Chef & the Farmer’s Brined Pork Chops
Posted on 03 June 2010
As anyone who has read this blog from the beginning knows, I love anything brined and I adore pork, which means that I am downright lusty when it comes to brined pork. I have already posted a recipe for brined pork tenderloin, but for a while now, one of good friends and neighbors has raved about the pork chops at the Chef & the Farmer in Kinston, North Carolina. My husband is from Morehead City, North Carolina and when we fly into Raleigh we pass through Kinston on our drive. We seem to only travel through in the early morning so we have never been able to get dinner at Chef & the Farmer, much to our chagrin. We often look at the menu and discuss what we would get. This is a game I could plan for hours. If you have not guessed yet, we’re really into food… I think the ones in the lead at the moment are baked oysters with bacon, fennel and arugula and the braised pork shoulder and butternut squash lasagne. Not even mentioning the deviled eggs my neighbor was describing that he had last time he was there! As we were not able to make the trip down, thankfully Chef Vivian Howard mailed our friends four vacuum packed and outrageously thick (two-inches!!), Rainbow Meadow Farms’ bone-in, blade end pork chops, allowing us to get a taste up here in New York.
After defrosting them for three long days (I told you there were thick!), they were finally ready. The chops came pre-brined – the brine recipe is below for those of you who want to make these at home and who would not after looking at the pictures?
I took the chops out of their bags and let them sit for thirty minutes at room temperature, anytime up to an hour is good. In general I do this for all meat, with the exception of ground meat, especially when grilling or sauteing. If the meat is cold when you first put it on the grill it gets a shock. This results in a tough outer layer and the meat is also more likely to stick to your grill. As the chops were so thick, I knew it would take a while to get the perfect medium-medium rare I was looking for. I heated the oven to 350°F, and set our cast iron grill over a medium high flame. I am big fan of hatch marks since I really think they are an indicator of an accomplished griller and they are the easiest thing to do – if you possess some spatial awareness! Simply, you just have to turn the meat 90° (a quarter turn). I say ‘simply’, I think the size of the chops yesterday confused me as I somehow turned one pair 180°, resulting in two sets of parallel lines – brainy!!
Using the timings for the pork chops below, we had perfect medium pork chops. (As I said in my last brined pork recipe, only cook the pork to this temperature if you know where your meat comes from. If you do not cook the pork to a higher level of doneness.) The brine had permeated the pork with the sage, thyme and rosemary intermingling wonderfully. The meat was juicy and flavorful. The only way it can get better is when we finally head down there and get to eat at the Chef & the Farmer!
Notes: I served these gorgeous chops with creamed summer corn, mashed potatoes (I used milk to replace the cream for lighter potatoes), gourgeres (recipe up soon) and a green salad.
I cannot recommend brining enough. I went into some of the science behind it in my post for the brined pork tenderloin, but if you do not want to re-read just know that brining will add moisture to leaner meats and also add a terrific depth of flavor.
In the how-to I mention measuring the temperature of the meat to check its’ doneness. I use a Taylor Digital Thermometer that I can leave outside of the oven, with an alarm so it just alerts me whenever my meat is done.
To grill 2″ thick pork chops to medium – medium rare…
1. Once the chops were room temperature, place them on the heated grill. Cook for 4 minutes, before turning them 90° and cooking for 3 more minutes.
2. Flip the chops over and repeat – cook for 4 minutes, rotate, cook for 3 more.
3. Place the chops onto a sheet pan and place in the oven. Keep checking until the center of the chops reach 135°F (see Notes)
4. Pull out of oven, cover and allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
Chef and the Farmer Pork Brine recipe, brines 1 whole pork loin or 12 2″ pork chops
Reproduced with the kind permission of Chef Howard from Chef & the Farmer
3 quarts plus 3 cups water
1 1/4 cups kosher salt
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
6 tbsp crushed black peppercorns
3/4 cup Dijon mustard
10 smashed garlic cloves
Handful thyme
3 sprigs rosemary
Small handful sage
1. Combine all ingredients in a stock pot. Bring to a boil, and boil for 1 minute. Allow to cool to room temperature, then chill in the fridge before adding the pork.
12 responses to Chef & the Farmer’s Brined Pork Chops
unreal vienna! thanks for an unbelievable meal and Ben and Viv at chef & the farmer for sending the pork in question…one of the best meals I have had since I was at the restaurant!
So glad you liked them! It was a lot of fun cooking them and figuring out what sides to have. I have to post the gourgeres recipe so you can make them at home too! Thank you for reading Tiny Test Kitchen!
Thanks Vienna for an unbelievable dinner. You brought us back to our fond memories of Chef and the Farmer without having to leave our building – can’t beat that! Hopefully we will all meet up at some point down in NC as you and Viv would be an amazing duo in the kitchen and our taste buds would probably explode!
No problem at all! Thank you so much the chops, it is always so great to cook amazing quality meat. Those chops were absolutely beautiful! I would absolutely love a group trip down to NC, I know we’re heading down at least once over the summer and then again in the fall. Just let us know when!
Nice lattice searing marks on the pork. Restaurant-caliber meal.
Why, thank you! I do love a good hatch mark. I am so glad to see you are still reading Tiny Test Kitchen. Thank you for checking in!
Hi Vienna,
It’s Carolyn Jordan,Ryan’s Mom. I am loving following your blog. I absolutely love to cook as well and it’s fun to find someone who enjoys it as much as I do. Last night I prepared these pork chops as well as Thomas Keller’s creamed corn…amazing…I am crazy about Ad Hoc! I find myself anxiously awaiting your next post. Craig is certainly a lucky man!
Hi Mrs. Jordan, I am so glad you are enjoying my blog. I am having a great time writing, cooking and shooting for all the posts so it so good to hear people like to read it! Do you have the Ad Hoc cookbook? When we were out in Napa we ate there 3 times in 1 week! The food was amazing. We stayed almost opposite the restaurant in a fabulous hotel that Ryan had recommended to Craig!
It is so good to hear from you and hopefully we’ll be able to see you at a Wolfpack game in Raleigh this fall! Vienna
I came across your website searching for Rainbow Meadow Farms pork chops. I just thought I would let you know that I bought some of their pork chops today at a small store in Beaufort (I live in Atlantic Beach) called Coastal Community Market on Broad St. These aren’t as thick as the ones you described, but they are beautiful bone-in chops. Can’t wait to make them tonight. Just thought I’d let you know in case you have a chance to make the 10 minute trip over to Beaufort to buy some while in Morehead City next time. 🙂
Hi Melissa,
Thank you so much for the tip. Next time we’re down I’ll definitely make the trip to Beaufort and pick some up. I am sure they will be even better on a charcoal grill! Did you use this brine recipe on your pork chops? How did it turn out. I am so glad you found us and I hope you check back in and see some of our new recipes! Thank you for reading Tiny Test Kitchen!