Sometimes my cooking ideas come from experience. Sometimes from my cooking or eating history and sometimes from ingredients on hand. This dish came from all of those and was FABULOUS.
It starts awhile back when Grandboy #2 called for help with cooking
(Pork On Pork Makes Gpa Proud)
He wanted to make bacon wrapped pork chops and I gave some advice and guidance, and he did good. Today I had some great, thick sliced, bacon and some great, thin sliced, pork chops I had just bought, and a meal was coming together in my head.
Earlier in the day, I decided to make a guacamole in the same fashion I first saw it made in the first town I lived in, Cuaulta, in the state of Morelos, Mexico. My roommate showed me a glass jar that had the colors of the Mexican Flag. Large chunks of avocado made up the green layer, large chunks of onion made up the white layer, and large chunks of tomato made up the red layer. There was a bit of cilantro and jalapeño, (gringo amounts), but very chunky. Not blended, not mashed. That is where I first tasted guacamole, and I fell in love. Here are the steps:
—Step 1: Take 2 avocados that are perfectly ripe and halve them and remove the stone. With your knife, score the avocado flesh lengthwise in half inch wide strips. Now score the flesh in half inch strips at a 90 degree angle to the first. Remove the diced avocado to a glass bowl or jar that has an
airtight lid using a serving or tablespoon. You can also remove the flesh first and dice, if you prefer. Salt the avocado.
—Step 2: Dice 1 good sized onion. I always use yellow, but in Mexico they like white. Top the avocado COMPLETELY with the diced onion. The same acid that makes one cry is what will keep your avocado from turning brown!
—Step 3: Halve or quarter a good portion of grape tomatoes. I used multi colored, but you can use any color. In Mexico we just used standard tomatoes. Again, enough to cover the WHOLE SURFACE of your container. You can also add diced peppers of your choice and cilantro. I only added a small amount, but spice it up if you like.
—Step 4: Seal & refrigerate. It is important that you use a container that is just large enough to hold it all with almost no room for air. After about 3 or 4 hours, flip your container upside down to redistribute the gases and acids from the onions and tomatoes. My container had a large, flat bottom and top to make this easier.
This is the chunkiest and most simple guacamole I have ever made and it is the first one I tasted 45+ years ago in the heart of Mexico. My plan is to top my pork wrapped pork with this. It is almost an avocado chop salad.
Now for the main event.
THE MEAT
—Step 1: I grab my 12" cast iron skillet and brown 6 pieces of the thick cut bacon.
—Step 2: I leave the bacon grease in the pan and lightly brown the thin-cut pork chops with garlic pepper and sea salt. This step is NOT intended to cook these through, just to give them a bit of color. Even if pork is the other white meat, brown it! While browning the chops, preheat oven to 350℉.
—Step 3: Wrap the browned pork chops with the browned bacon. I used 2 strips per chop and anchored them with toothpicks. I used bone-in chops (our favorite). If you use boneless loin chops it may be easier to wrap the bacon. Now return chops to the skillet. Place skillet into your preheated oven. Set timer for 10 minutes
—Step 4: After 10 minutes have passed do one of two things a) turn the chops over or b) turn on the broiler element in your stove and cook for another 10 minutes. (I chose the latter). This ensures crisp bacon and pork chops that are cooked through. If you use a thicker chop, cook longer. Always adjust for your own oven.
Mo' Bacon IN the Side
For our side dish, more bacon is in order so I go with Idahoan Applewood Smoked Bacon Mashed potatoes!
Results
My wife almost licked her plate clean. That is a glowing endorsement from her, and nothing for her to eat for lunch the next day. I topped my pork chop with the guacamole, and loved every bite. I ate what was left of the guacamole the next day with chips. All in all one of my best creations to date!
During the mid 70's I lived in central Mexico. I met the best people in the world and some delicious foods, many of which I had never tasted, or even knew existed. I tasted cactus pads (nopales), crushed worms as the base of a Salsa, Molé, Mangos, pigs feet, and many more. I discovered too, a language that was beautiful in it's simplicity and consistency. In short, I loved everything about Mexico, it's people, it's culture, and it's places.
While I was there, I tried their limited edition Bacon Truffle Fries and they were GREAT! I highly recommend them!
