Pork Chops and 'Creamy' Mustard Leeks

It was one of those days where I'd forgotten entirely to check my oh-so-cleverly worked out meal plan, and the day I decide the "prep" column would be added to future meal plans. I'd forgotten to soak the cashews for making cashew cream.

Quick Cashew Cream:
Pour freshly boiled water over the cashews, and cover with a lid to keep the steam in. You'll see some small bubbles arise as the cashews absorb the hot water. Leave for 20 mins and go about the other steps for the recipe then follow the usual cashew cream method.

Ingredients:

• glug of olive oil
• 2 pork chops (no bones)
• 3 leeks
• 1 tablespoon Jam (I used apricot)
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard (always check it's gluten free)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
• salt and pepper
• white sherry or cider (check it's a brand that is gluten free) or apple juice. I found the co-op have a good own brand sherry that's gluten and casien free.

Cut the leeks so that the white and green parts are separate. Then slice very finely so you have half moons of the white and finely chopped green parts. Put a glug of olive oil into a frying pan on medium high heat and add only the green parts of the leeks along with the sage and a little salt. Stir every once in a while until it gets soft.
Now add the white parts of the leek and turn the heat down a little more and leave to soften, string gently from time to time. When they're soft, add the dijon mustard and the jam to the leek mixture with the heat off (the pan will be hot enough). Stir to combine everything, and set the mixture aside, covered.

Season the pork chops, turn the frying pan back on to medium high heat and fry on each side for 7-8 minutes on each side. While this is going on, it's a good time to blend the cashews into cream.

When the pork chops are looking like they're cooked through, add a glug of sherry (about 100-200ml) or cider/apple juice into the pan to deglaze. This will create a brown sticky gloss over the pork chops. Let it cook down to a sticky texture and turn the pork chop over to glaze the other side. Remove the pork chops from the pan and switch the heat off, then add the leeks back to the still hot pan, along with the cashew cream and stir everything together so the leeks are coated in cream (which will brown with the remains of the glaze). I find that cashew cream tends to boil down much faster than soya or real cream, so I prefer to work with the heat switched off since it's still pretty hot. If you're using soya cream, feel free to proceed as usual.

Serve pork chops over a bed of the creamed leeks. We served this with rice and instantly knew the recipe was a keeper! The jam really helps add sweetness to the leeks and offset the dijon perfectly.