Pork Chops and Vinegar Peppers

Family Secrets
The best of the recipes, techniques, and methods practiced by our large extended Italian-
American family, with emphasis on the legacy handed down to us by the original immigrants.
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Pork Chops and Vinegar Peppers
Total ingredients to serve one:
2 or 3 center cut, bone in, pork chops
cut 3/4 inch thick
3 tbls. olive oil
4 hot cherry peppers, pickled and sliced
1/2 cup pickling brine from cherry
peppers
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
Step One: Prepare the pork chops and cherry peppers
Remove stems and seeds from cherry peppers. Slice the
peppers into 1/4" strips. Lightly salt and pepper the pork chops
on both sides.
Step Two: Cook the pork chops
Place a heavy bottom skillet over medium high heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is very hot but
not yet smoking add the pork chops. Sprinkle 1/2 of the minced garlic on the chops and cook for
about 2 minutes. Add the sliced cherry peppers and cook for another minute. When chops are golden
brown on the bottom turn them over. Add the rest of the minced garlic and continue cooking for
another minute, then add the brine. Turn heat up to high and finish the chops to your taste, no more
than two minutes to keep them tender. Remove the chops to a warm plate and reduce the pan sauce
by half. Spoon the cooked peppers over the chops, and pour the pan sauce over all.
You may use any kind of vinegar pepper in any heat range for this recipe. My personal favorite happens
to be hot cherry peppers because they are a nice fleshy pepper that stands up well in the sauté pan, and
the cooking process somewhat tempers the heat range. Vinegar peppers are available in all heat ranges
from hot, medium, mild to sweet. You could substitute hot banana peppers or even jalapenos. They do
not have the substance of a cherry pepper and will break down more. For those of you who would use a
sweet vinegar pepper, maybe you should consider the following idea – marry an Italian.
Altitude Adjustment: None
Family Secrets #048 - Originally Published 07/2000 by La Lama Mountain Ovens
© 2000 Ray Zara - Attributed Copies Permitted for Small Quantity Non-Commercial Use Only.
Commercial and Quantity Reproduction Requires Author's Permission - rezara@parshift.com
La Lama Mountain Ovens, 2055 Lama Mtn., HC81 Box 26, Questa, NM 87556, 575-586-2286, www.parshift.com/ovens/