Pork Loin Chops, Thick-cut 2 x 480g

Cut thick by our expert butchery team, our outdoor-reared, heritage breed, dry-aged pork* chops have outstanding depth of flavour. Middle White and Tamworth pigs provide the perfect covering of fat to render. Always bone-in for moisture retention and to slow down cooking to achieve that golden, crispy sear for delicious porkiness.

Sear over a high heat followed by a brief bake in the oven, perhaps with apples, onions, sage and a splash of cider, the resulting juices reduced with double cream and Dijon mustard for a quick and luxurious sauce. Equally at home barbecued over medium hot coals, turning frequently to crisp and caramelise the fat.

Chef Val Warner inspires:
"Question is, why would you ever have a thin cut pork chop? These Swaledale chops are well fatted, so important for a juicy result. For such a chop and a pre-cook of the rind is important for those seeking crackling. Score the skin with a very sharp knife in vertical cuts along the length of the chop. Heat some oil in the frying pan and stand the chop on its rind. If tempted to fall to one side then simply clamp it between two wooden spoons resting on each side. Slowly cook the skin until it’s become coloured, blistered and crisp. Then fry it hard and briskly on one side with your chosen seasoning until coloured. Flip it onto its raw side and put straight in the oven where the raw side will colour.

Pork chops really do need a good long rest before eating as the meat is not as marbled with fat in the same way as a beef chop. I’d add that a faint pinkness means a far better result than cooked through so I’d be tempted to take it out when the internal temperature reads 57°C and then rest well.

Recently having rubbed a chop with ground cumin and coriander seeds I then fried it in a butter full of garlic and fresh curry leaves. Served on a satay sauce this was fabulous especially alongside a sweet and sour vinegar, cucumber and carrot salad containing a considerable heat from bird’s eye chillies.

More usually, I like to fry apple segments with onions and fresh thyme, finishing them with brandy. Sautéed apples also go very well with fresh sage leaf butter.

Such a chop is all the better off for sitting on a mound of sauerkraut be it straight up with a little butter or creamy with juniper berries hiding here or there. Boiled potatoes and this is a magic trio for cold weather."

*Tamworth and Middle White pigs are reared outside where they can root around, wallow and exhibit all of their instinctive behaviours. They're matured at their own pace which enables the fat to naturally marble the meat, and gives the pork a superior texture. To maximise the naturally occurring flavour, all our native breed pork is dry-aged on the bone for 3-weeks in our Himalayan salt chamber; this further enhances the rich and distinctive flavour. Thick-cut pork loin chops are Always Fresh Never Frozen®, butchered to order, vacuum packed, and shipped in recyclable packaging to arrive safely insulated and ready to enjoy.