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judy on Ask Bob Hart a food question Bob, was driving on the Hume Highway on 26/04/12 and heard your delicious steak sauce recipe with Asian ingredients. Could I ... more
Matt Brown on Ask Bob Hart a food question Hi Bob,On Thursday 26 April, you gave out a recipe for the most amazing steak sauce... Could you please let us all know ... more
Peter Coutts on Ask Bob Hart a food question Hi Bob.This week you gave a recipe for a perfect Steak Sauce.I cannot find it on this list.It was the Asian Style one.Can ... more
Lyn on Ask Bob Hart a food question Hi Bob, On Thursday you where talking about an Asian Sauce to have with steak??? cant find the recipe on your list? more

Bob's Cider-Brined Pork Cutlets

Posted by: Bob Hart | 10 January, 2012 - 10:39 AM

There is an American trick which works extremely well with Australian pork cutlets or pork chops which, these days, are outstanding. It involves brining them, which I have recommended before, to prevent them from drying out on the grill. But this time, try brining them in cider.

For four good cutlets, on the bone but without skin, mix half a cup of sea salt into a cup and a half of cider - any good, bottled cider is fine. Liven it up with some fresh herbs - I use rosemary, sage and thyme, pounded in a mortar and pestle with some black peppercorns. Add the brine, with the cutlets, to a large ziplock bag. Put the whole thing in the fridge for at least a couple of hours before you cook the cutlets, and as long as four hours if the cutlets are thick and still have the skin in place.

Take them out of the fridge about half an hour before you cook them, rinse and dry them: if they have skin still in place, this is the point at which to cut that skin, crossways, every two or three centimetres. Then, drizzle olive oil over them. They should be sufficiently seasoned already. The next thing you have to watch, if you want your cutlets to be tender and juicy, is not to overcook them. There is a bit of nonsense talked about having to overcook pork but, in Australia, that is no longer true. The faintest hint of pink in the meat is not only acceptable, it is highly desirable.

Pork responds well to sweetness, so I always glaze the cutlets just after I lift them off the grill, or even just before - with a glaze made by warming 6tbs quince jelly (not paste - look for the clear jelly) with 2tbs unsalted butter until combined. Lift off the heat and add a splash of apple brandy - the one from Kellybrook in the Yarra Valley is ideal. Serve a bit extra with the cutlets, if you like.

Start to cook them at 45 degrees to the grill bars, turn through 90 degrees after a quarter of the cooking time, turn them over after half the cooking time and repeat on the second side. Glaze, and rest them for 3-4 minutes, loosely tented in foil, before eating. But ensure that when you cut them, they are moist with just a hint of pink. Start off by cooking them for 2-minute increments: i.e. two minutes on the grill, turn through 90 degrees and leave for two minutes, and so on for a total of 8 minutes cooking time. If they have skin in place, remember to cur the skin, across, in several places, and give it a blast by standing the cutlets, with their skin to the grill for a couple of minutes.

And the are not exactly as they should be after this cooking time, make a note to cook them more or less next time, as cooking times vary greatly according to the heat of your grill, the efficiency of the hood, the thickness of the meat and the temperature of the meat when you put it on the grill.

3AW Food - Eating Melbourne

3AW is Food: Melburnians love to eat so it's fortunate we live in the culinary capital of Australia. On this dedicated food page you will find the latest recipes by Bob Hart as well as Tony Leonard's Pub of the Week reviews. La Luna head chef Adrian Richardson also serves up a dish from his own cook book and food reviewer Ela Carte visits one of Melbourne's hottest eateries weekly.