I am always on the lookout for new and tasty ways to cook and serve the humble pork chop. When pork chops are on offer, at the butchers or the supermarket, it would be rude not to take advantage which means there are times when we are overrun with the things. This week I happened to be looking for something to do with a couple of leeks and a few sticks of celery which have been waiting to be discovered as they lurked under the sprouts and broccoli at the bottom of the fridge. Leeks are one of those vegetables I don’t pay much attention to and I sometimes wonder why we keep trying to grow them on the allotment. They have never seemed particularly versatile and I tend only to pair them with things like gammon or chicken. Then there’s the celery. Paul will quite happily chomp his way through a few sticks, au naturale or with some topping or other, whilst I on the other hand can’t stand the stuff. Unless it’s cooked. My search found various recipes for pork with leeks and celery with various twists but I plumped for this one as it had the simplest ingredients and instructions.
I used four lean pork loin chops which reduced the amount of meat to a tad under 500g but there was still plenty enough for four people. I also found I needed to add more liquid as it simmered. Not wanting to be wasteful and being a bit of a trial and error kind of person I added the water left over from blanching the celery as I thought it might add to the flavour. The blanching was the hardest bit about this recipe since blanching stuff is not my strong point. I’m not really sure how long I should leave it in; do I time it from when I drop the vegetables into the boiling water or from when the water reaches boiling point again? Not that it mattered, I forgot to time it and it turned out fine anyway. The finished dish was more like a hearty broth than a stew and I was going to serve it with freshly baked crusty rolls but as Netti decided to join us I served it with creamy mashed potatoes instead. Since it was so easy to make and was declared to be lush; Netti’s words; this is another of those recipes to go on the “will definitely make again” list.
Ingredients
- 500g of diced pork
- 3 medium leeks
- 4-5 celery stalks
- 80 ml olive oil
- 1 lemon for its juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Roughly chop leeks and celery stalks.
- Heat olive oil in a large pan (I used my Dutch oven) and sauté the leeks. When they begin to soften remove from pan and set aside.
- Add pork to the pan to brown.
- Once the pork has browned, add the leeks and cover with warm water.
- Bring to the boil and simmer for 40 minutes
- In a second pan, blanch the celery, drain and set aside.
- When the pork is tender add the celery and lemon juice to the pan.
- Simmer for a further 15 minutes.
- serve with crusty bread or creamy mashed potatoes