Cooking with Chef Mike: Wood Fired Pork Chops

Cooking with Opinel Culinary Ambassador, Chef Mike Kubiesa

As we get into the summer months, it’s all about being outside and cooking with seasonal ingredients; whether it be grown in your garden, foraged in the wild, or picked up at the local farmers market. 

With all those fresh ingredients, I really enjoy being outside and cooking over a campfire - there is nothing like the flavor that wood or charcoal produces when used right! For campfire cooking, I enjoy the Nomad Cooking Kit with four versatile pieces (a cutting board, serrated knife, peeler and knife with corkscrew). It’s perfect for cooking outside and for packing up to take on the go.

I kept this recipe simple for the days when you want to impress the campsite, or when you’re in the mood to mix up a weeknight dinner. While this recipe uses wild foraged mushrooms and fresh grown herbs, the great thing is that you can improvise and use what you can find around you.

Wood Fired Pork Chops with Wild Mushrooms and Creamy Garden Herb Sauce

Ingredients:

• 4 bone in Berkshire pork chops (inch thick) 
• 1 tsp smoked paprika 
• 1 tsp chili powder 
• ½ tsp dried oregano 
• 4 cups wild mushrooms, washed and rough chopped 
• 2 Fresno chilis, sliced 
• 1 shallot, sliced 
• 2-4 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 2 Tbsp Olive oil  
• 1 Tbsp butter 
• 1 cup dry white wine 
• 2 Tbsp herbs, chopped (whatever is growing in your garden) 
• 1 lemon, zested and squeezed 

Creamy garden herb sauce:

• 1.5 cups fresh garden herbs (dill, tarragon, mint, chives and basil) 
• 2 Tbsp marcona almonds 
• 2 Tbsp Olive oil 
• ½ cup heavy cream (coconut cream for DF option) 
• Half lemon, juiced 
• Cold water (to adjust consistency if needed) 
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method: 

Pre-heat charcoal, wood or gas grill to high heat. Season the bone in pork chops with smoked paprika, chili powder, dried oregano, salt and pepper. Set aside to marinate while your grill or fire is coming up to temperature. 

While the pork chops are marinating, clean the wild mushrooms, chop herbs and slice all aromatics. Once the grill is heated, place a cast iron pan directly on the heat source. Add olive oil and sauté the Fresno chili, shallots, garlic and lemon zest together for about 2-4 minutes (constantly stirring.) Add your chopped and cleaned mushrooms and combine. Continue stirring and sauté for another 10-12 minutes until the mushrooms start to brown. 

Deglaze the wild mushrooms with white wine and reduce until half for another 10 minutes. Add butter, herbs and a squeeze of lemon. Stir until fully combined, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside on a low flame and continue to cook on low. 

Once your fire or grill is ready, add another large cast iron pan and bring to temperature. Add olive oil and sear pork chops on both sides. Sear on high for about 4-6 minutes per side flip and baste with butter and herbs. Once cooked to preferred doneness, remove and let rest for 15 minutes before slicing. 

For the creamy garden herb sauce, combine everything into a food processor or mortal and pestle. Combine, but don’t fully puree, so you can still see pieces of herbs throughout. Season with salt and pepper and adjust accordingly with olive oil or cold water until desired consistency. Slice pork chops and plate over the wild mushrooms. Spoon herb sauce over the sliced pork and garnish with garden herbs lemon and chive blossoms. Enjoy!