Meat mains
Mustard glazed pork chops with beets, red onions and new season carrots
You should always cut through the skin side of a pork chop at 2-3 cm intervals, otherwise the fat and skin tighten when placed in a pan and cause the chop to curve in one direction. This makes it hard to get surface contact in the pan which is needed to produce a nice golden and flavourful crust. The cut also helps the heat to penetrate the fat more easily and creates an attractive cog-toothed edge.
Cook's notes
Carrot tops are perfectly edible, with a slightly bitter taste. Try using a scant handful as a garnish along with the parsley.
Ingredients
- 2 pork chops
- 400g beetroots
- 2 tbsp cider vinegar
- light olive oil
- 1 bunch carrots
- 2 red onions
- 1 bay leaf
- 25g butter
- 15g parsley
- 15g thyme
- 1 tbsp coarse grain mustard
- 2 tsp honey
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Preheat your oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. Remove the pork chops from the fridge to come to room temperature. Make some cuts through the skin at 2-3cm intervals (see cook's note). Peel the beetroots and cut them into wedges.
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Step 2
Place them in a roasting tray with 2 tablespoons of oil, half of the vinegar (1 tablespoon) and a dash of water. Season well with salt and pepper. Mix well, cover tightly with foil and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
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Step 3
Meanwhile, remove the tops from the carrots, reserving a handful of any that look particularly vibrant. Scrub the carrots. Keep any small ones whole and slice the rest into long angled pieces. Peel the onions and cut each one into 12 wedges.
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Step 4
When the beets have had 15 minutes, remove them from the oven. Tease away the foil lid. Add the carrots, onions, bay leaf, butter and remaining vinegar. Season with a little more salt and pepper and mix everything well. Seal the tray with foil again.
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Step 5
Return to the oven for a further 20 minutes. In the meantime, wash half the parsley (save the rest for recipe 3) and any carrot tops if using. Shake them dry and pick the leaves from the stalks. Chop them roughly. Season the chops with salt and pepper on each side.
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Step 6
Remove the foil from the carrots and beets. Throw in a few sprigs of thyme. Mix again and return to the oven, uncovered for 10- 15 minutes until tender and lightly coloured. While the roots roast, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the frying pan.
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Step 7
When nice and hot fry the chops for 3-4 minutes on each side, until deeply coloured. Use the tongs to press and roll the edges into the pan to brown the fat. Remove the pan from the heat and tip out any excess fat.
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Step 8
Add the honey and mustard, mix them together and use the tongs to turn the chops in the mixture until well coated. Leave to rest in the pan for 4-5 minutes. Stir the chopped parsley and carrot tops through the carrots, beets and onions.
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Step 9
Mix well and pile them onto 2 plates, tipping over any roasting juices. Sit a chop on each pile and spoon over any juices from the pan.
