Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Patrick’s ‘Chocolate’ Citrus Pork


Our favorite aspect of any show we do is the opportunity to meet up with you all, our longtime fans. We can always tell 'a fan' – you make a bee-line to our booth, big smile on your faces. We often hear, “Oh good, you guys ARE here again this year!” It is so nice to hear your kind words and appreciation for our products - we have said this before; you all make this a fun job.

This past weekend, our friend Patrick came by our booth in Napa. He told us about how he uses our Dark Chocolate Balsamic with pork chops – and they sounded fantastic. We asked if he could take a moment and send some notes on it, and he did. Here is what he told us:

“For the record, I am not a chef by any means. This was just me playing around in the kitchen. I like your products and its fun trying to find interesting ways to use them. But I'm a novice by every definition. I should have made a note that the chops were standard cut, boneless, not thin cut. I've done it on thin cut and it works fine, but cooks in less time.”

He describes the pork as “smelling like a chocolate cake cooking, has a light chocolate/citrus flavor. The flavor is light but not overwhelming”
 
Here is a picture of Patrick’s prep:


Nan herself was eager to try this in the test kitchen. Here is the recipe (mostly from Patrick, some minor additions by us)


ingredients

  • 1 pork loin (we used the loin, see Patrick’s note about using chops)
  • ¼ cup of Pastamoré Dark Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  • juice of ½ medium orange (Patrick uses clementine’s, substitute juice from one whole)
  • salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Place the pork loin in glass casserole dish. Drizzle the balsamic vinegar and orange juice on the pork. Sprinkle the cinnamon on top of pork along with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for six to eight hours flipping the loin every couple of hours.
 

Nancy grilled the loin, but this can be baked as well. Patrick baked the standard cut chops at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes (155 to 160F internal temperature).
 

Here are Nancy’s notes: “The flavor was very good; none of the ingredients overpowered each other. Actually you weren’t sure what you were tasting it just had a nice flavor.”

Nancy sliced the pork loin and served it with grilled asparagus (with a drizzle of our Pastamoré Meyer Lemon Oil). Patrick recommends a veggie, polenta, a mushroom rice or orzo side.


~ With huge thanks to Patrick Burns! 

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