The “Cooking with Taste of the Hawaiian Range” video series continues with a dish featuring local pork, kale and ulu.
Local pork chops stuffed with mushrooms, onions and ham cook up moist and juicy and are topped with a quick pan sauce spiked with sherry. Lemon and garlic-seasoned sauteed kale sides the meat, along with crunchy ulu cakes, adding a hardy bite with a golden crunch to the plate. The dish is topped with a Macadamia Nut Pesto Sauce for huge flavor.
Watch how to make these mouth-watering recipes by Hawaii Community College — Hilo Culinary Arts students Austin Cabral, Mariah Costa and Talamoni Fontaine at https://tasteofthehawaiianrange.com.
Stuffed Big Island Pork Chops with Sherry Sauce, Ulu Cakes with Macadamia Nut Pesto
Serves 4
For the pork chops with sherry sauce:
4 bone-in pork loin chops (1-inch thick and 8 ounces each)
1 cup Alii Mushrooms sliced 1/4-inch thick across the stem and cap
1/2 cup onions, 1/4-inch dice
6 Tbsp. butter, divided
1/2 tsp. dried oregano or 1 1/2 tsp. fresh oregano, chopped finely
1/4 tsp. pepper
3 ounces sliced deli ham cut in 1/2-inch dice
1 cup sherry or chicken broth (or a 50/50 mix)
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. cold water
In a large skillet, sauté mushrooms and onion in 2 tablespoons of butter until tender. Remove from the heat.
Stir in oregano and pepper. Add diced ham. Cool mixture.
Cut a pocket in each chop by slicing from the outside of the chop meat almost to the bone.
Stuff a quarter of the mushroom mixture into the pocket of each chop.
Wipe out skillet, and brown chops in remaining butter. Add sherry, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan.
Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 20-25 minutes or until a thermometer reads 160 degrees internal temperature. Remove pork to a serving platter and keep warm.
Combine cornstarch and water until smooth, and gradually stir into the pan juices. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 1- 2 minutes or until the sauce is thickened. Serve over the pork chops.
For the ulu cakes:
1/2 breadfruit (ulu), peeled, cored, then steamed or boiled and mashed
2/3 cup onion, 1/4-inch dice
3 green onions, tops and bottoms, chopped t0 1/4 inch lengths
1/2 tsp. salt and pinch of Pepper
1 package fine panko crumbs
1/2 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
Oil for frying
Prepare and steam or boil breadfruit; mash while warm.
Mix breadfruit, onion, green onion, salt and pepper. Chill breadfruit mixture until easy to handle. Form into eight patties.
Set up breading station: flour in one pan (pie tins work well) beaten egg in a second, and panko crumbs in the third. Set out a rack to hold the breaded patties.
Bread the patties by first dusting with flour, then dipping in the beaten egg, then coating with panko. Set each on the rack to firm up crust before frying. This may be done ahead.
Sauté patties in 1/2-inch of hot vegetable oil until brown on each side. Place on paper towels to drain off excess fat. Serve hot with a drizzle of Macadamia Nut Pesto Sauce.
For the macadamia nut pesto sauce:
1/4 cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
1 cup basil leaves
1 cup parsley leaves
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Blend all pesto ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth. Drizzle a little over the breadfruit cakes and serve the rest in a bowl.
For the garlic lemon kale sauté:
2 large bunches kale, any variety (about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds total)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
Pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Juice of 1 small lemon
Use your hands to pull the kale leaves from their tough stems. Coarsely chop the leaves. Discard stems. Rinse leaves, but do not dry.
Heat the oil in a large, wide, high-sided sauté pan over medium heat until shimmering. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, if using, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute (do not let the garlic brown).
Add the kale a few handfuls at a time, stirring after each addition so that it starts to wilt, until all the kale is added. Stir in the salt and pepper. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale is just tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice, taste for salt and adjust if needed. Serve.
