To make this, you need to use good-quality pork, and not the pre-made "sausage" pork mix that some places sell. You may need to go to a butcher to get minced/ground pork, but it's worth the trouble.

2 teaspoons dried sage
2 teaspoons salt (I use seasoned salt)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil (I like to use olive oil)
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1 pinch ground cloves (also optional, but a nice addition)
1 kilo (2 lbs.) pork mince (ground pork)

In a small bowl, combine sage, salt, pepper, marjoram, brown sugar, crushed red pepper, and cloves. Mix well.

Put the pork in a large bowl and add the oil, mixed spiced to it, a little at a time, mixing well (preferably with your hands, so take off your rings and make sure your nails are clean, and use room-temperature pork or it can be pretty uncomfortable on the fingers when the meat is really cold). When spices are sufficiently mixed, add the oil and mix that through, as well.

Allow to stand for at least 5 minutes, but longer is probably better (I sometimes mix it up the night before and let it stand in the fridge overnight, covered with plastic wrap).

To make sausage patties, heat a small amount of vegetable oil in a large skillet and cook the patties over medium high heat for about 5 minutes per side. The trick is to get the outside brown and slightly crispy, while the inside is only just cooked. Don't make the patties too thick or the insides don't get cooked properly (rare pork just isn't something you probably want to try ).

This can also be used in other dishes such as stuffing (Yes, I make turkey stuffing with pork sausage; one day perhaps I'll write down the ingredients and post the recipe), that American traditional meal of "biscuits and gravy" or sausage gravy on toast, meat loaf, etc.

Since this makes quite a lot, it's not a bad idea to plan to freeze half of it for later use, unless you have a lot of people eating or you're very big eaters...

I like to serve this as a first course with homemade fried rice to follow, but really, you can serve it with anything. While this recipe is flexible, don't leave out the ginger, which is what gives it the rich flavor characteristic of Chinese broth soups.

Ingredients

4 cups chicken stock (preferably low-salt)
4-6 green (spring) onions, chopped
2-4 shallot bulbs, minced
Approx 2 tsp. freshly grated ginger (to taste)
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
2-3 Tbsp. soy sauce (to taste)
1-2 Tbsp. sesame oil (to taste)
2 eggs, beaten
The corn of two fresh cobs, cut off (see variations, below, optional)

Pour stock into a saucepan and add about half the chopped onions, the shallots, and the garlic. Add sesame oil, soy sauce, and ginger to taste (much depends on how salty, spicy, and/or oily you want the soup, so add a little at a time and taste as you go until you have a good idea how much to use). If adding corn (see variations, below), add the corn kernels, as well.

Simmer soup gently for ten to fifteen minutes to let the flavors blend.

Stirring the soup briskly and continually, pour in the beaten egg, a little at a time. Be sure to keep stirring, or the egg will clump rather than shred into wispy bits, as it should.

Garnish with the rest of the chopped onion and serve immediately.

Variations: At the start of the cooking, add fresh corn kernels cut off the cob. You can also add Chinese noodles at the last minute in place of the egg.

This recipe can be completely vegetarian or can have an optional meat garnish. It is very thick and reheats amazingly well (sometimes it's better reheated the next day!), babies seem to enjoy eating it (at least, mine did), and it's high in fibre. I've been cooking this for years and so far every person I've served it to loved it.

1 lb (500 g) green or brown lentils
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 medium sized carrot, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 medium sized onion
1-2 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp black pepper (or pepper to taste)
1 cup white rice
Optional: 4-6 slices crumbled crisp bacon OR 250 g. (8 oz.) chopped smoked sausage (such as polish sausage)

Prepare the lentils by putting them in a large bowl and rinsing well in cool water. Let them soak for a bit (just a few minutes is fine) and remove any floating hulls. Check through to make sure there are no foreign objects in the lentils (things like small rocks, sticks, etc., since they're a natural product), and remove any lentils that look shrivelled up, overly dried, etc. Drain and set aside.

In a large pot, heat oil over a medium heat and add onions and garlic. Cook until onions are fragrant and partly translucent, then add stock, lentils, and vegetables. Bring to a boil, cover, simmer for 10 minutes.

Add rice and stir well. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally and checking liquid absorption. If needed, add a little hot water and stir, then cover and continue cooking. If you are adding the optional bacon or smoked sausage, put it in after fifteen minutes (about five minutes before the end of the cooking time). After the 20 minutes is up, test the rice to see if it is done (should be tender). The pilaf should be very thick.

Serve with crusty bread or a green salad if you like.

I make this quite regularly as a main course, served with buttered bread. Once you've done it once or twice, it's quite simple. It's one very good way to get Zoë to eat vegetables.

A note about cooking: I use pre-chopped bacon and I cook up the bacon, onion, celery, and carrot in a big skillet and then transfer to the soup pot. I do this because my soup pot isn't really fit for cooking stuff on the bottom of it. If you have a good, large pot that you can cook on the bottom, save yourself the washing and do it all in that pot. For me, I have to do it twice, until I get myself a really good large pot.

Cut down on fat in this recipe by using low-fat milk, lite cheese, and thoroughly draining the bacon or replacing the bacon with a lower-fat ham.

INGREDIENTS

* 6 thick slices bacon (may be chopped before cooking)
* 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 1 small carrot, chopped
* 1 stalk celery, chopped
* 4 cups chicken stock (preferably low-salt)
* 4 cups cubed potatoes (approximately 4-5 medium to large potatoes)
* 1 small head of broccoli, chopped into bite sized pieces
* 1/2 to 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (to taste)
* 1/2 to 1 cup milk
* 1 Tbsp chopped parsley (optional)

In skillet (or bottom of your soup pot - see my note above), brown the bacon until crisp. Set aside on paper towel to drain.

Add olive oil to the bacon drippings and cook onion, celery, and carrots over medium heat until onion is translucent but not browned. Transfer the entire contents of the skillet to the soup pot (or not, if you're cooking in the soup pot from the start).

Add stock, turn on heat to bring to a simmer. While stock heats, chop potatoes and put them into the pot as they're chopped. Chop broccoli into bite-sized pieces. Crumble bacon if not pre-chopped. When the soup comes to a strong, rolling simmer, add the broccoli.

Put on the lid, allow soup to simmer for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

When potatoes are cooked, take soup off the heat. Add bacon and stir through. Add cheese and stir through to melt. Then add the milk (how much you add depends on how creamy you want the soup).

Top soup with chopped parsley if desired. Serve with buttered bread.

Serves 4-6, depending on how much you serve for each person and how much milk you put in.