Thursday, April 7, 2011

PORK CHOP! (with Apple Sauce)

This is my dissenting dish. 

Let me explain. I used to not eat pork, because my family followed a kosher diet. No, we're not Jewish (although I consider myself to be a mensch who says "Oy vey" more than my Jewish co-worker), but the religion I grew up in followed the OT (that's Old Testament to y'all heathens) to a T (Ha, I wasn't even trying to be witty there). Anyway, I have since grown up, and with that have challenged these Levitical laws and think for myself.  I've concluded that a) I don't believe in religious conventions anymore and b) pork is effing awesome and I will not 'keep kosher,' thank you very much. I mean, seriously, once you have a bite of bacon, you're ruined for life, man. And pulled pork sandwiches? And pork banh mi? Get real. Pork works. So, in a way, this dish is the object of my objection to former beliefs, a big wag of my finger to those who said "Swine Sucks." 

In reality, though, I've been eating non-kosh since I was in church school, so this dish really isn't pivotal. It is an important moment though, because this is the first real meal I've cooked in the last month. Yes, I am a restaurant whore. I was also super excited to make this because it involved sage, which is a spice that I often eat but have never cooked, and also because this is supposedly a healthy dish (at least that's what Real Simple said). Pork chops with apple sauce is super simple to make, and I'm not even going to put in measurements, 'coz I'm really not a measure-y kinda gal:

Pork chop
Rubbed Sage
Salt & Pepper
Apples, sliced
Shallots, diced
Garlic, diced
Olive Oil
Beef broth
Butter (or butter substitute)
White Wine
Honey
Cornstarch + water, to thicken 


The ingredients
The star of the show, rubbed sage




Step 1. Coat the pork with sage, salt & pepper 
 Step 2. Pan fry the pork chops in an olive oil-butter combination
 Step 3. Make sure they're cooked through so you don't get food poisoning
 Step 4. Meanwhile, chop the shallots and slice the apples
 Step 5. Put aside the cooked pork chops, and in the same pan saute the shallots and apples
 Step 6. Put in some beef broth (chicken broth works, too) and simmer; add some white wine, chug the rest
 Step 7. Pour some (sugar on me!!!) honey, do not chug
 Step 8. Pour some cornstarch slurry to thicken up the sauce
Step 9. Place the pork chops back into the pan
 
 Step 10. Make a side of mixed greens with loads of croutons and gorgonzola crumbles, because they're good for you
 Step 11. Serve and enjoy!

3 comments:

  1. ooooh!!! looks soo tasty! pwede ba yan sa beef or chicken?

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  2. Hi Precious! Definitely, I think this goes well with any kind of meat. :)

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  3. "add some white wine, chug the rest"

    best advice ever. haha.

    ReplyDelete