Grilled pork chops with Roquefort and sage butter

It is definitely worth investing in a heavy, ridged and cast iron stove-top grill pan.  See picture below for an example.

Grilled pork chops with Roquefort and sage butter

Serves 2

2 pork chops, bone in, 1 inch thickness.  Look for good marbling of the meat and even cutting of the chop.  Should be bought from a butchers or good supermarket meat counter.
Oil and seasoning

For the butter:

50g salted butter.  Cut into peices and leave at room temperature for 10 minutes to soften.
50g Roquefort cheese
1tsp very finely chopped washed sage leaves (measured when chopped).  Take time to chop them finely.
Generous pepper
A little salt

To make the butter, place all ingredients into a small bowl and mash together with a fork.

Place the chops on a plate.  Rub with oil then season both sides well.  Leave for 30 mins ideally to come to room temperature.

Pre-heat the grill ie. leave the pan over a high heat for 5 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 190C.

Lay on the chops, turn the heat down slighly and leave them for around 4 minutes.  Listen for the right intensity of cooking.

Once they are well browned, turn them over and brown the other side before placing into the oven to finish cooking.  The key to how long this next stage will take is the thickness of the chop.  If they are 1 inch you will need to leave them in the oven for around 12 minutes.  I once bought a big packet of pork chops from a supermarket and ate them all week, pan frying them.  I found that by the last one I had got the hang of cooking them so they were thoroughly cooked but not dried out.

Remove from the oven to rest, still in the grill pan, for 4 minutes.

A couple of minutes before serving smear a tablespoon of the butter on each chop with a knife.  Serve onto a plate, tilt the grill pan and spoon most of the fat away but there should be some lovely gravy to also pour over the chops.  Let's be honest we want chips with this.