Jon's Recipes

Starters

• Pork In Sour Cream -Serves 4
  
  This is based on the Mushroom Julienne starter that I used to eat a lot when I worked in Russia. Sadly the sour cream available in the UK is nowhere near as good as the Russian 'smetana'. Possibly souring fresh cream with lemon juice might give a better result.
  
  4 oz thin pork loin. all fat removed
  1/4 red pepper
  1/4 green pepper
  1/2 small onion
  2 medium sized mushrooms
  2 cloves garlic
  4 oz sour creme
  
  Finely chop pork, pepper and onion, crush garlic and stir fry together in a minimum amount of oil. When meat is well browned add finely chopped mushroom and salt and pepper to taste and continue to stir fry until mushroom is soft. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream. Divide into four ramekins or small stew-pans. Dust top with paprika and bake in oven at 300 degrees Farenheit for 15 minutes . Serve with French bread and unsalted butter.
  
  

Main Courses

• Lazy Man's Seafood Pasta - Feeds One Hungry Bloke
  
  A great TV dinner. When I make this I have to fight the cat off!
  
  2 oz tri-colour pasta twirls (or whatever you have handy)
  4 oz peeled prawns
  4 medium sized mushrooms
  2 boil-in-the-bag 'Cod in Butter Sauce' portions
  2 cloves garlic
  1/2 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
  
  Cook the fish according to its instructions and set aside. Put pasta on to boil. In a large frying pan with a little oil put the crushed garlic and prawns and fry gently for a few minutes. Add mixed herbs and sliced mushrooms and continue to fry until mushrooms are soft. Add cooked pasta and mix thoroughly. Flake in the fish and its sauce. Mix thoroughly over a low heat until well warmed through. Season with care.
  
  
• Beef Bourginogne - Serves 4
  
  1lb lean braising steak
  1 large onion
  4 cloves garlic
  8 medium size mushrooms
  2 oz silverskin onions (sweet pickled will do)
  8 fluid oz tinned tomato
  glass of red wine
  teaspoon dried mixed herbs
  1 beef stock cube
  
  Cut beef into 1 inch cubes. Brown in oil in large saucepan. Add roughly chopped onion and continue to fried until they begin to soften. Add crushed garlic and mushrooms cut into quarters and stir. Drain tomatoes and discard juice. Add to pan with 1 level teaspoon of sugar. Add red wine, mixed herbs and silverskin onions. Crush in stock cube. Top up saucepan with enough water to just cover the ingredients and bring to the boil. Add salt and pepper to taste. If the liquid tastes bitter from the tomatoes and just a little more sugar. Reduce heat and simmer as slowly as possible for at least 2 hours, possibly 3 depending upon the quality of the meat, stirring occasionally.
  
  
• Home Made Quarter Pounders
  
  Much nicer than anything you'll buy in the shops.
  
  1 pound steak mince (500 grams is close enough)
  1/2 a medium onion, finely chopped
  2 cloves garlic, crushed
  1 raw egg
  1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs
  1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
  1 table spoon Worcestershire sauce
  Salt and pepper to taste
  
  Combine all ingredients thoroughly in a bowl by hand. if time allows, cover and leave to stand for one hour. Divide into 4 patties. Cook under the grill until done in the centre. For extra zing try adding chilli powder or mustard powder.

Rice Up Your Life

• Mushroom Rice (serves 2)
  
  1 cup basmati rice
  4 medium mushrooms, destalked, halved then finely sliced
  2 cloves garlic, crushed
  1 mixed herb stock cube
  salt and pepper to taste
  
  Wash rice 7 times in cold water. Bring to the boil in one and a half cups of water along with the stock cube then simmer on the lowest possible heat for 10 minutes. Keep covered. In a large frying warm a generous amount of oil. Fry garlic and mushrooms very gently until soft, avoiding any browning. Add rice, stirring thoroughly, increasing the cooking heat so that any moisture left in the rice is driven off. Add salt and pepper to tast. Remove heat and allow to stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Mix thoroughly once more then serve.

Fun With Potatoes

• Jon' s Potato Cakes
  
  A bit of a change from chips or boiled spuds. Nice with a full English breakfast.
  
  potatos - see below
  1/2 medium onion
  2 cloves garlic
  pepper
  2 rashers unsmoked bacon
  1 large egg - raw
  
  Use as many potatoes as you normally would to feed 4 people. Peel and cut into small pieces. Boil in well salted water until soft but not mushy. Meanwhile grill bacon until crispy and cut into small pieces.. Drain the boiled potatos. Add finely chopped onion, crushed garlic, egg and cooked bacon pieces. Mash. Add a little milk to ease things along and pepper to taste. Continue mashing until all pieces have gone. Don't overdo the milk - add just enough to allow the mashing process to proceed easily. Shape mixture into small patties and fry in hot oil on both sides until golden brown. For a bit of colour you could add some chives are mixed herbs to the mash.
  
  
• Stovies
  
  A good Scottish recipe for using up any leftover meat scraps. Serve as a snack on its own.
  
  Potatoes - weight as required
  cooked meat scraps, sausage, bacon etc
  1/2 large onion
  2 cloves garlic
  
  Peel and chops potato into small piece. Bring to the boil in slightly salted water (just enough to cover). Add meat cut into small pieces, chopped onion and crushed garlic. Add pepper to taste. Simmer in open pan until all water has been driven off, taking care not to burn, until a porridge like consistancy is reached. Re-season as required and serve piping hot.