Pork chops with apples and sage

I am getting quite tired of the crockery at my London apartment, and so it's refreshing to be using my mom's kitchenware in Singapore. My grandaunt gave her a set of rectangular dishes, the ones you see in posh restaurants and I have been using them ever since.

This is another of JO's recipes. His new cookbook is actually not too bad, there are some interesting recipes that I would like to try in the future. Pan fry pork chops, seasoned with salt, pepper and dried sage in olive oil, till they are brown on both sides. Place the pork chops in a baking dish and fry sliced apples and chopped sage for around 2 minutes. Place the apples and sage on top of the pork, season, and drizzle some olive oil over. Add a knob of butter on top of each pork chop and bake in the oven at 200 degrees for 8 minutes.

Penne with mixed peppers and bacon

These days, in Singapore, I rather spend my time at home, cooking then to venture out and mingle with the crowds. My mom has a whole lifetime's worth of cookbooks and I have been poring over them, looking for interesting recipes to try out. I do enjoy cooking for my family, and I have some friends coming over for dinner in the next couple of weeks.

This recipe is from an Italian cookbook I got for my mom from the UK, a few years ago. It's simple and the flavour of the bacon blends well with that of the roasted peppers. First, roast three peppers, yellow, red and green under the grill until the skin is blackened and blistered. Place them in a ziploc bag and allow them to cool. The skin should fall off easily. Remove the skin and thinly slice the peppers. Next, fry chopped celery, bacon, onions and garlic for 4 -5 minutes till the onions are soft. Add peppers and continue frying for 1 minute.Pour in some chicken stock and simmer for 20 minutes. Mix in cooked penne and serve with chopped parsley and grated parmesan cheese.

North sea fish soup

This is an excellent alternative to the mediterranean fish soup. Instead of a tomato base, this soup uses cream and egg yolk to give it a silky finish. First, bring 60 ml of white wine, 600 ml fish stock and 2 chopped shallots to the boil. Add in around 500 g of fish, prawns and scallops. I used salmon for this. Simmer for around ten minutes till they are cooked. Mix together 1 egg yolk and 1 tbsp of cream. Remove the soup from the heat and mix in the cream mixture. Add in one peeled, seeded and chopped tomato, chopped parsley and serve with croutons.