Pork chop with anchovy buttered sprouts and peach mustard

5.00

Cooking the perfect pork chop takes a little patience – slowly rendering the fat down is a key stage to getting that delicious crispy crust. Our recipe takes advantage of this time by slow-cooking sprouts with anchovies in foaming butter (and some rendered pork fat) until crispy on the outside and devilishly soft and buttery in the middle. The peach mustard is a sweet and hot condiment which was made for pairing with pork. Any leftovers can be kept in the fridge for 3–5 days.

First published in 2020

Pork chops can be a rather tricky cut of meat to get right. The loin meat is lean and can dry out quickly so doesn't need much cooking at all, whereas the lovely flavourful fat running down the side needs a nice, slow render to get rid of excess fat and achieve a glorious golden crust. The smaller chops often found in supermarkets are too thin to give enough time for the fat to render down without drying out the meat, which is why we recommend large, thick chops– at the very least 2.5cm thick. And do buy organic where possible; the quality in flavour is noticeable (as well as better animal welfare of course.)

Another way to ensure your chops stay juicy is to brine them before cooking. Take a look at our brining guide for more information.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Pork chops

Sprouts

  • 500g of sprouts, outer leaves removed and halved
  • 80g of salted butter
  • 6 anchovies
  • 1 dash of cider vinegar, or fresh lemon juice

Peach mustard

Method

1
Season the pork chops well with salt then place in a heavy-bottomed frying pan (such as a cast-iron frying pan), fat-side down. You can use a spoon or pair of tongs to keep them propped up; the flesh shouldn't touch the pan as you only want to be rendering the fat at this stage. Cook slowly over a low heat until the fat has melted right down and is a deep amber colour (about 15–20 minutes). Drain the pan of fat periodically into a bowl and reserve
2
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large frying pan and add the sprouts and anchovies. Cook the sprouts slowly in the foaming butter for around 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a couple of tablespoons of the rendered pork fat to the pan for an extra porky flavour. When ready, they should be crispy on the outside and meltingly tender inside. Taste and season with salt (not too much as the anchovies will provide some seasoning), vinegar or lemon juice. If they finish cooking before everything else, they will happily keep warm over a low heat until ready to serve
3
Whilst the sprouts and pork chops are cooking, preheat an oven to 180°C/gas mark 4 and make the peach mustard. Bring a pan of water to the boil and score the skin of each peach a few times. Blanch the peaches for 30–60 seconds, depending on how ripe they are. Prepare a bowl of iced water and when you can see the skin start to peel away from the fruit, drain and plunge into the cold water
4
Peel the peaches then roughly chop the flesh and place in a pan with the rest of the ingredients. Gently heat over a low heat for about 5 minutes or until the peaches are very soft. Transfer to a blender and blitz to a smooth sauce. Taste to check the mustard levels and add a little more if you prefer it a little punchier
5
Once the fat has rendered down on the pork, cook the meat on the chops for a minute on each side then add a knob of butter and the rosemary. Once foaming, cook for 3–4 minutes in the oven
6
Leave to rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving with the sprouts and a dollop of peach mustard

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