Delia Smith's pork chops with sage and apple

This is an excellent recipe and a very old favourite of mine. It's blissfully simple but never disappoints.

Serves 4

Ingredients
4 large, lean pork chops
3 dessertspoons very finely chopped fresh sage
2 Cox's apples, cored and sliced into rings but with skins left on
4-6 oz (110-175 g) white breadcrumbs made from day-old bread
1 large egg
about 3 tbsp groundnut or other flavourless oil
about 2 oz (50 g) butter
1 medium onion, sliced into rings
salt and freshly milled black pepper

You will also need a large, solid frying pan with a diameter of 10 inches (25.5 cm), and a medium, solid frying pan.

Method
First of all, mix the sage and breadcrumbs together and season well with salt and freshly milled black pepper. Then beat the egg and dip the pork chops first in the egg, then into the breadcrumb and sage mixture, pressing firmly all round so that the chops get a really good, even coating.

Now heat two tablespoons of oil and half the butter together in the large frying pan and quickly brown the chops on both sides with the fat fairly hot, then lower the heat and let them gently cook through (it will take around 25-30 minutes depending on the thickness of the chops).

While that's happening, melt the rest of the butter and oil in the other frying pan and fry the apple and onion rings, this will take about 10 minutes. Drain everything on crumpled baking parchment or greaseproof paper before serving.

From The Delia Collection: Pork by Delia Smith, published by BBC Books, price £9.99. ©Delia Smith 2004.

Also available, another new cookery book from Delia Smith, The Delia Collection: Italian published by BBC Books, price £9.99. ©Delia Smith 2004.