CHULETAS FRITAS EN AJO (GARLIC FRIED PORK CHOPS) ~ The Self-Taught Cook™

In an earlier post, I told you about my search eight years ago for Puerto Rican cookbooks. Happily, they're not that hard to find now, but then they were the proverbial needle in a haystack. On our honeymoon in Pigeon Forge, TN, we stopped at one of the many outlet malls in the area. Yes, we went to outlet malls on our honeymoon. No comments, please. : ) Anyway, there was a book outlet in the mall. Now, if you know me, you know that the moment I spotted the bookstore, my entire body started leaning that direction. I can't help it; my mother worked at the library when she was pregnant. I was infected with the reading bug in utero. Now, when I find a bookstore, especially an outlet store, I either head to the mystery section or the cookbook section. The other one will come second, and from there I will canvass the entire store. That fateful day, I saw a display of cookbooks and raced over. To my surprise, the first thing I saw was a Puerto Rican cookbook. I grabbed onto that book like a drowning man grabbing a lifeline. I have always wondered how many other copies they sold there in Sevier County, TN. For the first few years of our marriage, that was the only cookbook I had, so I used it, and used it, and used it....And today, it is easy to find our favorite recipes by counting the food stains on the pages. Yesterday, I decided it was time to make one of our old favorites, Garlic Fried Pork Chops. I have made a couple of slight changes. The main change is this; after cooking this a couple of times, we realized that what we really liked was the fried garlic cloves, so I use A LOT of garlic. I use 8-10 cloves in the sauce, but when the oil is nice and hot, I start throwing garlic cloves like there's no tomorrow. Actually, I could eat the garlic and forget the pork chops, but there's something weird about saying you had fried garlic for dinner. I did not take pictures because I don't care how good it tastes, there's just no such thing as a pretty picture of a pork chop. It's really not a visual thing, you know? So, here is one of our favorite recipes, with thanks, kudos, and a great big shout out to Yvonne Ortiz, author of "A Taste of Puerto Rico: Traditional and New Dishes from the Puerto Rican Community".

CHULETAS FRITAS EN AJO (GARLIC FRIED PORK CHOPS)

Adapted from "A Taste of Puerto Rico: Traditional and New Dishes from the Puerto Rican Community"

8-10 garlic cloves, peeled

1 Tbsp GOYA® Adobo con Pimiento (with Pepper)

1/2 c olive oil

white vinegar to taste

4-6 pork chops

2-3 c vegetable oil

In a mortar, crush the garlic. Yes, in a mortar. It just won't be the same if you use a food processor. Add the adobo, olive oil, and vinegar; mix well. Pour mixture over pork chops; marinate in refrigerator from 30 minues to overnight. Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet. Fry chops with garlic until golden brown. Add as many additional garlic cloves as you like. I add at least 8 more.

You can serve this with anything you like, but I serve it with Arroz Amarillo (Yellow Rice) and Tostones con Mojito de Ajo (Twice-Fried Plantains with Garlic Sauce). Dee-lish!

MUSIC TO COOK BY