Jamie's Pork Chops & Crispy Crackling

By Chris
Main ingredients:

• Pork Chops (4x 200g)
• King Edward Potatoes
• Savoy Cabbage
• Wholegrain Mustard
• Honey, Sage and Garlic

This recipe doesn't sound like much on paper, but really worked out to be more than the sum of its parts. If nothing else, I learnt how to make my own pork scratchings, which is an invaluable life skill if ever I learnt one!

Jamie's recipe suggests cutting the rind off the pork (harder than it sounds), then frying on a high heat to crisp up. This made pretty decent scratchings, but filled my flat with smoke, which was mildly embarrassing since the guests had already arrived. Once they were done and the chops were seared, it all went in the oven with the honey, garlic and sage, which made for some very juicy, tasty chops.

I served this with boiled savoy cabbage, which was flavoured with mint sauce, and microwaved King Edward potatoes with parsley and mustard. None of this is exactly rocket science, but somehow it took 45 minutes - another fail by 30 minute meals standard. The dish didn't look spectacular, although the subtle flavours combined brilliantly to make a very satisfying meal, which at £1.75 per head was very affordable.

Best for... Entertaining friends on a budget (even if they don't normally like cabbage)

Taken from... Jamie Oliver - 30 Minute Meals

Helen says... A couple of extra ingredients made an initially rather uninspiring prospect much more impressive - I'll definitely be adding mint sauce to cabbage again.