cornmeal-fried pork chops + smashed potatoes
I’m pretty sure I’m the last person in the cooking-obsessed world to get Fever, the chef behind McCrady’s, Husk, and Minero in Charleston. Worse, this is probably a good time to admit that I was sent his first cookbook, , when it came out and rejected it on sight alone. There was something about those sleeve tattoos cupping the sacred rainbow beans, an image I’ve seen variations on countless other farm-to-table cookbook covers and magazine spreads, that put me off. Skimming the recipes didn’t always help. Your red peas, cornmeal and gold rice should be from , and if not, at least the cornmeal should be fresh from a gristmill. Your tomatoes should be home-canned, or at the very least, San Marzano. Your pork should be from a heritage pig, your buttermilk and goat cheese should come from a local farm, as should your Red Bliss potatoes; this is your after all.
Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
Counts 12 of 13 ingredients — the other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and contribute nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume — 12 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Pork | 100g cooked | 242 |
| Sunflower | 1 oz (28g) hulled | 165 |
| Potato | 1 medium (173g) baked | 161 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Goat Cheese | 1 oz (28g) | 103 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Chili | 1 tsp (2.7g) | 8 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Chives | 1 tbsp (3g) | 1 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Safflower | not in our table | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- 6 boneless pork chops (about 3 ounces each)
- About 3 cups buttermilk, whole milk if you can find it
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 cups yellow cornmeal
- Cayenne pepper
- Canola oil (or high heat safflower or sunflower, what I used) for shallow-frying
- 3 pounds small-to-medium red potatoes
- Kosher salt
- 1 cup half-and-half (or 1/2 cup milk plus 1/2 cup heavy cream)
- 6 ounces soft goat cheese
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick, 4 ounces or 115 grams) unsalted butter, diced and chilled
- 1/2 cup finely sliced fresh chives
- Freshly ground black or white pepper