I couldn’t resist the urge to pair a fat juicy pork chop with that beautiful salad from: The Things We Cook. Last week I wrote an article about this cookbook. If you missed it, check it out here!
I love pork. I hated pork chops for the longest time. Dry meat, tough texture, like where the f!@# is the gravy… yeah, I was doing it all wrong for as long as I can remember.
I’m trying to improve the way I cook things these days. Pork chops might have a mighty appearance but they are very delicate and lean meat, similar to a chicken breast to put it someway. Sous vide gives us the control we need to nail the proper doneness and a good quick sear finishes off the job nicely. I don’t mess much with the seasoning. Salt. Let the salad and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar reduction do the rest.
Ingredients:
As many pork chops as you need.
Kosher salt
Balsamic Vinegar Reduction.
The Things We Cook’s Salad Recipe!
For the pork chop(s). Salt generously with kosher salt and allow to rest in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. I like overnighting pretty much any protein with salt. Cures it, dries the outside for better searing, brines the whole cut, etc. And just like chicken, pork needs to be handled with just as much caution. Make sure the meat sits at the bottom of your fridge so no cross contamination can occur. Cook sous vide @ 134F for 2 hours. That’s medium rare. Sear in a really hot skillet with vegetable oil or avocado oil. Use ghee if you have access to it. If the pork chop has the fat strip attached to it, grab the chop with tongs and sear this fat strip to oblivion or until mega crispy.
For the non sous vide demons out there. Hot skillet and some vegetable oil. A probe (instant ready) thermometer is your best friend. Core temperature should be around 130F before you remove the chop form the skillet. Carryover heat will finish the job and get that chop to the proper temperature. If you don’t have a thermometer, Cook on a hot skillet for about 3 mins on each side IF the pork chop is at room temperature. Otherwise, don’t risk it, just let it sit until it gets to room temperature. Do not eat pork raw under any circumstances.
And that’s that. Have a great weekend. Hope you tell your grill master pork chops are super delicate and need love and lots of attention, that’s just in case you happen to be at some BBQ party and you aren’t driving, because otherwise, fat juice chops it’s what’s for lunch yo. Happy Saturday! Thanks Molly!
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6 comments
Great photos, Paul. Goes without saying I agree on using sous-vide and not overcooking pork chops. For more flavor, try to find chops with some nice marbling going on. From a different breed of pigs (such as Iberico) and/or cut closer to the shoulder. They may need longer than 2 hours at 134F though, as much as 48.
thanks Stefan! iberico pigs, i doubt they import that and if so it’s probably frozen. I’ll have to do some research!
There may very well a local producer of ‘organic’ meat. Look for intramuscular fat (aka marbling). Mass-produced pork is often too lean.
i found a pig that might fit the bill, they call them large blacks and theyre locally bred in very small farms so im confident this could be a much better product, i just have to figure out where to get it
relinking thoughts