I believe I was dreaming about the pork chops the night before... something about Julia Child and a very big spatula. So naturally, as I drank my morning coffee, I was drawn to my spattered copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Who better to lead me than Julia? If I'm going to start this porcine adventure, I want to kick it off right with the officially sanctioned way for a girl to handle a pork chop, from the Queen herself.
She suggests that the perfect chop is about 1-1/2"s in thickness. I look at my thawed pack of chops... 1" thick, check.
She further suggests that it is ideal to marinate the pork chop for at least 6, but preferably 12 hours before cooking. Her favorite marinade for a pork chop (because it "tenderizes the pork and accentuates its natural flavor") is a dry salt rub, as follows:
Marinade Sèche (from Mastering the Art of French Cooking)
(Per Pound of Pork)
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp ground thyme or sage
1/8 tsp ground bay leaf
Pinch of allspice
Optional: 1/2 clove mashed garlic
Mix all the ingredients together, and rub them into the surface of the pork. Place in a covered bowl. Turn the meat 2 or 3 times if the marinade is a short one; several times if it is of long duration. Before cooking, scrape off the marinade, and dry the meat thoroughly with paper towels.
I had 3 pork chops, 2 pounds in all... so I doubled the recipe (and quadrupled the garlic... we're all about garlic, chez Fish). Then I took the pork chops out of their packaging, and admired them. Yes, I know, I'm a dork... but they really were quite striking, uncooked on the plate. The color was the main thing... a deep rosy pink, so much richer looking than the grey-ish white-ish grocery store pork chops I have sadly gotten used to. Okay, enough mooning, time to marinate. I rubbed the rub into the meat, put the covered plate into the fridge, and waited.
After many hours, and several flips on the plate, it was finally time to cook. I consulted Julia. She recommends searing, and then finishing the chops in a covered casserole for 25-30 minutes in a 325 F oven.
I took the chops out of the fridge, so that they could come to room temperature, and I scrapped off the marinade, and dried the chops as directed. The smell of the garlic was intoxicating. Or, maybe that was just the glass of chardonnay I poured, to keep me company through the adventure. Either way, this was getting exciting. (Did I mention that I'm a dork?)
After preheating the oven, I grabbed one of my bags of pig back fat and rendered about 1/4 cup of the white gooey stuff in a hot, oven safe pan on top of the stove. Slowly, slowly the back fat began to release liquid piggy-deliciousness. After about 15 minutes, I had enough in which to sear the chops, so I cranked up the heat. I sliced up another two cloves of garlic (did I mention we love garlic?), and laid the pork in the pan, sighing at the satisfying sizzle as the meat hit the heat.
I seared the chops for about 3 minutes on each side. Just long enough for them get a bit of a golden crust, then I took them out of the pan and let them sit, while I wiped the pig fat out. I put the pan back on the stove, with 2 tablespoons of butter. When it was melted, I threw in the chopped garlic, laid the chops back in the pan, basted them with the butter, then covered the pan, and slid it into the oven.
Meanwhile, I was working on the side dish... roasted baby cabbages. I found the recipe on line at a blog called thekitchn.com -- check it out here:
25 minutes later, and 4 additional bastings, and it was time to take them out. So far, so good. The meat was springy to the touch, and the juices were a pale yellow. They looked done. I put them on plate, covered them with a clean dish towel so they could rest, and set to the business of making a simple pan sauce.
I deglazed the pan with about 1/3 of a cup of vermouth, stirring vigorously to get all of the yummy bits off the bottom. I let it boil down about half way, then tasted... it was a little salty (not surprising, really), so I added a tablespoon of butter and about 1/4 cup of cream to take the edge off the saltiness.
And here's the result.
The verdict
Yum. I had to sigh a little, and close my eyes as I tasted the pork... it was really good. It sounds obvious, but it tasted like pork... and I think I'd forgotten what pork chops really taste like. And the roasted baby cabbages were delicious, if I say so myself. Thank you, thekitchn.com The downside? It was little salty for my taste... I don't think I'll be making the dry salt rub again (sorry, Julia). And a little more done than I like. Next time, only 20 minutes in the oven. But in the main, I'd say we're off to a good start. 2 pounds down, 93 more to go.
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