Emilio’s Ballato is famous for many things but one of the sneakiest, greatest items they offer is their pork chop with cherry peppers. It is hands down the juiciest, most tender, most flavorful pork chop I've ever had. And I’ve got the scoop on how to make it.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 Bone-In Double Cut Pork Chops
Cherry Pepper Brine
- 4 Cups Cold Water
- 1/4 Cup Kosher Salt
- 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Cup Cento Cherry pepper Juice
- 6 Pickled Cherry Peppers
- 1 Tablespoon Black peppercorns
- 4 Cloves of Garlic
Cherry Pepper Sauce
- 3 Cloves of Garlic, Sliced Thin
- 1 Cup Cento Cherry pepper Juice
- 6 Pickled Cherry Peppers
- 3 Tablespoons of Unsalted Butter
Equipment
- Meat injector syringe (for injecting brine)
DIRECTIONS
Make the Cherry Pepper Brine
- In a small pot, all the brine ingredients and place on a stove. Bring to a simmer to dissolve the sugar and salt and simmer for 5 minutes. Turn the heat off and allow it to cool down and steep in all those flavors. Once it’s cooled down, strain it into a container and place in the fridge until it’s no longer warm.
Inject and Brine the Pork Chop
- Using a cooking injector, suck up some of the brine and then insert it into the pork chop like you would a thermometer and once its all the way in, press the injector as you pull the need out. Readjust to a new part of the pork and repeat. Don’t press too hard or it will squirt out of the pork. Once injected, place in the brine and let it brine in the fridge for 3 days. Less is okay, but 3 days is the best.
Cook The Pork Chop
- After 3 days of brining, remove the pork chop from the brine pat dry and let air dry in the fridge until you’re ready to cook.
- In a sauté pan on medium heat, add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan and and place the pork chop in the pan and press down to ensure the surface of the meat is making contact with the pan. Cook on one side until golden brown. Flip, repeat on the other side. Once browned, sit it on its side and try to render the fat cap. Then remove from the pan, place on a sheet tray with the oil and insert a thermometer into the meat and cook in the oven at 425F until the thermometer registers 132F. Then pull out of the oven and allow the carryover cook to 145F.
Make the Cherry Pepper Sauce
- While the Pork Chop rests, prepare the cherry pepper sauce in the pan you seared the pork in. Turn the heat on to medium, add some butter and once melted, add in the sliced garlic. Cook the garlic until softened and golden brown around the edges. Then add in the cherry pepper juice and cherry peppers and bring the liquid up to a boil and reduce it down to close to a glaze like consistency. Then turn off the heat and swirl in cold cubes of butter until fully melted and the sauce is glossy and thickened and beautiful.
Plate
- Cut the pork off the bone and cut into slices. Place on the place and smother it in that beautiful cherry pepper sauce. The flavor should permeate throughout the meat and provide you the most juicy, most tender and most flavorful Pork Chop you’ve ever had.
