Thursday, September 9, 2010

Cuban pork chops

At least that's what the Betty Crocker cookbook I got this from says. I've made them four or five times now, and I've worked it out the way I like it. It's a good recipe.

Ingredients:
boneless pork chops (the amounts below make enough rub for five or six)
3 limes' worth of grated lime peel
1 tbsp cracked pepper
1 tbsp cumin seeds
half teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp olive oil

1. Grate your lime peel. I tried it with a zester, but found it works better just to rub the limes against a cheese-grater (the smaller holes); it's much quicker than a zester, if you're going to do 3 limes. BTW, the recipe calls for 2 tbsp grated lime peel, and 3 medium limes makes more than that, but I think the more lime peel the better for this recipe.

2. Crack your pepper. The first few times I made this I cheated and used ground pepper, but now I know that the cracked pepper makes all the difference. Put your peppercorns in a ziploc bag (squeeze all the air out) and pound on them with a mallet until they're cracked. If you don't have a mallet the bottom of a saucepan or skillet will work just as well. It's tastier if you don't crack them all the way to dust - the crunch of the pepper is important.

3. Mix the pepper, lime peel, olive oil, salt, garlic, and cumin seed together.

4. Rub this mixture into both sides of your pork chops.

5. Grill or broil the pork chops until done. We don't have a barbecue grill, so we broil them in the oven; takes about 5-6 minutes per side, depending on thickness.

We served these with Taryn's Hopi corn salad and some wild rice, and it was a hit with our guests.