Pork chops: I love a pork chop and think they are so underrated. And with this method of cooking they are really very delicious. You could use chicken or veal if you’d rather. I feel like pork chops have a poor reputation for being tough and dry but cooking it this way, bashed out thinly and fried until golden, you avoid the toughness and it’s just delicious. You can get bone in ones from the butcher which are very good - but here you can just use a simpler boneless pork chop which is a bit cheaper and normally easier to find. This salad also works really well when served with salmon. You could brush the salmon with a little of the mayo -dijon marinade and sprinkle with panko and sesame and then bake in the oven. Same vibes as this recipe but a little different. Or simply bung a whole chicken or chicken thighs in the oven and serve with the salad. Lots of options!

Salad: you want a crunchy and fresh salad for this, so the mix I’ve chosen are all very crunchy things. But you can use what you like and what you have! It would be delicious with only lettuce and no kale (although the kale does add a nice bite) or vice versa. And it would be great with cucumber (I love the mini ones), or even some thinly sliced cabbage would be great.

Do I really need to use anchovies? I know opening a tin of anchovies can be annoying if you don’t use the whole lot, so I would firstly recommend buying a jar of them as then it’s easy to reseal and pop back into the fridge. They last a few weeks. You can now also find anchovy paste in tubes (like garlic paste), and that might be a handy alternative for you if you want to use anchovies but hate the open jar in the fridge and never have another recipe to use it for.

Using the oven instead of frying: You can do this if you don’t want to fry but it does a little longer. As a first step, I like to fry the panko breadcrumbs in a little oil until crisp and golden, then leave to cool (don’t skip this step or else they won’t be as crispy). Then do the mayo coating and the panko, then bake at 200C Fan for 10-12 minutes until starting to crisp before turning over and cooking for a further 10 minutes. Or until the pork is golden, crispy and cooked through. The exact time will depend on the size and shape of your pork so just make sure it’s cooked through.

Make this recipe even easier: I sometimes find it easiest to use a blender for the dressing, blitzing all the ingredients aside from the creme fraiche then folding into the creme fraiche but I know not everyone feels the same about getting their blender out.

How to double the recipe: if you are only doing 4 pork chops, you can keep the quantities for the dressing the same and just double the rest.

How to get your children to eat it too: I serve with some potatoes or something else on the side and just serve the pork and the salad separately.

What to do with leftovers: For any left over dressing - it will keep a few days in the fridge so just toss it through more romaine lettuce with lots of parm, crispy bacon, fried potatoes and top with some jammy eggs - you can’t go wrong. But otherwise, it’s delicious as dip with crudités, crackers, crisps. I also use this as a base in mytomato puff pastry tart which is so simple and delicious too.