Jamie Oliver improved - tray baked pork chops with herby potatoes, parsnips, pears...

I like Jamie Oliver's recipes - simple and flavoursome - and I like what he stands for. So this one only needed a little improvement. Just make sure you get your pork chops from a good butcher (preferably organic) so that they have some flavour.

8 pork chops
2 handfuls of fresh rosemary
6 cloves of garlic
4 tablespoons of olive oil
2 lemons, halved, juiced and skin squashed
3 parsnips
3 smooth skinned pears (or apples, which I think are even better)
680g potatoes, scrubbed
salt & freshly ground black pepper

Make a marinade by combining the rosemary, garlic, oil, lemons & pepper and gently pounding in a mortar & pestle.
Rub and massage the marinade into the pork chops and leave up to 6 hours for maximum flavour.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius (fan forced).
Wash the parsnips and pears or apples and slice into quarters lengthwise, removing the cores, then cut the potatoes into 0.5cm thick pieces.
Lay the fruit and veg in a large roasting pan. Pour the excess marinade over everything.
Toss lightly then place the pork chops on top, season and add 125ml of water to the pan.
Roast for about 35min, depending on the size of the chops, turning them after 20 minutes.

The original recipe calls for minted bread sauce, but if you add the water to the pan the juices make the sauce superfluous.

Serves 4

Original recipe - Jamie Oliver, The Return of the Naked Chef

World's Best Banana Bread.

I thought I'd make the inaugural recipe in Veronica's Test Kitchen the only one I have never been able to improve on. I have been using this for over 20 years now and it never fails to impress - I can't recall how many times I have given this recipe away. Nevertheless, I can not resist trying to modify, so if you use wholemeal flour it does give it another dimension...

World's Best Banana Bread

125g unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 egg
3 ripe banana's, mashed
2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon bi-carb soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Pre-heat a moderate oven (160 degrees if fan-forced)
2. Cream butter and sugar, then beat in the egg
3. Add bananas and mix well
4. Sift dry ingredients and stir into the mixture
5. Pour into a greased loaf tin
6. Bake for 50-60 minutes
7. Test with a skewer to see if it is cooked then gently remove from the tin while still warm and let cool on a wire rack

The source for this recipe is unfortunately long gone - but if you know where it came from, let me know as I am happy to give credit!