Pork Chops with Fresh Herbs and Sour Cream

Ingredients:

• For the Pork Chops
• 2 Pork Loin Steaks, approx 250g each
• Cornstarch, to coat

For the Sour Cream & Parsley Stuffing (prepare ahead)

• Bunch of Curly-leaf Parsley, chopped with stems on
• Bunch of Flat-leaf Parsley, chopped with stems on
• 2 tablespoons Sour Cream
• Salt, a dash
• Ground Black Pepper, a dash

For the Sour Cream Sauce (to bake)

• 100ml Sour Cream
• 1 tablespoon Mild Olive Oil
• 1 tablespoon Cider, Sherry or White Wine (Optional)

Special Equipment

• Meat mallet / meat pounder / meat tenderizer
• Toothpicks

Step 1: Tenderize Pork Loin Steaks with meat mallet then cut “pocket”

Remove the bones attached to the steaks prior to the hitting, if the steaks come with bone. We tenderized the pork loin steaks by hitting them with a meat mallet. The meat mallet is also effective in even-ing out the thickness of the thick meat slabs, so that during the cooking process the whole slab of meat cooks at the same time, avoiding dryness in the thinner parts. Just be careful not to over-pound in case the meat becomes… mince!

Using a sharp fillet knife, cut open a “flap” or “pocket”, taking care to make sure the two sides of the flap are as even as possible. If one side is too thin it will make the stuffing very difficult later!

Step 2: Stuff pork loin steaks with pre-prepared herbs or other stuffing

Pretty like a pocket, ready to be stuffed with goodies!
Try to stuff as much in as possible without them bursting the delicate meat “pocket”.

Using toothpicks, sew and seam the stuffed loin chops

The end result should look like this. A neat pocket that isn’t too fat. It would also be best to ensure that the ends of the toothpicks don’t protrude much.

Step 3: Dry and coat loin chops, then brown them in a pan

The pork loin steaks would be wet from the stuffing sauce or liquid, so dry them with a kitchen towel. This makes it easier for the browning later. Coat with a thin layer of corn starch for a little crisp on the pork chops.

At medium heat, pan fry the pork loin chops in cooking oil, stopping when they are slightly brown like this. This should take an approximate 5-12 minutes depending on the thickness of your chops. This step helps to seal in the juices when the chops are baking in the oven, and and also imparts a lovely pan-fried flavour to the meat.

Liberally slap a thick layer of sour cream atop the pork chops. Also add your tablespoon of olive oil and a little cooking alcohol (white wine, cider or sherry) if you desire. The alcohol will give it a little jazz. In a pre-heated oven, bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 15-20 minutes.

Tada! Doesn’t this look like a cheese baked dish? Thankfully, the sour cream is rich and tangy enough like a cheese but isn’t as calorific! It also tenderizes the pork making the meat more moist and tender.

Source: tummytroll.wordpress.com