Amontillado Pork Chop, Root Vegetable Gratin & Cavolo Nero

1. Heat oven to 200C or 180C fan, put a baking tray on middle shelf

2. Peel and chop veg as necessary (you don’t need to take skin off squash) and place in a roasting dish, sprinkle with thyme, garlic, sherry, fat of choice and season, cover with foil

3. Roast for 10 minutes covered and another 10 minutes uncovered

4. Remove from oven to cool for 20 minutes (at this time take your chops from the fridge and liberally season the fat part with salt and very lightly salt the meat)

5. Whilst the gratin is cooling, mix together your cream, buttermilk and cheddar/Gruyere, season liberally with pepper and a dash of salt (you can also add chilli flakes if you’d like)

6. In another bowl, mix your panko breadcrumbs and parmesan together, again season liberally with pepper and a small pinch of salt

7. Once the gratin dish is cool enough to touch, pour over the cream/cheese mix, cover with breadcrumb/parmesan mix and return to the oven for 20 mins

8. After the gratin has been in the oven for 10 mins, start to heat a heavy-based frying pan with some groundnut oil in it on a medium heat

9. When the pan is hot but not so hot you can’t hold your hand a few inches above it for about three seconds, take a set of long-handled tongs and place the chops fat edge down and render until at least half of the fat is golden brown (keep the heat on medium or you’ll just burn the fat and ruin the sauce later)

10. After the fat has rendered, which can take up to about 8 minutes, lay the chops down on their side and leave alone for at least three minutes

11. Turn your oven off and open the door a crack to let some of the heat out, put a plate big enough to hold the two chops in the oven

12. Check that your chops are golden brown and turn, cook for another three minutes on the other side

13. When your chops reach about 59C internally, take them out of the pan – DO NOT DISCARD YOUR PAN - and place on the warmed plate in the warm oven, they will hit the safe temperature of around 62C and rest nicely whilst you finish off your dish

14. Pour the fat from the pan into a small bowl (retain it if you like, it’ll have fabulous flavour) and return the pan to a low heat – put your serving plates in the oven to warm

15. Deglaze with a healthy glug of sherry, allow the harsh alcohol smell to dissipate, add the apple juice, sprinkle with smoked paprika, whisk in a healthy knob of butter – then add your chopped cavolo nero to the pan, cover with a lid and allow to soften for a few minutes

16. Using tongs, fish your cavolo nero out of the pan and place on the warmed plates, with a big spoonful of your winter veg and the chops, return to the warm oven

17. Turn the heat up on the sauce to reduce very slightly, bring your plates out of the oven, drizzle your sauce over and serve with a nice cold glass of Amontillado on the side