Pork chops with baked apples and cabbage

I came across a clip of Gordon Ramsey cooking amazing looking pork chops, and couldn't help but go out and buy some chops to mess around with.

Ingredients

• 2 pork chops
• 1/8 cabbage, sliced
• 1 granny smith apple, cored and cut into wedges
• 1 stock cube / stock paste or 1 cup stock
• olive oil
• garlic, crushed
• thyme
• chilli powder
• salt and pepper to taste

Buttered cabbage

• Boil water with stock cube/paste (or if using stock, use less water).
• Cook cabbage until softened. Drain and place in a bowl. Cooking liquid can be reserved for making soup later if desired.
• Drop a small knob of salted butter into the cabbage, toss until butter is melted.

Pork chops

• Score rind on pork chops (through to fat but do not cut meat). 
• Generously grease a non-stick baking tray with olive oil. Season the bottom of the tray with salt, pepper, thyme and chilli powder.
• Dip rind of pork into the seasoned oil mixture, then place chops flat on tray and top with crushed garlic.
• Drizzle olive oil over the exposed side of the pork, follow with seasonings.
• Bake at 250 degrees for 10 minutes.
• Once pork is half cooked, remove from oven, coat apple wedges into pan juices then place underneath pork chops. This will elevate the rind and allow it to dry and become crispy. Return to oven and bake for another 10 minutes.
• To serve, spoon some of the buttered cabbage onto a plate. Top with a pork chop and peeled apple wedges.

The result? Crispy crackling, tender pork, sweet gooey baked apples and warm buttery cabbage. Perfect comfort food.

Cabbage Lasagne

What to do with leftover cabbage?

I had some leftover cabbage from a pork dish I made the other day, and ran a quick search on the net for recipes using cabbage. In amongst the countless entries for cabbage soup, I came across a recipe for cabbage lasagne and thought I'd experiment.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cabbage, sliced
• 2 medium potatoes, grated
• olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 250g mince beef
• 125g tomato paste
• 1 cup flour
• 50g butter
• 3 cups milk
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
• 1 cup tasty cheese, grated
• olive oil
• chilli powder
• salt and pepper

Bolognese sauce

• Heat pan with a little olive oil. Saute onions until they soften and become translucent.
• Add garlic and mince, breaking up the meat and combining with the onion.
• Once meat juices start forming in the pan, add the diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Mix well.
• Add half a cup of water (or more if necessary), season with salt, pepper and chilli powder. Reduce sauce until it thickens. Remove from heat.

Bechamel sauce

• Melt butter in pan over low heat. Rain in flour, stirring constantly until flour is fully incorporated into butter. Continue stirring to cook the flour, breaking up the lumps with a wooden spoon.
• Gradually pour in milk, stirring to combine the milk and flour mixture until  it reaches a light and creamy consistency.
• Add some tasty cheese and a pinch of salt. Remove from heat.

Assembly

• Boil cabbage until softened, drain and cool.
• Coat bottom of baking tray olive oil, then cover base with grated potato. Season with a little salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.
• Sprinkle a layer of mozzarella and tasty cheese over potatoes.
• Layer half the cabbage, followed by half the bolognese sauce then half the bechamel sauce. Sprinkle more cheese, then repeat with cabbage and two sauces.
• Cover contents with remaining cheese. Bake at 200 degrees for around 15 minutes or until cheese melts and starts to turn golden brown.

cabbage lasagne

Makes 4-6 servings.