One Sleep to Go!

I spent a busy day yesterday.

Thought I would share the Pork & Apricot parcels I made for GOM, to have while I am away. It was a cold evening, & he couldnt wait, so we had one each for tea last night!!
These are pork loin steaks, which I find are a nice size, & usually well trimmed of fat.

Take an onion & dice it, quite finely. GOM came out to the kitchen to see what I was doing, & was horrified to see the camera sitting there. "You want to put that away" he said. When I told him I was taking pics, he snorted & went off. (I hasten to add, it was my little camera, & not the fancy loaner!)

I always cook my onion for 2 minutes in the microwave, so there are no underdone pieces in the stuffing.

Chop the apricots- & here I use pineapple quite often, as GOM loves his pineapple.Most of my recipes are very flexible. If you dont like Pork, use Chicken, Lamb or Steak, or Veal, for the meat. Or I guess vegetarians could use tofu!!?

Make a stuffing mix using about a cup of seasoned stuffing mix from a packet- or make your own version if you are a purist!
Add the chopped cooked onion, an egg & the chopped fruit of your choice.
Place the meat onto pastry of your choice- here I used puff pastry, but a nice short one is fine, or we like Philo, but I didnt have any yesterday. Philo makes a nice neat parcel, & you can use just light spray of olive oil or Pure & Simple to keep the fat content down, if you are counting your fat intake.
Sread the stuffing mix generously over the meat. I dont add salt, but season it to taste- we like pepper.

Seal the edges of the parcels.
Cook in a preheated oven at 200c for approx an hour, or until done.

The end product. Not a very fancy looking end product, but they tasted very nice!

I had sauteed courgettes & green beans with mine, but GOM had corn on the cob & mash.
It was nice & warming on a very unseasonal cold November evening!!
The other 3 parcels will go into the freezer for him to use later, while I am gone.

Today I am going to make him some Mushroom & Bacon Mix -not a creamy one, this time. He likes to have it on toast, & it freezes quite well.

Once when our son was a baby I went off up to 'my Island' to visit my mother- her first Grandson, & her first look at him.
I cooked a few things for HYH, (who was not yet a Publican) including a pot of mince, at his request. We didnt have a freezer in those young poor days, & I was flabbergasted when he told me it had lasted him a week!! I suspect he forgot about it, & just threw it out. We did have a fridge, though, so perhaps it lasted a day or 3.

We also had a cat called Chester, who was as black as midnight- not a white hair on him. When I got home HYH was bemoaning the fact it was very expensive to feed a cat. I asked him what he fed him, & he told me Fillet steak!
So I asked what he had been buying for himself, & he told me Gravy Beef.
I asked "And how did you cook it?"
"I fried it" he replied.
"And did you find it tough?"
"Yes, it was bloody awful, I think we need to change our butcher" Oh how I laughed!

I dont know what the other parts of the world call the cuts of meat, but of course Fillet is the top quality, & Gravy Beef is strictly for stews & casseroles.
And, it is what I used to feed Chester.

Over the years I have had many trips away without GOM, & he seems to fare quite well. He has become a not bad cook, & will survive well. As our Granddaughter is coming to stay, they can work out their meals together, & she is quite a good cook.

And now I had best be off this, & seeing to the packing.
Keep well everyone, & I will 'see' you when I return in 2 weeks.