Norwegian style pork chops

[Geir Widar]

I’m trying to post something different. No rubs, no sauces, just simple pure fantastic ingredients. I’m not trying to imply that using a lot of spices is wrong, but sometimes a simple approach works, if you have great meat to work with. I’ve written before about the mountain pigs in Norway, living in the mountains during the summer, on a free range, eating blueberries and grass, as well as food supplied by the farmer.

Now, this is what I chose to cook these chops. I have a sous-vide setup, and I must admit it’s not very pretty, more like a “mad scientist”- look, but it works. A cooler, a PID, and a heating element.

Here’s the PID, it works great. No problems. I cooked the chops for a couple of hours at 55C, and then they looked like this. Not very tempting.

Just salt and pepper added, and on the grill. I’m lazy, so I used my gasser. The final result would be even nicer if I had used coals, but it is a bit cumbersome to light up a coal grill just to use it for four minutes, two minutes on each side. I added some asparagus as well, as you can see.

Just of the grill.

And plated. This plate tastes different than chops that are rubbed with a spice mixture, sauced and whatnot.

The final cut.

Thank you for your time. Next time I might use rubs, sauces and lots of ingredients. This is just a simple variation that requires high quality ingredients to become a nice meal.
Thank you for your time.

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

Very nice, Geir. Looks delicious!

 

[Jim Lampe]

Oh Yeah! This Is Lookin' REAL Good!!

I Can Taste That Alllll The Way Here! PERFECT Geir! PERFECT!

 

[Bill Schultz]

That looks delicious Geir, very well done

 

[John Solak]

Those chops look really good after the sear, out of the sous vide, not so much. I prefer simple seasonings too most of the time.

 

[MichaelD]

Awesome looking pork! I almost always cook pork and beef with only salt and pepper. Best way to do it if you've got a nice cut in my opinion.

 

[Bob Sample]

I love just salt and pepper on chops and steaks. Great job Geir.

 

[Dwain Pannell]

Great to see a post from you Geir. And you never let us down. Perfect SV natural chops.

 

[Brian Dahl]

Your chops look great, Geir.
Do you get your mountain hog from the farmer, or is it from the butcher's?

 

[Barb D]

Those are some awesome looking chops Geir, S&P is always great on any type of meat for sure.

 

[Rich Dahl]

Those are some awesome looking chops Geir, S&P is always great on any type of meat for sure.

Ditto what Barb said!

 

[John Sp]

Geir - that looks wonderful. I have never seen a sous-vide reverse sear before but i would love to try it. Just one problem... there are no mountain pigs in Louisiana. Thanks for posting this.

Regards,

John

 

[Jose Suro]

Wow they look really moist. That sous-vide thing works!

 

[Geir Widar]

I get my pig directly from the farmer.
Most pigs in Norway are raised in a "normal" industrial way, so what this guy does is not the norm.
By coincidence he lives with the daughter of my oldest son's teacher, so she is his mother in law, and lives just up the road, so it's easy for him to drop by on one of his distribution routes, as he's visiting his mother in law. The first time I ordered meat from him, I had no idea of this.

Also, thank you for all the nice comments on this simple cook. I'ts easier to make a interesting thread with lots of preperations, many ingredients and several spices than just salt and pepper. I just wanted to remind you of the fact that variety is a good thing, and that if you keep things simple, you need quality ingredients to make something that is tasty.

Fun fact- did you know that romans used spices and also invented and introduced gravy to hide that the meat was slightly rotten?

 

[russ olin]

Great color on the chops. Simple S&P works just fine sometimes.

 

[Bob Mann]

Great looking meal Geir!

 

[Tony R]

Perfect!!!