The first day of summer finally decides to announce itself on the 30th of June, ten days after midsummer and with it, the glorious borough of Enfield bursts into colourful life: pitbulls and pasty white bodies parading themselves through the town with their packs of smokey bacon crisps and cans of cider. You can’t help but smile on a day like this though – we’re finally getting our first little bit of summer joy, and by god we’re going to make the most of it (he says, while sitting inside at the computer writing a blog. To be fair though, we’ve been up since six am and we’ve been outside for most of the day so I don’t feel at all guilty. Not one little bit. Ok, maybe a little, but I’ll pop outside in a while I promise).

And for the first time in a long time, the kids finally allow me to cook them something new. I don’t know if it’s because I only have the boys and that they are more easily persuaded when they’re without Immie, or that they finally trust that very little of the food I cook is poisonous, or maybe it’s just because I did it without telling them – either way, I get to have a play.

Fried pork fillets with spaghetti

I think this is called Escalope Milanese in Italy, although strictly that is made with veal rather than pork. Take a pork chop and remove any bone and fat, then bash it into a thin fillet, about 2mm thick. Next, dip it in egg and then cover with seasoned breadcrumbs. Set aside ready to fry. Now simply make my Friday Night Pasta, but this time with Spaghetti. As it is cooking, fry the fillets and serve them with a squeeze of lemon, next to the spaghetti with a splash of olive oil and a handful of fresh oregano.

Pretty simple stuff…