Tomahawk pork chop with spinach and mustard sauce

A tomahawk pork chop is a specific cut of pork that comes from the loin and includes the rib bone.  It is a bone-in pork chop that is French-trimmed, meaning the meat is cleaned away from the bone to create a long handle-like appearance, resembling a tomahawk axe.

The chops are marinated in a gentle brine, griddled and then roasted.  They are served with a mustard sauce.

Preparation Time: 20 Mins

Cooking Time: 45 Mins

Total Time: 13 Hrs

Ingredients

For 4 servings…

2 handfuls        Spinach     

5 knobs            Butter       

  Pepper           

  Salt              

4 sprigs            Thyme      

4                    Pork chops  - tomahawk         

4 cloves           Garlic  - bruised       

To prepare the brine

1 sprig             Rosemary   

2 cloves           Garlic  - crushed       

30 gms            Salt          

30 gms            Sugar  - muscovado  

1 sprig             Thyme      

510 ml             Water       

For the mustard sauce

510 ml             Stock  - beef

1 tsp               Vinegar  - raspberry  

5 tbs               Cream  - double       

1 tbs               Mustard  - whole grain

Method

To make the brine…

The day before, make the brine by boiling all the ingredients together until the sugar has dissolved.

Leave to cool to room temperature. Immerse the pork chops in the brine and leave in a refrigerator for 12 hours.  Wash off and pat the chops dry.

To make the sauce…

Reduce the beef stock to a glaze consistency (so that it coats the back of a spoon), add the vinegar and the double cream and bring to the boil.  Add the mustard and whisk it in. It should be and the colour of milky coffee.

To cook the chops…

Heat an oven to 220°C.

Cook the chops in a ribbed griddle pan, rotating them after 2 minutes by an angle of 90 degrees achieve criss-cross lines.  Grill for another 2 minutes then flip and repeat on the other side (so that you’re grilling them for 8 minutes in total).

Put the chops on a baking tray and top each one with a knob of butter, a sprig of thyme and a garlic

clove.  Roast in the oven for 6 minutes, then rest for 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the spinach by separating the leaves from the stems. Finely slice the stems into

batons and blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes.  At the last moment, throw in the leaves and cook for 30 seconds. Drain, put back in the pan with the remaining knob of butter, salt and pepper and lightly toss. 

Serve the chops with the spinach and the mustard sauce.

Wine recommendations

A medium-robust red wine.

Conventional

     Côtes du Rhône Villages

Interesting

     Côtes du Luberon

     Juliénas

     Lirac