Pork and Hominy I: Pork Chops with Bourbon Sauce

Every once in a while the Giant Eagle has a sale on whole boneless pork loins, and they will cut them up however you like. I had mine done so that there is one good sized pork roast, sliced into 1" chops, and reassembled. That one's in the freezer- the idea being, eventually, to season and or stuff it between the chops, tie it up again, and roast it whole. I'm thinking this might be a nice trick to get some seasoning deeper inside, and also to make it easier to serve to a group. I'll let you know how that comes out. As to the rest, or some of it, I have plans to try out two different recipes for pork with hominy. To that end, I've got a number of 15 oz. cans of white hominy, staring at me every time I open the cabinets. Time to get going.

This little dinner is the first of the two recipes. I've had it for awhile, clipped from Food and Wine. They got it from the Magnolia Grill, in Durham, N.C., where, they say, there's always hominy on the menu, in one form or another. Here, it's served with braised pork chops in bourbon sauce. You make the hominy up to a day ahead, and reheat it. It's served in a deep bowl, with the chop and sauce on top.

This s my first taste of hominy, and I love it. It's a completely new flavor for me-very distinctive and very yummy. It's different, but not weird or hard to get used to. This preparation is pretty spicy (hot spicy), but doesn't drown out the hominy taste. It goes well with the pork chops and the bourbon sauce, but would be fine as a side dish on its own, I think. Good stuff.I understand that canned hominy is probably not the best way, so I'lll have to look into that too. But it tastes very nice to me, here. This serves 4, generously.

Hominy
15 oz can white hominy, drained
1 cup cream
1 chopped green pepper
1 chopped yellow onion
2 tsps olive oil
1 cup chopped canned tomatoes, drained
6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 cups chickn broth
1 jalepeno, seeded and chopped
1 tsp thyme
2 tsps oregano
2 tbsps cider vinegar
salt and pepper

Combine the cream and hominy, and heat briefly in a small pan, until it thickens slightly.Remove from heat. In a saucepan, heat the oil and cook the green pepper and onion until soft- about 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a simmer and cook 15 minutes. Combine with hominy, and mix well. Set aside, or refrigerate until you are ready to make the chops.

Pork chops
Olive oil
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp hot paprika
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper
four eight oz porkchops, or eight four oz ones
1 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup bourbon
1/4 cup cider vinegar
6 sliced scallions

Mix the flour and seasonings, and dredge the chops in the mixture. Heat the oil, and brown well-about 3 minutes to a side. Remove chops and deglaze the pan with the wine, biurbon and vinegar, scraping up the bits. Put the pork chops back in the pan, and simmer, covered, until the chops are cooked through, about fifteen minutes. Remove the chops, and keep them warm. Reduce the pan juices to about a cup, while gently reheating the hominy. Spoon hominy into deep bowls. Top each with a chop, and spoon the sauce over the chops. Sprinkle the scallions overall, and serve. This is really good with homemade biscuits and coleslaw, if you want to add anything to the meal, or you have company. It makes a pretty complete dinner by itself, though.

Comments

[lobstersquad]

That idea about the pork loin sounds good, I´ll be interested to know how it comes out.
Btw, I made a batch of onion jam yesterday, and thought of you. I think you´re the only other person as crazy about it as I am!

[Pamela]

Those look absolutely dreamy!!!

[Lynn D.]

I've been enjoying hominy since I was a small child. It was a favorite of my grandfather's. My grandmother would make gargantuan weekend breakfasts of crisp thick-sliced bacon, fried eggs and canned hominy cooked in top milk (cream) with black pepper and a drop of tabasco. Lots of folks eat hominy grits for breakfast, but he liked the texture of the whole hominy. I've also had delicious traditional pozole made with dried hominy, but I think the canned stuff is just fine (see if you can find a Mexican brand). I'm glad you finally found this humble, comforting treat.

[littlebouffe]

Sounds very delicious, as I tend to love anything featuring "pork" and "bourbon sauce."

It's been ages since I had hominy,though I do hope to try my hand at posole soon. My main encounter with it has been in menudo, and I remember how much I hated that as a kid. It wasn't the tripas, it was the posole (hominy) that bugged me. It felt like corn had betrayed me.

Luckily I got over it. Thanks for the post, for the reminder to give hominy another go.

[Melissa]

Oh boy, do those pork chops look good! I have never had hominy though, I will have to wait for my husband to import it from the states.....don't think I'll find it on the shelf here, or in the American Shops!
yummy!