Sichuan Peppered Pork Chops with Apples and Cabbage

Another stunning recipe from one of my favourite cookbooks, "The Quick Roasting Tin". The original recipe uses green cabbage, although I've always used red. Sichuan pepper has to be one of my favourite ingredients, and it works so well here, complimenting the gooey apples - a beautiful, aromatic, sweet-savoury dish, super-easy to do. This is a very regular weeknight supper for us.

Ingredients

Method

Ingredients

  • SERVES 4
  • 1 Large red cabbage, quartered, then cut into 1/2cm slices
  • 4 Apples, each cut into 8
  • 4 teaspoon Sichuan Peppercorns
  • 2 teaspoon Sea Salt Flakes
  • 2 tablespoon Sesame Oil
  • 20 g Unsalted butter, sliced
  • 200 g Pork Chops x 4 (about 1.5cm thick)
  • 2 Cloves of Garlic, crushed
  • 1 Lemon, juice only

Method

one. Preheat the oven to 200ºc. Mix the red cabbage, apples and 1 teaspoon of Sichuan peppercorns, 1 teaspoon of sea salt and 1 tablespoon of sesame oil in a roasting tin, and dot with the sliced butter. Transfer to the oven and roast for 10 minutes.

two. Meanwhile, get your pork chops and rub them with the rest of the Sichuan peppercorns, the crushed garlic, another teaspoon of sea salt flakes and another tablespoon of sesame oil.

three. Once the cabbage has had 10 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 180ºc, remove the tin from the oven, lay the pork chops over the top and return it to the oven for a further 20 minutes, until the chops are just cooked through.

four. Squeeze the lemon juice over the pork and veg and taste a bit of cabbage to assess if you need a pinch more sea salt. Let it rest for 5 minutes, then serve the chops hot, with the apples and cabbage alongside.