Our friends Deborah and Joe, told us they were going Feral Hog hunting and then getting the hog processed at Miiller’s Smokehouse in Llano. (Yes it has two i’s) They invited us to split the processed hog with them. Have you ever known me to turn down a new food source?
Deborah sent me a picture of the hog that Joe shot. She was almost as big as Joe! I’m not a hunter, I’d be the one that would be yelling, run, baby, run….or sneeze really loud to distract it from being shot. I like to get my meat all nice and packaged in all different cuts. But the Feral Hogs are tearing up the land and are over populated.
They are not like the cute little Vietnamese Pot Belly Pigs that you can raise as a pet. I had one and his name was ‘Pork Chop’ and he was sooooo cute…but he ate like a pig and didn’t stay miniature very long and grew up to be 350 pounds.
I did give him to the local zoo for their petting zoo, since he was so friendly…yes I babied him.
We picked up our pork from Miiller’s and were surprised…no bacon…they explained that these weren’t the type of pigs that were good for bacon, but we did get a lot of delicious sausage and pork chops. I created a stuffed pork chop recipe and it’s delicious.
The secret is to brine the pork chops overnight. Feral hog meat is tough and brining makes it more juicy and tender. The oven roasted tomatoes take some time, but you can prepare these ahead of time and save the leftovers to use in other recipes.
Spinach Stuffed Pork Chop with Jalapeños
Ingredients
2 cups fresh Spinach, chopped
3 small Shallots, minced
3/4 cup fresh Mushrooms, minced
2 cloves fresh Garlic, minced
2 fresh Jalapeños, minced
2 slices Bacon, chopped
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
3 to 4 Pork Chops 1″ Thick, with a pocket
1/3 cup Flour
3 tablespoons Butter
1 1/2 cup White Wine
1/8 cup fresh Parmesan Cheese, grated
Avocado to Garnish
Oven Roasted Tomatoes
12 to 14 Grape Tomatoes
Sea Salt
Olive Oil
Directions
Brine the pork chops in sea salt (1/4 cup to 1 gallon water, or fill a gallon ziplock bag with water) overnight. This will help make the pork chop more tender and juicy.
Oven Roasting the Tomatoes: Preheat oven 250F degrees. Slice the grape tomatoes in thirds and place on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt and drizzle with olive oil. Bake in preheated oven for up to 2 hours or longer, until tomatoes are shriveled up and leathery looking. Chop and set aside.
To prepare the stuffing: Heat the olive oil, and cook the bacon until almost crisp, add shallots, garlic, jalapeños and sauté. Stir in the spinach in small amounts until all spinach is added and cooked down. When soft add nutmeg, basil, tomato, salt and pepper to taste. Stir in Parmesan cheese.
Cut a pocket, or the butcher can cut a pocket for you in the pork chop and fill with stuffing. Do not overfill. Using a toothpick close the pork chops around the stuffing. Dredge the pork chop in flour seasoned with salt and pepper.
Melt butter in skillet and brown the pork chop on each side approximately 3 minutes each side to sear the pork chop. Remove pork chops and place in a cooking dish. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Add wine to skillet and stir until smooth, reducing by 1/3. Pour wine over pork chops. Cover with foil and bake in a preheated oven at 350F degrees for 1 hour. Uncover and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
Remove pork chops and let rest for 10 minutes uncovered.
Pour the wine mixture from pork chops in a skillet and reduce until thickened. Pour over Pork chops and garnish with avocado when serving. I served the stuffed pork chops with Real Texas Risotto….
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