I made a few modifications to the recipe, based on size, available ingredients, and what Gordon says/does in the video (which is different than the recipe on the site). Additionally, rather than the warm dandelion and rocket salad he suggested, I went with a very simple baby-bib lettuce salad, with some jicama and an heirloom tomato from Kasia's garden.
We enjoyed the meal with a nice pumpkin beer from dogfish head, since it's that time of the year. Overall the dish turned out fairly tasty. I'm not a big fan of anise, so I didn't really enjoy that flavor, but fortunately it wasn't as strong as I was afraid it was going to be, and so didn't turn out to be that bad.
The crushed sweet potatoes turned out really yummy. Tim & Sisi, I think you guys would like them (using veggie stock instead of chicken stock, naturally). Om nom nom!
For the pork chops:
- 6 boneless pork loin chops, just under 1/2 lb each
- 3/4 tsp Hatch red chili powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 5-6 thyme sprigs
- 4 cloves of garlic, chopped (well, put through the garlic press, since I'm lazy like that)
- 2.5 tsp crushed anise seed (couldn't find star anise, but the internet recommended that 1 crushed star anise == 1/2 tsp crushed anise seed... for future reference, I would reduce/eliminate this, since I'm not a big fan of anise.)
- pinch of ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground coriander seed (couldn't find whole coriander seed, so gave my best guess of how much to use...this seemed fine, but could possibly go a bit heaver on coriander and a bit lighter on the anise)
- Salt + Pepper to taste
- 3-4 large yams (after much debate, I got yams instead of sweet potatoes, since they looked like what Gordon used in the video, and since the internet said that yams typically sold in stores are actually a type of sweet potato)
- Chicken stock, enough to cover the yams (I used 1qt. + 1 can, and added the same amount of water)
- 1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped
- 2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 4-5 sage leaves, roughly chopped
- 2-3 tbsp fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- Salt + Pepper to taste
For the pork chops:
- Cut the rind and excess fat off of the pork chops
- Make the marinade by mixing the chili powder, paprika, salt & pepper, olive oil, thyme, garlic, crushed anise, and coriander seeds in a big bowl.
- Coat the pork chops in the marinade, and let sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180˚C (~360˚F)
- Heat the frying pan with a little bit of olive oil.
- Add the chops to the hot pan and sear them until golden. Tilt the pan and baste using the drippings if you feel like it.
- Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, until the meat is firm when lightly pressed. When cooked, transfer them to a plate and leave them to rest for 10 minutes in a warm place
For the sweet potatoes:
Should be cooked in parallel with the pork.
- Peel the sweet potatoes, and chop into 1.5 cm cubes
- Bring a pot of chicken stock to a boil. Once boiling, add the sweet potatoes, and cook them for 7-8 minutes until they're tender (or almost tender... a little bit 'al dente' is ok). Drain and rinse under cold water.
- Add the shallots and garlic to a pan with hot oil. Sauté until they just start to caramelize, and then add in the sweet potatoes. Season lightly with salt & pepper, and cook for 5-6 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
- Lightly crush the potatoes with a fork or masher.
- Stir in the chopped sage leaves and cilantro
At this point, all that's left to do is to put everything on the plate and enjoy!
