Tonight’s recipe

Pork chops with hot pickled cherries

Serves 2 Ingredients

For the cherries 2tbsp rice wine 1tbsp red wine vinegar 1tsp fish sauce

1tbsp brown sugar

2 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

6 black peppercorns 400g cherries, de-stoned For the pork

1tsp fennel seeds

2 garlic cloves, peeled and bashed

2 pork chops, fat on Rapeseed oil or vegetable oil, for frying

1tbsp butter

1 small bunch tarragon, roughly chopped (parsley and coriander would also be good)

Method

□ First, cook the cherries. Put all the ingredients apart from the fruit in a small saucepan over a low heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until the sugar has dissolved. Add the cherries and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fruit is just beginning to soften. You don’t want them to fall apart – they should retain their shape.

□ Set aside while you cook the pork. You can make the cherries in advance and heat them through, or serve at room temperature.

□ In a pestle and mortar, crush the fennel seeds with 1tsp coarse salt and plenty of black pepper. Pour on to a plate and press the pork chops into the seasoning.

□ Set a frying pan over a medium-high heat with a splash of oil. Add the garlic and swirl in the oil. Cook the pork chops (individually, unless you have a big pan) for three minutes on each side, or until well browned and almost cooked through. Using tongs, hold the chops on their sides to brown the fat. Then lay flat, add the butter and let it foam up, add the tarragon and spoon the liquid over the chops. Remove them from the pan and rest for five minutes before serving with the cherries.