Places and People

Passport & Plate - Pork Chops with rice

Mexico | Friday, March 14, 2014 | 3 photos

Ingredients:
5 Pork Chops
1 cup White Rice
2 cups Water
1 tablespoon Chicken Bouillon (a stock cube
2 tablespoons aprox. Maggi Sauce (if you can´t find it you can substitute if for Worcestershire sauce, it tastes almost the same
1 large Onion
1 ½ Poblano Pepper
2 Tomatoes
1 tablespoon Butter
4 to 5 tablespoons of Olive Oil
How to prepare this recipe
The first thing I do is slice the Poblano pepper and the onion. Slice the tomatoes until I have to add them. I set them aside. The next step is to turn on a skillet or pan (just make sure it is deep enough) on medium or medium to high heat and let it get really hot and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Next I pound the pork chops on both sides (they will be nice and tender when cooked) and I cut the fat off (you can omit this step if you wish but some people in my family are really picky. I add a few drops of the Maggi sauce on each side of each pork chops (for me a little goes a long way, trust me, don´t get too excited with the sauce because otherwise it´ll taste really salty. I seal the pork chops, one by one in my pan or skillet. I do this very quickly. The pork chops are meant to get slightly brown and if they release some juice leave it. It doesn’t matter if they still are a little raw because they will be cooked with the rice. I place my pork chops in a plate and you´ll notice that they will be some juice from the meat. Save it for later. In my pan I add two more tablespoons of olive oil and about a tablespoon of butter. When the butter has melted I add the cup of rice and I let it brown. While the rice is browning, I slice the tomatoes really quickly and leave them on my cutting board. Once it is nice and brown I add the tablespoon of chicken bouillon and mix it. Then I add the water. After adding the water I place the pepper slices forming a circle on top of the rice, then you repeat the process with the onion and the tomatoes. Once you finish with the tomatoes you place the pork chops on top (with the juice from the meat) and you cover it with a lid. Reduce the heat to low and it will be done in 45 minutes approximately (This depends on the type of rice you are using). The smell will be amazing by minute 30 and will get better by minute 45
The story behind this recipe
There are a couple of reasons why I chose this recipe. The first reason is that this was my grandmother´s recipe. While I was growing up she used to make this dish all the time when the family got together on Saturdays. I still remember going to my grandparents´ house and being a 10 year old delighted by the smell of this dish. My grandmother passed away this past November, and this dish is just one of the many ways that I keep her close to my heart. The second reason is that this is a Mexican dish. I am Mexican and so is my family. I have been blessed enough to have travelled a little bit to the USA and Central America and each time, each place I´ve gone to when people ask me where I´m from and I tell them “Mexico” for some reason food is always on people´s mind and they always say “yeah, I love tacos and burritos”. Now don’t get me wrong, we do eat tacos; they are delicious, but what I mean is that I don´t like it when people assume that Mexican food is just tacos and burritos. There´s so much more to Mexican cuisine and I think this is a magnificent example (it is even kid friendly!). It is a lovely, simple, and delicious Mexican dish that even has the colors of the flag! (the green from the peppers, the white from the onion, and the red from the tomatoes. I would love to go to Italy because, well quite frankly, I have never been to Italy. I have always been a fan of many Italian things. I am a big fan of history and Italy is place that is so rich in culture and tradition that dates back to hundreds of years. I´m a big fan of Italian music (one of the reasons I started studying Italian) and of course I am huge fan of Italian food. I just love the simplicity and the richness of flavors. When I was in college I studied Italian for a year and boy did I enjoy it! My teacher, an Italian chef by the way, was one of the best language teachers I have ever had. I think, that one of the things I really liked and learned about him, was that easy, breezy carefree way Italians live. Of course another thing we talked frequently about was food. I learned that food is a very serious topic in Italy, even more so than in Mexico and trust me when I say we do take our food seriously. My teacher described some of the dishes he grew up with and of course our mouths were watering because they sounded delicious. So if I got the chance to go to the place where I can combine great music, interesting history, beautiful scenery, and delicious food, I´m game, count me in!