Cheddar Pork Chops

There was a time when the idea of blogging was far-fetched but the Kitchen has always been my haven and with friends who were determined to keep a souvenir of the day I even have my hands on an image from the memorable day.

Now my best of friends loves Pork. I mean she can devour on Pork all day long. I personally wouldn't mind the chop once in a while but I am more of a ham sausage kind of girl but well when you have friends whose primary interest in life revolves around gastronomy you have plenty to rejoice about for you can whip, chop, sear , fry and they shall wait with eager anticipation. The other good thing about having such friends is that due to their love for food they wouldn't lie to you if there was some deficiency in your dish and so you always end up with improving yourself in case the dish needs a bit of changing etc. I still remember that cold day from January last year when I was hosting a dinner party and was cooking this Kashmiri mutton and even after 2.5 hours it wasn't soft enough and my friend didn't hesitate one bit to let me know that. I immediately let it simmer away for another hour and my lovely guests enjoyed it to the last bit and among the guests one aunt still talks about the dish whenever she meets me

Now food is a matter of choice. What one would love the other wouldn't. So you cannot always satisfy everyone. For instance lets take these pork chops. Some like theirs just cooked , some might want it a bit crispy, my friend likes it in all forms. This one is a bit on the crispy side , tender and juicy inside and wonderfully cheesy yet crisp outside.

Basically 1 pork chop would serve 1 person

So I am writing down my recipe per pork chop which serves 1

You need

1 Pork Chop (Fat trimmed with a little bit of fat left for the pork to be rendered in)
4 tbsp of freshly shredded cheddar
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp finely chopped fresh herb of your choice I used parsley
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Season your pork and press it down on the meat with your hands. make three incisions in the fatty section so that the chops do not curl up in your pan. Whisk the Olive oil and vinegar together and then add the herb salt and pepper and keep whisking and slowly add the cheddar and whisk to make a sauce. Now the cheddar wouldn't melt and that is alright.

Preheat oven to 180 C . Simply brush the a pan with butter and put it on high heat and then slowly add the chops and cook for 1.5 minutes on each side. Let it rest for 3 minutes and then grease your baking dish with butter and add the chops and use a generous amount of the fresh cheese sauce on both sides. Keep aside 2 tsp  cheese sauce aside. Bake for 20 minutes to 30 minutes using the butter on the pork chops after 5 minutes  and basting the meat with the juices twice during the length of baking. Let the chops rest for 5 to 7 minutes before serving. Serve it with cheese stuffed tomatoes , mashed potato and a few steamed greens . Take a tomato and hollow out the middle , stuff with the cheese sauce and grill it till the cheese melts and it sizzles.

Gatto Di Patate (Potato Pie all the way from Italy)

So when there is a special lunch to be prepared you take your time on deciding the menu. You read so many articles that you become confused and then suddenly you hit the jackpot. A treasure of a blog all the way from Italy. A dish which is cheesy, creamy, fluffy and meaty and one you  know you shall serve it no matter what. Extremely easy this one is a keeper. It seems this is very popular in both Sicily  and Campania . of course I did use locally smoked ham instead of mortadella but the end result was that every crumb was licked clean off the plate.

You need:

500gm potatoes
Pinch of nutmeg
8 tablespoonful of Parmesan cheese
100gm of mozzarella cheese
Salt as per taste
1 large egg
200gm of smoked ham
3 to 4 tablespoonful of unsalted butter
250gm breadcrumbs

Boil and mash potatoes with the egg, salt, nutmeg , butter and Parmesan cheese. Butter the pan and fill it with breadcrumb which helps in de-moulding the pie else it will stick to the sides and you can never get it out. So be generous when sprinkling with the breadcrumbs. Now fill half the pan with the mashed potatoes and press down with wet hands and top it with breadcrumbs , add your meaty layer and on top of it goes the thinly sliced mozzarella cheese and then the rest of the mashed potatoes and top it with a good amount of breadcrumbs. Bake in preheated oven of 180 C for 45 minutes. This is a real treat.