The first recipe I chose to make was pan-seared pork chops with pineapple-serrano relish and spicy cheddar grits.
The book reads, "The unexpected sweet-and-salt combination of cheesy grits and tangy pineapple salsa is what makes this dish special. If you have a grill, these juicy pork chops would be the perfect reason to fire it up!"
The book reads, "The unexpected sweet-and-salt combination of cheesy grits and tangy pineapple salsa is what makes this dish special. If you have a grill, these juicy pork chops would be the perfect reason to fire it up!"
The Contents:
Ingredients: Pork chops, pineapple, serrano pepper, cilantro, lime, shallot, grits, shredded cheddar, and a bag of watercress
Preparation:
The first step was to clean, prep, zest, and chop the ingredients:
Next, cook the pork and start boiling water for the grits:
Next, make the spicy cheddar grits by cooking and adding butter, cheddar cheese, and serrano pepper. I loved the idea of adding pepper to the grits. The only grits I've ever eaten was with breakfast, as almost a soupy consistency. Needless to say, the clumpy texture of these were really strange to me.
More butter:
Cat cameo:
Next, prepare the relish. It was pineapple, lime zest, half of the cilantro, half of the serrano pepper, shallot, salt, and pepper. This was so yummy!
Slice the pork chops:
Finally, toss the watercress with lime juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper:
Final Product:
The Verdict:
Unfortunately, my husband hates pineapple and didn't enjoy the relish. The relish was my favorite part! He enjoyed the pork chops quite a bit. We weren't sold on the grits, but they weren't awful. Both of us would've preferred an actual side salad instead of watercress. We ate a few bites of the watercress, but it largely went to waste.
Speaking of the watercress, my husband made the comment, "Why does everything have to be covered in lime?" I've noticed this too, and it will continue into another recipe. I'm guessing this is a summer thing, but I'm not entirely sure.
So far, we're pretty pleased with our first Hello Fresh plate!
