Double Pork Chops with Prunes and Bacon

On a cruise earlier this year I got into animated conversation with an American passenger about sauce reduction. She wanted a dish that was simple enough for her to concentrate on the reduction part of the process. This is it, and I want you to try it, too.

It’s a superb, warming, hearty recipe for November, which I find the most depressing month of the year, with lots of winter and dark nights ahead. An ideal month to take a cruise, in fact.

Port makes for a perfect syrupy base, which blends beautifully with the prune juice. Most of the alcohol evaporates and you’re left with the rich flavour of sweetened grapes. I promise that once you’ve mastered this dish you’ll serve it again and again. 

(serves 4)

1. Preheat oven to 320F/160C/Gas Mark 2–3

2. Brown the chops in a pan of hot butter. Transfer to an oven dish and roast for 30–40 mins, then remove the meat and let it rest for 10 mins.

3. Meanwhile, boil the port in a saucepan until it has thickened and reduced down to a teaspoon of syrup. Add the prune juice, cream and chicken stock. Continue to boil for a few minutes until the sauce reduces by about half. 

4. Fry the bacon and prunes in butter. Take a spoonful of the fat from the bacon and add to the sauce.

5. Carve the chops into 4, then add the sauce, prunes and bacon. 

Ask your butcher to remove the chops’ chine bone and skin, but to leave a layer of fat for tenderness.