Honey Mustard Pork Chops with Apple Slaw

Ingredients

• 2 pork loin chops
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 0.25 red cabbage, finely shredded
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 eating apple, cut into matchsticks
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• Crusty sourdough bread, to serve
• Dressed green salad, to serve
• Fresh parsley, to serve

Method

1. Mix the honey and wholegrain mustard in a small bowl until glossy and loose enough to brush. Pat the pork chops bone-dry with kitchen paper — water means steam, and steam means no crust — then season generously with salt and pepper on both sides.
2. Heat the olive oil in a stainless or cast-iron pan over high heat until it shimmers and just begins to smoke. Lay the chops in away from you with space between them — don't crowd the pan, or they'll steam instead of sear. If your pan is small, do them one at a time.
3. Sear undisturbed for 3 minutes per side until deeply mahogany with a proper crust and the fat strip along the edge has rendered to gold. Resist the urge to move them — the fond building underneath is flavour you can't fake.
4. Brush the chops generously with the honey-mustard glaze and cook for 1 minute per side, until the glaze bubbles and catches at the edges into sticky caramel. Pull at 60°C internal — the temperature carries up to 63°C as they rest. Lift onto a warm board and rest for 3 minutes; this is non-negotiable, the juices need to settle back into the meat.
5. While the chops rest, toss the apple matchsticks, shredded red cabbage and grated carrot in a bowl with the mayonnaise and cider vinegar. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper, then taste — you want it sharp against the sweet glaze, so adjust now, not at the table. A second pinch of salt usually wakes the cabbage up.
6. Splash any resting juices from the board back into the warm pan, swirl them through the last smears of glaze, and spoon that glossy little pan sauce over the chops.
7. Plate the chops with the slaw piled alongside, scatter the parsley over the meat, and squeeze a lemon wedge over the top — the acid cuts the honey and lifts everything you've just built.