Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Just Pork Chops

It's almost year end and this is only my second posting for 2010.  I still can't qualify as a real blogger, can I?  Well, the best thing I can do is make every posting count.  Excuses, excuses.

I went shopping at S&R (our local Costco) the other day and as I was browsing through the chillers as I am wont to do, my son and I found thick center cut frenched pork chops that were screaming "eat me, eat me!"  My son, the budding foodie, got all excited.  (Pork chops, after all, is his all time comfort food.)  In the cart they went, priced just a little higher than regular chops.

We're not fans of apple sauce so after scouring a few cookbooks, magazines and a few sites for a recipe, I decided to wing it.  First, I made a paste of garlic, fresh rosemary and olive oil.  Then, I seasoned the chops generously with salt and pepper and rubbed them with the garlic-rosemary paste.  I allowed them to marinate for about an our.

I don't have an oven where I stay in Manila (I know, I know) so I had to improvise.  How do I cook a 2-inch cut of meat evenly in a pan?  I figured, sear the meat on both sides then lower the flame to allow it to cook slowly.  I heated the cast iron pan to just below smoking point, oiled it with some regular olive oil then got those chops in there.


Aren't they so yummy gorgeous?

After searing on both sides, I turned down the heat and allowed the chops to cook 15 minutes each side for a total of 30 minutes.  And this was how they turned out.



I wrapped them in foil for about 10 minutes to seal in the juices then transferred them to individual plates.


I was too hungry to bother making the plate pretty so what you see is a tender, juicy, unadorned, crusty slab of pork.  I served it with gravy but on hindsight, I'm thinking maybe a garlic sauce would have worked better.  Hmmm...I need to get a hold of a recipe of that Casa Marcos vinegary garlic sauce that was good with everything.  Next time.

The verdict: it was great but not perfect.  I'll try reducing the cooking time to 25 minutes the next time.  I'll also try brining it another time.  Check back for results.  But in the meantime, go ahead and go for it.

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