Cheese-stuffed pork chops
Thick pork chops cut to make a pocket, stuffed with hard cheese and butter, then pan-seared. The cheese melts into the meat as it cooks.
- Variant
- carnivore dairy
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 12 min
- Serves
- 2
Ingredients
- 012 bone-in pork chops, 3 cm thick (around 350 g each)
- 0260 g hard cheese (aged cheddar, gruyere or gouda), cut into batons
- 0330 g cold butter, cut into small cubes
- 041 tbsp tallow or rendered fat for the pan
- 05Salt, generously
Method
Cut a horizontal pocket into the side of each pork chop, going along the bone but not through to the other side. Open the pocket carefully.
Stuff each pocket with half the cheese and half the butter. Press the chop closed — the cheese should be sealed inside.
Salt both outside surfaces of the chops heavily. Let them sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before cooking.
Heat a heavy pan over medium-high heat. Add the tallow.
Sear the chops for 4 minutes on the first side. Some butter and a little cheese will leak out and start to brown around the chops — that is fine, it becomes part of the sauce.
Flip carefully. Cook 4 minutes on the second side. Press a probe thermometer in — 62C internal is correct for juicy, 68C for fully cooked.
Rest 5 minutes off heat. The internal temperature continues to rise about 3-4 degrees during the rest.
Plate and spoon any pan drippings over the top. The melted cheese and butter form a sauce that pools around the chop.