Grilled Berkshire Pork Chops With White Cheddar Polenta, Swiss Chard and Blueberry Compote
Pairs well with: Rockpile Zinfandel
This is an easy and delicious summertime dish. You can marinate the pork, cook the chard and make the compote one day ahead of time as well, leaving just the polenta and grilling Berkshire Pork Long-Bone Chops for the day of the meal.
Pork
INGREDIENTS:
6 each Berkshire Long-Bone Chops
¼ cup chopped fresh rosemary
4 cloves garlic minced
½ cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
TECHNIQUE:
The pork should be marinated a minimum of six hours but 24 hours would be ideal if you have the time. Toss all ingredients together and keep cold. You should pull the pork out of refrigerator and allow to come up to room temperature for at least an hour before grilling.
Polenta
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup polenta
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups milk
1 cup fresh grated aged white cheddar cheese
3 T butter
TECHNIQUE:
1. Bring the stock and milk to a boil.
2. Whisk in polenta and continue to whisk until polenta sets - around 4-5 minutes. Then cook on low heat until soft.
3. When finished cooking, add butter and cheese, taste and add salt if needed.
4. You can keep covered and hold warm until you cook the pork.
Chard
INGREDIENTS:
3 bunches swiss chard - destemmed, cleaned and cut into 1 inch strips
2 each cloves of garlic sliced thin
½ lemon
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
TECHNIQUE:
1. Sweat garlic in oil on medium heat until soft, then add leaves of chard.
2. Add 1 teaspoon of salt, and allow chard to wilt.
3. When wilted, season with salt and pepper to your taste and add the juice from ½ of one lemon.
4. If made ahead of time just heat up in pan on medium flame.
Blueberry-Port Compote
INGREDIENTS:
1 pint blueberries
2 T sugar
1 T plus 1 t of cornstarch
¼ cup port
2 T red wine vinegar
2 each shallots diced fine
1 T of butter
TECHNIQUE:
1. Coat berries in mixing bowl with sugar and cornstarch using a spoon. Make sure cornstarch and sugar are distributed evenly. Let sit for about 30 minutes.
2. Sweat the shallots in butter using a small sauce pan. Do not allow any color on the shallots.
3. Once the shallots are soft, add port and red wine vinegar and reduce by ½.
4. Add the blueberry mixture and cook until everything starts to thicken slightly and berries begin to soften.
5. If preparing the day ahead, allow to cool at room temperature and then refrigerate. To warm at a later time, heat gently in sauce pan or in oven to prevent scorching.
To assemble, pull pork from marinade and scrape off excess marinade with the hands to prevent garlic from burning on grill. Cook over medium-high charcoal until desired doneness is achieved. I generally pull mine at 145 degrees for a pink and juicy medium.