Brine-Cured Pork Chops with Balsamic Glaze

Thanks to a couple of great cookbooks, I've discovered a whole new way to prepare pork chops - brining! Now, I'm sure this is old news to most cooks out there; I may be late to the game, but at least I showed up! You basically give the chops a salt and herb bath for a good half a day, or at least a few hours, and it tenderizes the pork and keeps it nice and juicy when you cook it. It works great for pan-cooking the chops, or grilling.

This particular recipe features shallots sauteed in balsamic vinegar - it's a pungent combination, and delicious with the pork. The recipe is adapted from this fantastic cookbook my parents got me last Christmas, that I'm practically reading like a novel - Williams Sonoma's "San Francisco: Authentic Recipes Celebrating the Foods of the World". It gives a great overview of food in the Bay Area, then recipes! Not 100% sure what makes this a Bay Area recipe, but hey! It's delicious, so I'll buy it.

BRINE: from Fred Thompson's "Grill Master: The Ultimate Arsenal of Back-to-Basics Recipes for the Grill":
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp thyme
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp black pepper
6 cups water

In a large bowl, combine water, vinegar, sugar, thyme, pepper flakes, salt, and pepper, and stir until sugar and salt dissolve. Submerge pork chops in brine, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for as long as possible.

CHOPS:
2-4 center cut pork loin chops, about 1 1/2 inches thick
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup minced shallot
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp minced fresh sage

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Remove the chops from brine and pat dry.

Place a large frying pan (big enough to hold all the chops in a single layer) over medium-high heat until hot, then add olive oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. When the oil is hot, add the chops and reduce heat to medium. Cook until the bottoms are browned, about 10 minutes. Flip and cook until the chops are no longer pink at the bone, about 10 more minutes. Put the chops on a heatproof platter, and keep in the oven to warm.

Pour off any pan fat and return to medium-low heat. Add 1 tbsp of the butter. Once the butter melts, add the shallot and cook, stirring until it has softened. Add the vinegar and bring to a boil; boil until it has reduced by about half. Add chicken stock and sage, raise the heat to high, boil, scrape up any browned bits in the pan, and reduce until it's about a 1/3 cup of liquid. Remove from the heat and add the rest of the butter; swirl it in, but don't stir it.

Return the pan to low heat, add the chops back to the pan, and cook for a couple minutes, turning the chops in the sauce. Spoon the extra sauce over the chops to serve. (Good with rice and sauteed greens.)

Pork Chop and Barley Stew

Well, we're back from two weeks in India! What a phenomenal trip. Definitely inspired to dive back into my Indian cookbook and try that more in earnest.

In the meantime, I have about five recipes waiting to be posted, so I need to get cracking. I don't even remember when I made this one, but it was great! Fantastic for winter. I never cook with barley, and was somehow under the impression that I don't like it, which is most definitely not the case. And I love cooking with a bone-in meat - the flavors are just that much better. One thing I did learn about barley is that it's very absorbent - so this was pretty thick. You could put less barley in if you wanted a soupier consistency, but I feel like the creaminess makes it more of a comfort food.

2 bone-in pork chops, diced (leave some meat on the bones
Salt
Pepper
Hungarian paprika
Olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 small onions
1 stalk celery, sliced thin
10 baby carrots, sliced thin
2 plum tomatoes, diced
8 cups chicken broth
Turmeric
1 cup barley
Olive oil

Start with a large, heavy pot. Brown the pork chops, including the bones, on both sides in a little olive oil and garlic over medium-high heat, sprinkling with salt, pepper, and a little paprika. Add the onions, celery, and carrots (you can add a bit more olive oil if it's dry), and stir occasionally until they start to soften. Add the chicken broth, barley, and tomatoes, and add a pinch of turmeric and paprika. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer until the barley is cooked, about 1 hour.

Baked Pork Chops

(Adapted from www.tasteofhome.com) 

Phew, time for some recipe catch-up, here! I have three great recipes that I'm excited to post, and I'll start with these, probably easiest possible pork chop recipe I could find. I've gone on before about how I wasn't a pork chop fan, then I bought some because they were so cheap, and now I buy them regularly because they're not only cheap, but they can actually be quite juicy and delicious.

This recipe is a perfect example. These were so juicy and the flavor - and the smell wafting out of the oven - was fantastic. I wasn't sure about dipping the chops in milk - but it turned out great. And seeing as how I picked this recipe by googling "pork chops", then narrowing down the list until I found something fast that used only ingredients I had left around the house at the end of the week, you can probably make them without a trip to the grocery store.

I almost forgot about the side - I just sauteed a little garlic in olive oil and then added some eggplant (half-skinned, chopped, salted, and rinsed first) and chopped tomato and let it all sautee and simmer together. Unfortunately, I can't remember if I put some onions in there or not, too...from the photo, looks like maybe I did!


The ingredients listed are for four chops, but I made two and just had some left over. Since the ingredients are mostly for dipping, you can choose how much or how little you want.


1/4 cup fat-free milk 
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese 
1/4 cup bread crumbs 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (I think this is the secret ingredient)
1/8 teaspoon pepper 
2 center cut bone-in pork chops

Preheat oven to 375. Put the milk in a shallow bowl. In a shallow bowl or rimmed plate, combine the cheese, bread crumbs, salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Dip each chop in the milk, then dip in the bread crumb mix to coat.

Place the chops in the oven on a baking sheet (cover the baking sheet with tin foil to save a mess; spray with cooking spray if you have it, which I didn't). Bake at 375 for about 10-11 minutes on each side.

Ciderjack Pork Chops

Tonight, I bring you another successful Joef recipe! Joef has been clamoring for pork chops in a cider glaze for, well, months now, so tonight he up and created it himself. This was a great sweet-and-slightly-spicy glaze, easy and quick to make with ingredients you probably have around the house. (Yes, including Jack Daniel's - admit it.)

I decided to broil the pork chops - I definitely over-cooked them, so I haven't provided any cook time. Just...flip them once or twice, and watch them closely. The broiler cooks things fast. Like, a few minutes on each side fast. Cut into the chop to make sure it's cooked, of course.

Served with rice and some zucchini fried up in garlic and olive oil. The zucchini wasn't the best taste complement, per se, but it was good eatin'.

So:
Two pork chops, defrosted and brought to room temperature, lightly salted
1.5 cups apple cider
1 shot Jack Daniel's
3 heaping tbsp brown sugar
Squeeze of lemon juice
Sprinkle of habanero pepper flakes (optional)

Combine all ingredients except the pork chops in a small pot. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, and reduce slightly so that it thickens a bit. Pour over and under the chops and pop in the broiler, broil, and look at that - you're done!

NEW! - Idea from my dad, inspired by the onset of warmer weather: marinate the chops and grill 'em!

Braised Pork Chops with Sage and Tomatoes

(adapted from Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking)

Marcella. Let me explain. As I've said many a time before, everything my parents cook is phenomenal. I've rarely seen them use cookbooks. But when they did, it was Marcella. Frequently when I'd come home from school and ask my dad what he was making for dinner, all he'd have to say was, "Marcella!" - and we were pretty much guaranteed a knock-out meal. I think the name of her cookbook really sums it up - Marcella Hazan is the essential classic Italian cook, at least in my book. I have honestly been pining for her cookbook. So when my dad offered an extra copy he had on hand, I snatched it up.

This book seriously has everything. And I want to make it all. I started with these pork chops, and was not disappointed.

1 tbsp butter
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 pork loin chops (pat dry)
Flour spread on a plate
3-4 fresh sage leaves
Salt
Ground black pepper
3/4 cup canned Italian plum tomatoes, cut up with their juice

In a large rimmed saute pan, heat the butter and oil over medium-high. When the foam from the butter starts to subside, dust each chop with flour on both sides, shaking off the excess, and slip them into the pan with the sage. Brown the chops on each side (1-2 minutes per side).

Add salt and some pepper along with the tomatoes and their juice. Turn the heat to low and cover the plan with the lid slightly ajar. Cook for about 20 minutes (up to 60, per Marcella, but we didn't have the patience), turning occasionally, until the meat is cooked and tender. Done!

Sauteed Pork Chops and Chickpea Salad

(Chops from Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything: Quick Cooking)

I don't think I've ever cooked pork chops before. But I couldn't resist Mark Bittman's foolproof recipe, nor could I resist two pork chops for $2.78. The chops were easy, juicy, and delicious, and I made up the salad using whatever we had in the house - turned out great, and a nice complementary side to boot. We'll definitely be making pork chops a major part of our menu these next couple years!

PORK CHOPS
Here is Mr. Bittman's recipe:

2 center-cut loin pork chops, about 1 inch thick
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup chicken stock (you can use water as an alternative)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or freshly-squeezed lemon juice
Parsley leaves for garnish

Sprinkle the chops with salt and pepper. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat for 2 or 3 minutes. Add the 2 tablespoons olive oil; as soon as the first wisps of smoke rise from the oil, add the chops and turn the heat to high. Brown the chops on both sides, moving them around so they develop good color all over. This whole process should take four minutes or less.

Reduce the heat to medium. Add the wine and the garlic and cook, turning the chops once or twice, until the wine is all but evaporated, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of stock or water, turn the heat to low, and cover. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, turning the chops once or twice, until the chops are tender but not dry. When done, when you cut into them, the color will be rosy at first glance but quickly turn pale.

Remove the chops to a platter. If the pan juices are very thin, cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan, until the liquid is reduced slightly. Then stir in the butter over medium heat; add the wine vinegar, pour over the chops, garnish, and serve.

SALAD
1 can chick peas/ceci beans/garbanzos, rinsed and drained
1/2 small red onion, chopped
Handful of green beens, cooked or blanched, and chopped
4-6 baby carrots, sliced thinly
1 clove garlic, minced
1 spoonful balsamic vinegar
2 spoonfuls olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all your ingredients in a bowl, mix, and serve!