Pork chops... perfect (Photo: sxc.hu)

By Mitchell O’Brien

We’ve been doing this one at home for ages. The kids love it, but it works for a dinner party just as easy. Have a go!

Sweet and sour pork chops with buttery mashed potatoes

Total cost: (excluding electricity) € 8.80
Serves: 5
Cost per person: € 1.76

Ingredients

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For the from” the Kitchen press” items, I have allocated €1.20c – I suggest a jar or money box on the window sill.

Method

1. Pre-heat over to 180˚C.
2. Rub a little salt into the fat on the edge of the pork chops and arrange them on the bottom of a shallow oven-proof dish.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the soy sauce, tomato ketchup, malt vinegar and the finely chopped garlic. This mixture will look and feel like a dark brown coloured paste.
4. Peel and section the large orange and cut each section in half and add these orange pieces to the bowel and mix together with the paste. Spoon this paste (including the orange bits) over the pork chops making sure that you coat all of the top side of the meat.
5. Cover the dish with tinfoil and put in the oven for 40 minutes, removing the tinfoil after 20 minutes.

Buttery mashed potatoes

Place the peeled and washed potatoes in a saucepan of boiling salted water and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft. You can test if they are ready by sticking a fork in one. If it slides into the potato easily, then they are done!
Drain the potatoes and leave to one side for 3 minutes so that they dry a bit before you mash them.
Add some salt and pepper, the 2 tbl spoons of olive oil, the 2 oz of butter (very naughty, but nice!) and  200ml of milk. Mash with a potato masher until there are no lumps and then take a strong fork and whip the mash vigorously for 1 minute.

To serve

Remove the pork chops from the oven and let stand while you are putting the mash on the plates. There will be lots of tangy sweet & sour sauce in the dish with the Chops.

Place a neat pile of Buttery Mash in the centre of a plate and place a pork chop on top of the mash. Then spoon some of the sauce and orange pieces over the pork chop so that it runs down over the Buttery Mash and serve immediately.