Hi all! I hope everyone is well out there!
During our ongoing quarantine in Chicago, we continue to cook a ton, we’re catching up on reading actual books and watching some “classic” TV series we had never watched (Soprano’s – how did we miss this?) and we’re spending a lot of time outside in the garden with the cats (look at the absolute HAMS below).
Okay, okay, so I know you didn’t come here for cats, so let’s talk chops.
Dave made these amazing pork chops that he claims are from “too simple of a recipe to share on the blog.” Not to me buckaroo! On the whole, maybe the recipe itself may not be highly inventive – but I think the individual components are what really make this recipe kinda fun and crazy tasty!
My hope is that either the cooking method, making + using an awesome herb salt or supporting a local CSA or farm will get y’all inspired to make this yummy dinner – as we did all three. Check it below!
Cook Time: 1 hour
Servings: 2
Special Equipment: Sous vide cooker
Ingredients
2 pork chops
2 tbs herb salt
3 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
First things first! This herb salt is so lovely to have a bunch of on hand. We originally made it last year when we made Alon Shayay’s smoked goat taco recipe from his cookbook, Shaya, that required it as a rub. Since it makes a large amount, we put a bunch in the freezer and have been loving having it on hand to season beef and pork with. It’s also incredibly easy to make with whatever you have on hand from an herb perspective, so feel free to make it your own with your favorite herby-herbs. You really can’t mess this up. Luckily the Kitchn got access to post online, so find the recipe here to replicate.
Next up, the pork! We’ve been buying farm-raised beef, chicken, pork, produce and more from Avrom Farms in Wisconsin for quite some time now, and we absolutely love it. The quality of their meat and produce is simply out of this world, I am so grateful they deliver to Chicago! If you’re not in the Chicago area, checkout this site to see if there is a farm delivery or CSA in your area.
Now that you have the ingredients – it’s time to cook.
To prep the pork chops, first rub them liberally with the herb salt.
Next, set up your sous vide cooker to be at a temperature of 140 degrees, which will make medium-cooked pork chops (you will also sear after this).
Then, place the pork chops into a sous vide bag with 1 tbs of butter (to flavor and to ensure no sticking) and seal the bag. Zip lock bags work fine here as well – in order to seal them you just slowly lower the bag into the water-filled cooking container, and the pressure of the water will force the air out through the top of the bag. Close the seal above the water and you should be all set.
Let the pork chops sous vide for an hour. This will make the pork chops oh-so-tender.
Before the time is up on the sous vide cooking, get a cast iron skillet good and hot at medium-high heat and add 2 tbs of butter and 1 tbs of olive oil to the pan. Toss those chops into the skillet and sear on each side for one minute.
Remove and let the pork chops rest for five minutes. Once rested serve ’em up with whatever sides you’d like – we did roasted veggies and homemade cornbread which was yummy. You guys have to give this all a go!