There's a group of restaurants in North London near to where I live. Jolene, Westerns Laundry, Big Jo and Primeur all belong to the same group, and each has a slightly different focus - Westerns Laundry is fish, Primeur is meat, Big Jo is a bread (it's a bakery by day) and Jolene is a bit of an all rounder. They use exceptional ingredients and put them together in a very clever way which doesn't feel fussy or pretentious, but absolutely makes you salivate when reading the menu. The decor inside is relaxed, but classy, with exposed brick, candlelight chalkboard menus and carafe's of wine.
Jamon Iberico at Westerns Laundry
Having eaten at each of them, I was inspired by the simultaneously fancy yet unpretentious style of cooking. I wanted to try and recreate that elegant simplicity and, in trying to, came up with this dish. It's 3 fairly standard components, but all thought about and done well. I think the dish sounds fairly simple, but makes you instantly want to eat it and try the combination of flavours.
Controversial opinion alert: I think pork chops are tastier, and give a cleaner, more interesting flavour than most beef steaks. I came across a brilliant method for cooking them (along with most pan-fried meat) which makes them taste even better. Paired with the sweet and sour peppers and earthy/garlicky Cavalo Nero, it's a balanced but unpretentious dish. It's also quite healthy, which is a bonus. Read on below for the techniques:
Ingredients (serves 2):
2 x high quality, thick cut pork chops
3 tsp Aleppo pepper (Pul Biber)
1 red onion
2 red/yellow peppers
5 cloves garlic
1 tsp chilli flakes
1.5 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
200g Cavalo Nero
2 large knobs butter
1 small stick rosemary
Method:
Pat the pork chops dry and season both heavily with salt, pepper and the Aleppo pepper. Set aside.
Cut up the onion and peppers into thin strips, and finely chop 1 of the garlic cloves. Bring a small saucepan up to a low/medium heat and add the onions. Cook gently for 5 mins before adding in the peppers, garlic and chilli flakes. Cook for 10 mins, adding a splash of water occasionally to soften. Once cooked down slightly, add the brown sugar and vinegar and cook down until a sauce coats the peppers and onions. Season well.
In the meantime, prep the Cavalo Nero. Remove the woody centre stem and roughly chop the leaves before washing thoroughly. Finely slice 2 cloves of garlic and set aside.
To cook the pork chops, bring a heavy bottomed frying pan (ideally cast iron) up to a high heat. Add in a splash of neutral oil before adding the pork chops. Timings of the cooking will depend on the thickness of your pork chops. For 2cm thick chops, I would suggest 2-3 mins each side. You should have a deep golden brown crust before flipping over and repeating on the other side. Once flipped, add in the butter, rosemary and 2 crushed cloves of garlic. Baste and cook until the pork is slightly pink (just blushing). Set aside and rest with the rosemary, garlic and butter on top. Rest for at least 5 mins before carving.
Bring a frying pan up to a medium heat and add in the garlic with some olive oil. Cook until just fragrant (no colour) then add in the kale leaves and toss through. Season with salt and add a splash of water to help wilt the Cavalo Nero. Season with salt, pepper, the lemon zest and lemon juice to taste.
To serve, slice the pork on an angle (and off the bone if appropriate). Serve with the peppers/onion mix, kale and drizzle the resting juices/butter on top of the pork.
I hope you give this one a go - it's actually quite simple, and is very easy to scale up for multiple people. A good mid-week option for something which feels a bit fancy. Can absolutely add some nice potatoes here if you wanted to bulk it out a bit, but I don't think they're needed.
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