Pan Seared Pork Chop with Cherry Jalapeno Jelly
Posted on | November 11, 2008 | No Comments
I was out at my uncle’s house in Alexandria last night, watching the family’s pooch, and their lizard, and fish, and hermit crabs…
Perfect time to distract myself with some bricolage. Now, full disclosure, my uncle’s house is typically stocked with all the staples and basics one would need to throw a meal together. My goal, though, is usually to use leftovers, or, as I like to call them, moreovers. Moreovers are ingredients you bought for another dish, and you’re left with a lot more than you needed to execute the recipe.
These ingredients far too often are left to go bad. You stare at them for a few days, watch them wilt and rot, and then decide to pitch them. This is a shame, and, thankfully, is at the heart and soul of why bricolage is so rewarding. It’s food sustainability. Or, maybe it’s just regular old sustainability; I have a tough time defining that word these days.
Back to my uncle’s. Last night, his moreovers included half an onion and a small aluminum bowl full of cherries, quickly moving beyond their prime.
Cherries and onion. Hmm. Well, I found a few porkchops in the freezer and remembered a dish I made in the fall with currents and nuts and all manner of typically autumnal spices. Cherries and onions seemed perfect for a relish. But it’s summer, and the combination lacked something…well, summery. It needed spice, brightness, something to let you know where and when you were eating it.
So, peering into the fridge, I saw the answer. A bottle of jalapenos and a bottle of jalapeno jelly. Perfect. Now for something to make the flavor sing, something to provide some flavor depth. I opened the cupboard and reached for….dried ginger.
The recipe thus became, pork chops with cherry-jalapeno relish. I wanted to cook the porkchops on the grill but found that the gas had run out. Instead, I chose to pan sear them in a smoking hot Iron skillet. It was important to have the char to measure up against the sweet spicy relish. Iron skillets are always a great old standby. You can cook anything in them and they will outlive your children’s children.
Back to the porkchops. I love pork, but often find the chop can turn out terribly bland if not prepared correctly. As it was 3 p.m., I pulled together a quick brine of brown sugar, salt, cayenne pepper, and bay leaf. Brine’s are fabulous, and I encourage you to give them a try. I intended to brine the chops for about 3 to 3.5 hours. This obviously isn’t something you can do quickly. But on the weekends, with the luxury of time, you should definitely give it a try. It makes all the difference in the world. A truly effective brine should probably sit for about 24 hours, and there are those who debate how effective they are with pork, chicken and turkey typically being the most absorbent meats. I’m not sure I agree.
Back to the cherry-jalepeno relish. Here is what I pulled together, writing down the guesses at measurements as I went along. Like most things I make, I typically guess with those ingredients I know won’t destroy the meal if I put in just a hair too much. Also, I find that you can make corrections along the way if something is too salty, too acidic, too sweet or too vinegary.
1 ¼ tblsp. Jalepeno jelly. I used a heaping measure.
½ tblsp. Diced jalepenos. I gave them a quick rinse and dry before dicing.
1 cup cherries. I had the yellow, ranier cherries.
½ a yellow onion. Don’t use the sweet kind. Or, what the hell, use it if you’ve got it and see how it turns out.
½ tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. powdered ginger
Slice the onions and sautee on medium heat with enough olive oil just to coat the pan.
Slice the cherries in half and remove the pits. Slice in half again to make fourths.
Mix cherries by hand with Mrs. S and Mr. P (I recommend milled black pepper for a stronger bite) to taste. Add the vinegar and ginger, and mix again. Depending on how much you like ginger, you may want to add even this small amount slowly and to taste.
When the onions have cooked 4-5 minutes and start to turn golden, add the cherry mixture and cook for 3 more minutes. Add the jalepenos and jalapeno jelly. At this point, the jelly will begin to break down and the sugar will begin to bubble and melt. It’s important not to have the pan set too high and not to use a THIN bottom pan. The iron skillet is perfect for this. Sugar gets hot and burns easily. Try to avoid this. You just want to maintain that bubble as the jelly breaks down and mixes with the relish. Keep a pretty close eye on it, but you don’t need to obsess. After the jelly breaks down, turn to a simmer and cover, stirring every couple of minutes.
At this point, remove your pork from the brine and pat dry. I re-seasoned with salt and pepper, some red pepper flake and some dried thyme just to cover. Of course, you should season to your preference.
Check your relish. It should look well integrated and taste sweet, spicy and slightly peppery (black pepper).
Remove to a bowl and clean your pan. Try not to use water, just wipe it out. The sugar will make it impossible to fully clean. You should don’t want any considerable amount of standing liquid.
Return to the heat and turn the burner to medium high. You want the pan to be hot when the pork touches it. After a couple of minutes, set the pork into the skillet. You should hear an aggressive sizzle. Leave it for about 2 minutes or until, lifting with tongs, there is a nice golden brown crust. At this point, turn it over and do the same.
One of the beautiful thing about an iron skillet is that it remains hot for a while after you remove it from the heat source. So, after the pork is browned on each side, pull the skillet off the heat and heap the chop with the relish mixture. Cover for a few minutes. When you open the skillet back up, you should see something beautiful.
Serve with something green, spinach, broccoli, etc. Corn would be delicious. Anything fibrous and healthy. The chop packs quite a lot of flavor and should be the focus of the meal.
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