Honey Mustard Pork Chops

Every time I turn on the TV, which is not often, I see ads for PORKFEST with Julie Goodwin!!! (She is such a lovely lady and also a proud supporter of the McGrath Foundation, how can you not love her.) Well this got me to google what PORKFEST was all about. I founds a lot of useful information on the website http://www.PorkFest.com.au. Please check it out and you can read about all the myths and facts of pork; also Julie's recipes are divine. I am looking forward to trying them out!!!

Honey Mustard Pork Chops is my contribution to PORKFEST. I don't always buy pork, mainly because  our family is accustomed to eating chicken, beef and lamb. I love pork and growing up in a Latin American community in the US pork is huge. Cuban's love making pork, my favourite is Pan con Lechon, which involves many hours of cooking pork and then simply placing it in Cuban bread (which is a white soft loaf)...it is so good it's worth a trip to Havana or Miami just to try the deliciousness of this tender juicy pork sandwich. My mother makes pork the Venezuelan way, which also involves cooking the pork for many hours, it has a sweet flavour to it and is absolutely divine. One of the reason that I don't usually buy pork is because I grew up eating it and knew it to be a very lengthy cooking process...but of course, yes, if we are making a whole pork it would take a long time but there are a lot of different lean cuts that are fantastic on the grill or roasted, which cook quickly.

So the other day I went to my local butcher in Miranda and the lovely lady there, Mary, who is always happy to see me, gave me the nicest cuts of pork loin on the bone. I like the ones with the bones because I like having that last bite to sink my teeth into...says the carnivore in me..LOL

Anyway, so I take the pork home, think of how to cook it and remember a recipe I used to make at university, HONEY MUSTARD PORK..how could I forget.

You see, when I was at university my mother; in an attempt for me not to have to spend my money on food; would kindly stock up my freezer with a semesters worth of all kinds of meats...of course as most students are broke, I was broke but had a freezer filled with meats, a valuable currency when you need help studying for your exams...My deal was always to have study groups at my house "I'll cook...you can tutor me." and it paid off...My best friend and accounting/finance guru Bojana, always loved my honey mustard pork. So I was happy to make "Boki" her favourite meal, and I passed accounting.

This recipe is relatively child friendly as long as your children don't mind the chili, which is optional.

*Also if I can add a restaurant tip please go to MOMOFUKU at the Star Casino for a fantastic pork. 

(If you are in Sydney and are keen to try what I think has been the best pork I have had in Australia, please go to MoMoFUKO at the Star Casino adjacent to the Darling Hotel and book yourself for a degustation meal. The meal is an explosion of delicate flavours and its grand finale is the most magnificent soft, sweet and moist pork. The pork is cooked for over 15 hours...OMG it was so good. I can't wait to go again and eat there.)

Please note that incase you don't eat pork for religious or other reasons you may substitute this recipe with prawns or chicken.

Ingredients:

3 pork chops (or prawns according to amount of servings)
3 tablespoons of honey
3 tablespoons of mustard
Garlic salt
Apple cider vinegar (a dash)
1 1/2 tablespoons of mild chili (Gourmet Garden)
1 abundant teaspoon of ginger

Make your marinade by mixing in a bowl: honey, mustard, garlic salt, mild chilli and ginger.
Then cover the pork with the marinade, you can either place it in a plastic zip lock bag and leave it over night or you can just spread the marinade over it, like I did, and cook it right away.

Place the marinated pork in a pan at low to medium heat. The idea of pork is that you have to cook it all the way through, a bit of pink in the pork is not good...
Allow it to cook slowly and if it needs more marinade add it in the pan. Add a dash of Apple cider vinegar and make sure the heat is on high so that it evaporates quickly.
When the pork is almost ready raise the temperature so that you nicely brown the chops.

You can cook the chops in the oven as well. Keep the oven at 160-180 degrees Celsius, keep the chops covered with foil, so that the marinade doesn't burn and they remain moist...then 20 minutes later uncover so that they brown.

As you can see I have served the pork chop with white rice and string beans very simple easy and shouldn't take longer than 15 minutes to cook all up. I am very glad for how tender and tasty this meat was, everyone loved it!!! 

Thank you again for visiting my blog. Please also note that all your contributions are welcomed, themcgrathskitchen is not only a place for my recipes but it is also a place that you can share your cooking triumphs.  Sharing is caring...

Enjoy your meal! 

XXX