Karen MacInerney
Yeah, the pork generally available in U.S. supermarkets today is a real problem. I keep reading that the distribution of 'heirloom' breeds and other sources of fattier pork is widening but haven't seen much evidence of it.
And I'm still a big skeptic about brining. I resent that you should have to do it in the first place, and I know that water, salt and sugar just can't replace what is really missing, namely, marbled fat.
So what to do with those chops? For the Beard recipe, cut back a lot on the amount of liquid and on the length of time you cook them. Try for barely past pink.
Otherwise, I've had okay results with two other methods. One is to bread them and bake them -- again until just barely done. The other is to do them in a pan over low-medium heat *without* browning them on high heat first. You can fry up some onions or mushrooms or both separately and smother the chops, but basically cook them quite slowly. The usual browning doesn't really seal in any juices and with this pork it just dries out and toughens the surface. -aem
