Bone In Pork Loin Chop with Basil Mint Pesto Sauce

    Today's offering is a fabulous bone-in pork chop cut from a five rib pork loin roast, rubbed with coarse ground black pepper and salt, sauteed in olive oil and served with a roast yam section and our new and delicious basil-mint pesto sauce.

    Yesterday at our local market, we found a very nice Frenched five rib pork loin roast. We have found that a pork loin roast makes the thickest, most tender and flavorful pork chops that we can get. At home, I sliced the roast into five bone-in pork chops of about one inch thickness, froze three and left two in the frig for dinner. We had a yam left from a previous shopping trip and decided because of it's inherent mild, sweet flavor and orange color that sectioned and roasted in olive oil spray, it would provide the perfect flavor and color combination to go with the chop.

    But what about a sauce? Something natural with a green color for contrast and a semi-sweet minty flavor sounded good. So after a little discussion, we homed in on a basil and mint pesto type sauce. It took some adjusting of quantities as we mixed it in our ninja blender; but after thirty minutes or so, we had developed an olive oil based sauce that is absolutely delicious and full of finely chopped garlic, mint and basil leaves. This sauce is so good that we have decided to try it, or slight variations of it on pasta. Time will tell; but we think that this sauce has many uses in our cooking.

    Anyway here are the recipes and methods for the various parts of the delicious meal that we made.

SERVES:               2
PREP TIME:          30 minutes
COOKING TIME:   45 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1. Two one inch bone-in pork chops sliced from a pork loin roast if possible.

2. One yam of about 14 to 16 ounces and a more or less cylindrical shape cut crosswise into 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inch sections.

3. 2 tablespoons of green Mint Jelly.

4. About 1 ounce or 2 cups of fresh mint leaves with large stems removed.

5. About 1/2 ounce or 1 cup of fresh basil leaves with large stems removed.

6. 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.

7. 2 medium cloves of garlic, skinned.

8. Zest from 1 medium sized lemon.

PREPARATION

The Pork Chops

1. Buy a good quality pork loin roast with enough ribs for the number of pork chops that you want to cook. Note that if you have more chops than you need, the uncooked chops can be frozen in freezer bags until another meal. Double bag if they are not going to be used in four weeks.

2. Lay the roast, ribs up, on a cutting board and carefully slice it between the ribs so that it is divided into chops of about equal thickness.

3. Place the chops for tonight on a plate and coarse grind black pepper on the first side. Follow the pepper with a sprinkling of sea salt, kosher salt or gray salt. Pat into the meat and repeat on the other side.

4. Dribble a little olive oil in a a skillet and heat over a medium low flame until the oil is thin and runs all over the pan when he pan is tilted.

5. Place the chops in the pan, cover the pan with aluminum foil and cook the chops for about 5 to 7 minutes or until the cooking side is browned to the way you like it. Flip the chops, re-cover and cook until the internal temperature is 160 degrees Fahrenheit at their thickest point.

The Yam

1. Select a red colored yam of about 14 to 16 ounces and roughly cylindrical in shape.

2. Cut into 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inch thick slices. Place on a cookie tray sprayed lightly with olive oil then spray tops lightly with olive oil.

3. Cook in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 45 minutes or until fork tender.

The Basil-Mint Pesto Sauce

1. Place the garlic, mint jelly, zest, mint and basil leaves in a blender. 

2. Pour the olive oil over the ingredients and blend until fairly smooth.

3. Warm sauce gently in a small sauce pan over a low flame. Do not let boil! Serve warm but not hot.

PLATING THE MEAL

1. Warm the plates to 150 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit so that they won't cool the food when it is served.

2. Place a chop and a piece or two of potato on each plate.

3. With a large spoon, smear some sauce in a large comma shape next to the pork chop and potato(es).

4. Garnish with a sprig of fresh basil or fresh mint.

5. Serve while warm.

Bon appetit,

Tom and Anita