pork chops with sage

it's rare that a day starts and ends with a pig but tonight we decide to have pork chops to try out the new pan. with a bit of sage and a squeze of lemon juice, it's meaty and juicy and somehow really savoury.

i never knew you could cook with sage until i came over. at home, where sage grows wild, it is a medicinal herb used to treat sore throats. it was something you bought at the chemist's, rather than a supermarket and it came in a green and yellow box with a picture of a staff and a snake at the front.

you'd leave a handful of leaves to infuse in a cupful of freshly boiled water, strain, then use to gargle with several times a day. i have no idea whether it worked but i don't remember ever using anything else for sore throats when i was little. did we have strepsils? i would imagine so but i suspect mothers went for sage leaves and boiled onion tinctures before they picked anything from the chemist's.

PORK CHOPS WITH SAGE

for two

2 pork chops, bone in

4 or 5 sage leaves

olive oil

lemon juice (1/2 lemon or thereabouts)

seasoning

preheat the oven to 220C.

season the pork chops and then press a couple of sage leaves into the flesh on both sides. they will stick, you just need to press quite hard. heat an ovenproof frying pan, add the oil and then fry the chops on one side for 2 to 3 minutes, until they are browned and golden. flip them over and put in the oven for 10 minutes to finish cooking.

after ten minutes, take the chops out, put them on a warm plate and pour most of the fat out of the pan. squeeze in some lemon juice, maybe add a little water or stock if you have handy and then reduce by bubbling on a hob until you get a sort of a thin, slightly tart and sage-flavoured gravy. pour over the chops.

veg is some romanesco cauliflower boiled for a few minutes, steamed spinach and roast butternut squash (you just cut it into slices, pour some olive oil over it, season and stick in the oven at 190C or so for about an hour).