pork

my moorish pork chops

servings
4

method

When the Moors invaded Spain they brought grapes and dried fruits with them. Their love of mixing dried fruits with meats definitely left its mark on Spanish cooking and this is my nod to that time in Spain's history. Cut into these big tender chops and you'll get sweet juicy flavors inside perfectly cooked meat. Go to a good butcher and ask for chops that are 2.5cm thick, ideally with two different colors of meat on them: the sweet darker meat, and the leaner eye meat. Then head to any good food store for the jarred beans. Spanish beans are like the Bentley of beans, so although they cost a bit more than the tinned ones they make all the difference.

Pound most of your oregano leaves with a small pinch of salt and pepper in a pestle and mortar. Roughly chop the raisins, then add them to the pestle and mortar with a splash or two of sherry and a splash of extra virgin olive oil. Muddle everything together to make a paste, then put to one side for a minute.

Lay each pork chop in front of you so the side with the fat is farthest away. Carefully insert a knife into the side nearest you and move it around to make a pocket inside. Use your fingers to fill each pocket with the raisin paste. Look at the picture to see what I mean, or go to www.jamieoliver.com/how-to.

Fry the strips of fat from your pata negra or bacon in a medium pan on a high heat for a few minutes, then add the offcuts (or bacon) and a drizzle of olive oil. Stir in the chopped onion and pepper, then turn the heat down and cook for about 5 more minutes, or until the vegetables have softened. Roughly chop your rosemary leaves and add those to the pan along with your bay leaves.

Add your beans to the pan with 350ml of water. Stir, then leave to tick away for about 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the beans and add a splash more water if they look dry.

Get a barbecue or griddle pan really hot. Rub some olive oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper all over the pork chops. Put them on the very hot side of your barbecue and sear them for 2 to 3 minutes on each side to get some good color going, then move them to the gentler side of the barbecue so they can cook slowly. If you’re using a griddle pan, turn the heat down to medium low and cook for a further 10 minutes, turning occasionally.

Meanwhile finely chop the stalks of the Swiss chard and add them to the pan with the beans. Roughly chop the leaves and add them to the pan for the last minute or two of cooking so as not to lose the flavour. Taste the beans and season with salt and pepper. Cook for a few more minutes if you want to achieve a thicker consistency. Divide the beans between four plates and lay a pork chop over each. Sprinkle over the reserved oregano leaves, finish with a drizzle of olive oil and serve.

• from Jamie does...

ingredients

For the chops
• a few sprigs of fresh oregano
or marjoram, leaves picked
• sea salt and freshly ground
black pepper
• a small handful of raisins
• good quality dry sherry
• Spanish extra virgin olive oil
• 4 large, thick pork chops
(approximately 350g each),
bone in, the best quality
meat you can afford
For the beans
• trimmed fat from a few slices
of pata negra, and some
pata negra offcuts
(or 2 rashers smoked
streaky bacon, roughly
chopped, or pancetta)
• olive oil
• 1 red onion, peeled
and finely chopped
• 1 large red pepper, deseeded
and roughly chopped
• a few sprigs of fresh
rosemary, leaves picked
• a few fresh bay leaves
• 1 x 540g jar of white beans
or butter beans, drained
• 400g Swiss chard, stalks
trimmed, or spinach leaves

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tried this recipe or a similar one? share your tips...

1. by Ash on Mon 04 Jul 2011 @ 07:44

Did not like this one at all unfortunately, odd flavor combo.<br /> Liked the pork with its "stuffing" but the beans etc...not so much.

2. by Ginger Penny on Sun 15 May 2011 @ 23:28

This recipe is sublime. I fixed it on our sailboat for my son, his fiancé and her father. All were impressed. I didn't have sherry so used orange juice and a little vermouth to soak the raisins. I also heated some pomegranate molasses with a little butter and used that as a finishing sauce. The white beans were amazing and I used some Portuguese linguica instead of the ham. It was easy to prepare in my small galley. The great thing about this recipe is that the pork chops don't dry out.<br />

3. by L\'asturianu on Sat 18 Dec 2010 @ 23:19

Los moros nun comen gochu. Oisti?

4. by Joshua on Tue 07 Dec 2010 @ 08:38

They probably didn't. But what he is trying to say is that they introduced the dried fruits and tought the Spaniards how to cook them with meat.

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