Ingredient: celery, finely chopped

Combining pork with seafood has been going on for centuries in Europe and Asian countries. For example, take the Spanish with their paella — a mix of chorizo, prawns and mussels and the Chinese with pork and prawn dumplings.

During January, Brion & I spent a few weeks at the Los Cactus resort in Varadero, Cuba. Varadero is a 1.2 km wide peninsula situated along Cuba’s northern coast with 20 km of white sandy beaches. This vicinity has a variety of natural attractions as well as cultural and historical. Varadero is primarily visited by European and Canadian tourists.

Cuba is one big classic car museum. These 1950’s cars are everywhere, in every color and in many shapes, makes and models. While in the USA & Canada these cars would be collector’s items, in Cuba, they are used as everyday vehicles as well as taxis, often providing a good income for their owners.

Being so close to Havana we took the opportunity to take a guided day tour of the capital city. One thing we found really amazing in Cuba, was their bus system. The buses were relatively clean and comfortable with professional drivers. Our day trip to Havana was about 10 1/2 hours long, round trip, with an English speaking guide. Brion & I found the day very interesting. It consisted of a walking tour of Old Havana, lunch and then a panoramic tour of modern Havana to Revolution Square, the famous ‘Malecon’ seawall promenade, Christopher Columbus Necropolis and the Vedado Residential area.

This city is a mixture of opulence and decay, old world and new, socialism and capitalism, Europe, Africa and America. In Old Havana, effort has gone into rebuilding for tourist purposes, and a number of the streets and squares have been rehabilitated. The fact is that Old Havana is a large city, and the restoration efforts concentrate in all on less than 10% of its area. It seems whatever your interests, Havana offers an interesting mix of rhythms, rum, revolution and history.

During the tour, our guide took us to the top floor of the Gomez Vila. You climb up to the tower, about eight flights of stairs where there is a rooftop veranda. Here you can get a 360 degree view of the city. Located here as well, is the ‘Camera Obscura’. This optical device of lenses and mirrors projects an aerial image of the city into a giant concave screen taking you on a bird’s eye tour of Havana in real time. The projections are so clear that you can even pick out individuals walking on the cobble stone streets. It is one of the 74 cameras like it worldwide. Amazing!

In Revolution Square, we viewed some iconic images on the buildings of two Revolutionary heroes, Che Guevara and Camillo Cienfeugos. It was very interesting listening to our tour guide in regards to the Cuban Revolution, giving us this history from a Cuban perspective. There is a complex system of three fortifications that protected Havana, it’s port and it’s dockyard. From the seawall we got some photos of Morro Castle at the entrance with its emblematic light house that was built four centuries ago.

Cuban cuisine is a blend of several cultures — Taino, Spanish, African and Caribbean, with each adding their own methods of cooking and choice of spices. The most common spices used are garlic, cumin, oregano and bay or laurel leaves. Black beans and rice are Cuban staples.

The popularity of pork in Cuban cuisine has long historical roots. Spanish explorers brought pigs to the Caribbean islands back in 1492. From what I understand, one of the secrets of moist and flavorful Cuban pork is that the pigs feed on palmiche, the fruit of a palm tree.  The ‘Royal Palm’ is the national tree of Cuba. It is native to the island and is such a characteristic symbol of its scenery. Notice the big clusters of palm nuts at the top of the Royal palm tree in one of the blog pics.

I wanted to share a recipe today that seemed very in keeping with our Cuban travels. These pork loin chops are stuffed with crabmeat filling and drizzled with a raspberry pepper jelly sauce. 

Brion has added a few of his great pics from Cuba for you to enjoy.

Print Recipe

Pork Loin Chops with Crab meat Stuffing

Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:

Rate this recipe!

Course

Main Dish

Cuisine

American, Cuban

Servings

MetricUS Imperial

Ingredients

• 4 pork loin chops, boneless
• 3 Tbsp olive oil

Crab meat Stuffing

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 Tbsp (30 gm) onion, finely chopped
• 3 Tbsp (40 gm) celery, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
• 1/4 tsp Old Bay seasoning
• 2/3 cup fine bread crumbs
• 170 gm fancy white crab meat, drained (reserve 2 Tbsp of the liquid)
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped
• 2 Tbsp grated cheese ( either a combo of Parmesan, Asiago & Romano OR just Parmesan)

Sauce

• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup red pepper jelly
• 1/2 cup raspberry preserves

Course Main Dish Cuisine American, Cuban Servings MetricUS Imperial Ingredients 4 pork loin chops, boneless 3 Tbsp olive oil Crab meat Stuffing 1 Tbsp olive oil 3 Tbsp (30 gm) onion, finely chopped 3 Tbsp (40 gm) celery, finely chopped 1/2 tsp garlic, minced 1/4 tsp lemon pepper seasoning 1/4 tsp Old Bay seasoning 2/3 cup fine bread crumbs 170 gm fancy white crab meat, drained (reserve 2 Tbsp of the liquid) 1/2 tsp lemon juice 1 egg, slightly beaten 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped 2 Tbsp grated cheese ( either a combo of Parmesan, Asiago & Romano OR just Parmesan) Sauce 1/2 cup chicken broth 1/4 cup red pepper jelly 1/2 cup raspberry preserves

Votes: 1 Rating: 5 You: Rate this recipe!

Instructions

Pork Chops

1. Trim all excess fat from loin chops. Place meat on a sheet of plastic wrap & cover with a second sheet. Using a meat tenderizer, pound meat flat until double in diameter. Set aside.

   

Crab meat Stuffing

1. In a saucepan, saute onions & garlic in 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat until onions are tender. Remove from heat. Add remaining stuffing ingredients, including the 2 Tbsp of reserved crab liquid. Mix just until incorporated.

   

Assembly/ Cooking

1. Lay TWO chops on lightly oiled griddle or skillet. Divide filling between them; place remaining TWO chops on top. Brown the stuffed pork chops on both sides, turning carefully.

   

2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Place stuffed chops in an ungreased casserole. Cover & bake for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake for 15 minutes longer or until meat thermometer reads 160 F. when inserted into the meat & juices run clear.

Sauce

1. In a small saucepan, heat chicken broth, red pepper jelly & raspberry preserves. Divide sauce between 2 serving plates & top each with a stuffed pork chop.