Laura Graham is the founder of The Tidy Kitchen Co, which creates hand-made meals for corporate events, special occasions and private clients across the UK using mainly local, seasonal ingredients. Here she shares her comfort food recipe with in-season leeks.
Approx prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 35 – 40 minutes
Ingredients:
4 x Welsh Pork Chops
2 slices of sourdough
1 tbsp olive oil
1 x garlic clove
50g grated Hafod cheese
A small handful of finely chopped parsley
Freshly ground pepper
Pinch of salt
Cheesy Leeks
1tsp butter
½ tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp plain flour
100g of Welsh cheddar
200ml milk
½ tsp Dijon mustard
Method
Pre-heat oven to 190c (fan assisted) / 200c (non-fan).
Cheesy leeks – sweat leeks in butter and oil until soft but not brown. Add flour and stir in the milk bit by bit to avoid lumps
Stir in mustard and add cheese. Melt and stir until thickened then pop into a small ovenproof pot, and top with grated cheese.
Pop under the grill until browned
Crumb - Finely whizz bread until crumbed, fry off in olive oil with grated garlic. Add in finely chopped parsley and sprinkle cheese on top. Leave to slightly melt and then cool.
Pork – Season each side with salt and pepper, preheat grill pan until smoking hot. Place pork on grill and cook for 3-4 minutes before turning over and cooking the same on the other side. Pull from the grill and leave to rest
Assemble with warm cheesy leeks and sprinkle over cheesy crumb
Serving suggestion: Serve with apple sauce, fresh sage, and wilted spinach.
Zimbabwe-born Laura Graham is the founder of The Tidy Kitchen Co, which creates hand-made meals for corporate events, special occasions and private clients across the UK using mainly local, seasonal ingredients.
Laura was professionally trained at Leith’s School of Food and Wine. After six years of working as a chef on superyachts in Palma and Antigua, and experience in professional kitchens in London and Bristol, she moved back to South Wales to start her own catering company in early 2017.
Since setting up The Tidy Kitchen Co, Laura has worked with a number of celebrity clients ranging from Formula 1 drivers to chart-topping musicians. Laura also starred in extreme athlete Matt Pritchard’s TV show, Dirty Vegan, helping Matt to prepare and cook a hearty vegan meals