Big Big Train's Greg Spawton gets supper ready

“I don’t cook much these days and have never cooked for the band – we normally go out for curries when we’re together. However, I do have a few ‘signature’ dishes. This recipe, which we’ve recently taken to calling Porklore, is adapted from a Nigel Slater book and has always been a family favourite. Both of my kids are at university so I tend to do this when they come home. It’s a proper sharing dish and needs to be served with bread for mopping up the sauce.”

Ingredients
(Serves two) A good loaf of bread, one garlic clove, olive oil, two pork escalopes or chops, one 150ml tub of double cream, Dijon mustard to taste, parsley garnish

Preparation

“This is simple cooking so the ingredients are the main thing. I’m not a vegetarian, but animal welfare is important to us so we aim for organic or free range meat and dairy whenever possible. And the quality of the bread that must be served with this dish is really important. We normally get ours from Bakehouse24, an artisan baker in the New Forest. So… let’s cook. Firstly, crush a garlic clove and heat it in some oil for a minute or two. Add pork escalopes, or chops, and brown on both sides (you should aim to get some crunchy bits stuck on the pan as this will add flavour to the sauce). Set the cooked pork aside on a hot plate and throw the garlic away. Add the double cream and a few spoons of Dijon mustard to the pan, to taste. Heat the sauce for two or three minutes, and scrape away at the pan with a wooden spoon to stir in any juices from the pork. Serve the sauce on the pork with some chopped parsley on top. Asparagus goes well with it as a side.

For me, this dish is all about family and sharing so it will always have
a place in my heart. When I serve it, the pan gets brought to the table and everybody dives in and dunks their bread in any remaining sauce. It’s messy and it’s wonderful.”

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.