Even if I’m not feeding the blog, I have still been cooking, though a little less than usual, and definitely less-complicated than usual. Here’s a recipe I meant to share a long time ago. It’s a combination of a recipe Mom has been using a lot lately to brine pork chops (I’m not sure where she got it), and a recipe from one of the last issues of Gourmet (tear!). It’s actually super easy and fast, requiring hardly any hands on work, but its presentation and taste is much more impressive than the amount of work that goes into it.

It does require a bit of advanced planning because of the brining step, but you don’t want to leave that out. I used to never cook pork chops because they always seemed to dry out on me, but the brining keeps them juicy and tender. (Interestingly – I recently learned that the way this works has to do at least partly with the motor protein myosin, which I’m studying; if you want to know how, ask me about it sometime.) It’s similar to marinating, but in a very high salt solution. Because it’s so much salt, you only leave it for a couple hours, instead of the several hours or overnight that you might normally marinate something. I haven’t tried, but I think it would probably get too salty if you left it longer than that. (If someone tries it and it works, let me know.

Another nice thing about this recipe is it’s easy to scale up or down — I first made it for just myself when Matt was in Taiwan, but making it for several folks is easy too. The pork chops are great with some sauteed greens, perfect for this time of year!

Pork Chops Saltimbocca

adapted from Gourmet
The butter and lemon sauce is optional (though mighty tasty), but don’t skip the brining step. It makes cooking the pork chops so much more forgiving.

Serves 2

2 1″ thick boneless pork chops
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 Tablespoon grated lemon rind
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 slices of Fontina cheese
2 pieces of Prosciutto
4 sage leaves
2 Tablespoons butter (optional)
2 Tablespoons lemon juice (optional)

Combine 1/2 cup water, sugar, and salt in a bowl, stirring with a whisk until the sugar and salt dissolve. Add lemon juice, lemon rind, and basil. Pour over pork in a zip-top plastic bag. Marinate in the fridge for about 2 hours, turning occasionally. (Because this is a brine, I think it may get too salty if you leave it much longer than that, although I’ve never tried.)

Cut a deep pocket halfway through the pork chop. Stuff with a slice of fontina, a piece of prosciutto, and a couple sage leaves. Season with freshly ground pepper. Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in an ovenproof skillet over medium high, and sear pork chops on one side for a couple minute. Turn and place in the oven. Roast at 450 for about ten minutes. If desire, deglaze the pan with the butter and lemon juice, and serve as sauce on top.

Tags: easy, Main Dish, meat, Pork, quick

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 11:29 pm and is filed under Just for John, Main Dish, Pork, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.