cream and milk in a jug and then put about 3 cloves of crushed garlic into the cream along with some sea salt and freshly milled pepper.
Place the potatoes into an over dish and pour the cream mixture over - mix it about a bit to disperse the garlic then place in a 180 oven for about an hour.

For pudding Deano made a lovely fresh fruit pudding which he liberally immersed in evaporated milk...I by this point was asleep!