A rare night without Ms R enabled me to have a relatively free rein (edible for a 13 month old, albeit from my point of view) on choosing what to have for dinner, so, red meat was obviously high on the agenda. I kind of fancied pork or lamb chops, but wanted something a bit more interesting than just plain cooked versions, but then found a recipe with Pork Chops & Cider, using Juniper Berries, which having never cooked with them before, decided the matter of what was for dinner pretty quick. 

My concession to cooking chops for a 13 month old with only 6 teeth, was to add some sausages into the mix, which I know he’s partial to.

The original recipe is here, and pretty much the only changes I made were to cook the sausages with the chops before continuing with the recipe as is.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the little one wasn’t too keen on the chops, being a bit hard to chew, but loved both the apple and sausage cooked in the cider (and before you report me to the NSPCC/Social Services/Dark Lord Sauron, the alcohol evaporates during the cooking process). My personal view agreed with little Biggest Jim, as I thought the Pork chops were a bit too overdone, but loved the taste of the apples & cider sauce. The juniper berries were also a really good addition to the recipe, as they added another layer of flavour which was quite different to other spices I’ve tasted. If I cook this again, maybe I’ll do the sauce & chops separately, only joining together in matrimony when serving.