Rick Stein’s Cornwall episode 3: Rick Stein meets young chef Tom Adams, who runs Combeshead Farm, a leading field-to-fork restaurant in Cornwall. Here they grow and produce all of their own food, from sourdough bread to pork pies, as well as rearing a small heard of Mangalitsa pigs, a hairy, old-world breed which produces exquisite hams. Rick tries out a new recipe – pork chops with a sloe berry sauce – before moving on to the village of Rock, where his son Jack holds a clam bake on the shore of the Camel Estuary.
In this new series Rick Stein reveals the Cornwall that he knows and loves: a unique part of the British isles with a strong sense of identity and a history rooted in its Celtic past. With his famous natural inquisitiveness, Rick shares the road less travelled – championing the food, history, music, art and culture of the county many locals argue should be a country in its own right.
Rick Stein’s Cornwall episode 3 reciep:
Pork chops with sloe sauce and Savoy cabbage
This classic pork chop dinner is full of winter flavours – perfect after a long walk. If you can’t find sloes you could use plums or damsons.
Method
- Put the cabbage in a large lidded pan. Cover with water and boil for 3 minutes. Drain and return to the pan. Add the rapeseed oil and stir to coat the cabbage. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook over a very low heat, stirring the cabbage every now and again, for 20 minutes or until softened.
- Rub the chops with the olive oil and season on both sides with salt and pepper. Cook for 4–6 minutes on each side (depending on thickness), until cooked through, or until they reach an internal temperature of 71C. Make sure you brown the fat along the edge. Cover with kitchen foil and rest for about 5 minutes while you make the sauce. Reserve a tablespoon of pork fat from the pan.
- To make the sauce, stone the sloes using your fingers or a cherry stoner (alternatively, stone them after cooking, which is messy but easier). Put in a small pan and add just enough water to cover (approximately 150ml/¼ pint). Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and poach for a few minutes to allow them to break down a little. Set aside.
- In another saucepan, heat the reserved pork fat (if the chops haven’t yielded much fat, add the butter). Add the shallot and garlic and cook for 1–2 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients and the poached fruit, including any poaching water. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 3–5 minutes. Taste the sauce and add a little more honey or sugar, if needed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve the sauce over the rested pork chops, alongside the cabbage.