From charred sweet potatoes to bread and gravy: Gordon Ker’s side dish recipes to serve with chops of any kind

While the principle occasion at Blacklock is clearly the chops and steaks, it’s actually essential to us that our facet dishes are simply as a lot of a draw. We love chips – ours, that are cooked in beef dripping, are a labour of affection designed to be as shut as attainable to these you get wrapped in yesterday’s information on the seaside – however alongside the basic chophouse sides, we additionally wished to supply friends one thing just a little completely different. It’s all about stability: we prepare dinner all our meat over open coals, and the result’s crisp fats and tender meat, so we would like our sides both so as to add to the indulgence or to chop by the richness of the whole lot else. Listed here are a few of our favourites from the menu.

Charred candy potatoes

The mix of soppy candy potato and charred, burnt pores and skin is heavenly, which explains why this quite simple dish is one in all our bestselling sides. We prepare dinner ours in a single day within the dying embers of the barbecue, nevertheless it’s simple sufficient to duplicate at dwelling.

Prep 5 min
Prepare dinner 1 hr 10 min
Serves 2

2 medium candy potatoes (about 300g)
2 good rosemary sprigs, leaves picked
1 massive pinch smoked sea salt
1 small pinch coarsely floor black pepper
20g butter

Warmth the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gasoline 6, and bake the candy potatoes entire for an hour, or till gentle (use a skewer to verify they’re cooked by). In the meantime, finely chop the rosemary leaves and blend with the smoked salt and pepper.

Flip your extractor fan on full and open a window – there’ll now be tons of smoke. Grill the cooked candy potatoes on a very popular cast-iron griddle pan (or barbecue), turning them repeatedly so that they don’t stick, for about seven minutes, till the skins are blackened throughout.

Minimize the candy potatoes in half, add a great knob of butter to every half, sprinkle generously with the rosemary salt and serve.

Grilled child gem with anchovy dripping

It would sound peculiar to grill lettuce, however the result’s scrumptious, particularly when served with a punchy anchovy dressing that brings the whole lot alive.

Prep 5 min
Prepare dinner 10 min
Serves 2

90ml extra-virgin olive oil
60g unsalted butter, at room temperature
30g anchovy fillets, drained
1 garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped
1 child gem lettuce, minimize in half lengthways

Put the oil, butter, anchovies and garlic in a meals processor and pulse gently to a rough sauce; don’t blitz it for too lengthy or too quick, in any other case the sauce will get too clean.

Tip the combo right into a small saucepan, prepare dinner on a low warmth till it begins to simmer, then take off the warmth. At this level, the sauce may begin to break up, however that’s completely tremendous. Pour right into a small bowl and maintain at room temperature till wanted.

Lay the halved child gems minimize facet down in a smoking-hot cast-iron frying pan and prepare dinner for 2 to 3 minutes, till barely blackened. Flip over the lettuce halves, prepare dinner for an extra minute on the opposite facet, then switch to a platter.

Generously spoon the anchovy dripping on prime (save any extra within the fridge for an additional use), ensuring among the dressing will get in between the leaves, then serve.

Kale and parmesan

The crunch of uncooked kale supplies a terrific contrasting texture and flavour to meat, nevertheless it wants just a little one thing to take it to the following stage, and this lip-smacking parmesan dressing does simply that.

Prep 5 min
Prepare dinner 5 min
Serves 2

40g parmesan, finely grated, plus additional to serve
60ml white-wine vinegar
30ml recent lime juice
1 tbsp dijon mustard
Sea salt and black pepper
150ml vegetable oil
25ml extra-virgin olive oil
10g purple kale
20g inexperienced kale

In a mini meals processor, blitz the parmesan, vinegar, lime juice, mustard, 10g salt and some grinds of pepper till clean. With the motor going, progressively add each oils and keep on mixing till emulsified.

Strip all of the kale leaves off the stalks (save the latter for another use), wash in chilly water and pat fully dry.

Put the leaves in a bowl, gown with the parmesan sauce, sprinkle generously with additional grated parmesan and serve.

Bread and gravy

Good gravy is the staple of any Sunday roast, however why take pleasure in it on solely sooner or later? We serve ours on daily basis of the week.

Prep 5 min
Prepare dinner 30 min
Serves 2

10g unsalted butter
60g shallots, peeled and finely diced
250ml madeira
1 litre good meat inventory (we use a 50:50 mixture of beef and veal inventory)
2 slices sourdough (ideally offcuts)
2 tbsp dripping

Soften the butter in a deep-sided frying pan, then gently sweat the shallots for 5 minutes, till gentle. Add the madeira to the pan, flip as much as a medium warmth and cut back the liquid by half. Add the inventory, deliver to a simmer and prepare dinner till lowered by 1 / 4.

Evenly toast the bread on each side, then cowl one facet of every slice with dripping and grill so the fats caramelises – regulate it, to verify the bread doesn’t burn.

Switch the bread to a big plate and prime with the recent gravy – you need to have sufficient leftover gravy for a roast the following day.