Baked sandwich (video)
Dough + filling + oven = baked sandwich.
If you’re playing the home game, we’re using my basic bread recipe, I’ll be doing something with marinated pork chops, but any cooked meat will work. If you don’t have a mini-loaf pan, I’ll show you how to make something resembling sliders in a loaf pan, and some big buns.
Today’s filling is going to be baked pork chops that I had marinating overnight in:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 4 tbsp vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp oregano
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
Yes, that should have been lemon juice instead of vinegar, but I didn’t make it to Costco on the weekend because I’m still not sponsored.
2 tsp finely chopped rosemary would have been lovely, but it was strangely absent from my kitchen…
Either way, I stabbed the pork chops with a fork before layering them in a container, I whisked the ingredients together, poured it over the pork, got my hands dirty and squished it all together, covered, and left in the fridge overnight.
Baking it in the oven at 400F until internal temp is 160F
Some recipes call for 145F internal, then let rest 5 minutes so it gets to 160F, but always check that temperature to avoid nasty things like death.
7 minutes per half inch of thickness at 400F is about right. Add 2-3 minutes to the total time if it’s bone-in (1 minute per 1/2 inch of thickness).
You should always let your meat rest 5 minutes so the meat can re-absorb the juices, otherwise you make a mess on your cutting board, and you leave behind a lot of wonderful flavour and moisture.
If you’re rocking the cast-iron skillet, you can sear the pork on medium-high for 3-4 minutes a side (get a nice brown crust), then finish in a pre-heated oven at 375F for 6-8 minutes. Check thickest part with a thermometer, take it out at 145F, let it sit 5 minutes. Pretend I said 160 for food-safe, but it should keep cooking while it’s resting.
To be extra efficient, you can chop up some veggies, toss them in olive oil, season however you like (salt, pepper, oregano, fennel, thyme, ginger (!), parsley rosemary, etc.), and bake for 19 minutes before you put the meat in the pan, the timing should work out fairly well. Veggies is things like carrots, celery, fennel, onions.
If you want potatoes, cut them into 1 1/2″ chunks, or use similar-sized baby potatoes, and the baking time increases to 45 minutes before you start cooking the pork, so the total cooking time is about an hour.