PORK CHOPS WITH TOMATO CREAM

In life there's always something, someplace, or someone that is just a perfect marriage. Like a rock band with a solid bassist and drummer, or art galleries in the wine country. You know, that perfect match.

Which leads me to pork and tomatoes. Why everyone loves a good bacon & tomato sandwich right? With reach creamy mayonnaise. We locals here in Hawaii love pork, tomatoes, and mayonnaise. It's some of the three food items we love to eat. So let's do something so simple, so easy for you home cooks that's just learning. You pull this off your friends are gonna love you and call you a genius.

Tools: 12" stainless steel pan. (no non-stick).
Tongs: medium length for flipping chops.

INGREDIENTS

Vegetable oil for frying (just have about 1/2 a cup at the ready)
4 Rib pork chops bone in 1/2" thick. (Seasoned with salt and pepper on both sides to your liking) Keep at room temperature, never fry a chop cold it will take too long.
1 1/2 cups of flour
1/4 cup of cornstarch

Tomato Cream
5 oz. of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half.
1/2 tsp. dried Italian herbs.
3/4 cup of good quality sour cream.
1/2 cup real mayonnaise
Juice of 1/2 lemon
dash salt and dash white pepper

Step 1- Mix the flour and cornstarch in a small bowl with a fork well. (This is your coating for the rib chops). Set aside.

Step 2- In a separate bowl, squeeze all the juices from the tomatoes including the seeds, the seeds won't kill you. Honestly it won't. Add in the Italian dried herbs, then the sour cream, mayonnaise, and juice of 1/2 a lemon. Mix well, it won't look promising, but that's just the way it is. Season with salt and white pepper. Keep in the refrigerator covered.

Step 3- Heat up about 1/4 cup or more of vegetable oil in the pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot enough, you are ready to fry your chops. Oil is ready when you put a piece of bread crumb into the oil and it immediate sizzles. Never place any foods into a pan of oil when it is not hot enough, a less than desirable product will be produced. Do this step right, you'll be on your way to chef greatness!

Step 4- Take your seasoned chops, and dredge one at a time into the flour mixture, pressing firmly onto each side of each chop.

Step 5- Gently place 2 chops at a time in the pan, fry them until brown on each side. To make sure that each chop is cooked to a safe temperature, insert an instant read thermometer into the center of each chop if it registers about 155 deg. F, it should be good to go. Don't overcook it, it will turn out dried. As long as the heat has penetrated the chop, and it is not raw, common sense will tell you it is cooked. But use that thermometer to make sure. And remember when the chop is out of the pan, it continues to cook. 

Plate for 4 servings, or for 2 (2 chops each). Top each chop with the Tomato Cream and add some potatoes or rice to your plate and your favorite veggies, and Bon Appetite 

Ron Sambrano Blogger

        

© 2016