The Literate Chef

Posts Tagged ‘Pork Chops’

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Broiled Pork Chops with Apricot-Mango Chutney

In For Moms on the Go, Meat, Pork, Recipes on August 9, 2011 at 6:41 PM

Broiled Pork Chops woth Apricot-Mango Chutney

Preparation time 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 mango, peeled and diced into ¼ inch cubes
½ cup of water
1 cup apricot preserves
¼ cup cognac
½ teasp. minced fresh ginger, peeled
4 boneless, center-cut, pork chops, about ¾ of an inch thick

Preparation:

The apricot-mango chutney can be prepared a day in advance and refrigerated. Just bring it to room temperature about an hour before using. If you are making the chutney the same day as you plan to use it, then it can be prepared while you are pre-heating the oven and broiling the pork chops.

1.    Add the mango and water to a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Once it boils, lower the heat to medium and cook for 8 to10 minutes, until that the water is substantially absorbed and the mango becomes mushy.
2.    Remove the sauce pan from the heat and stir in the apricot preserve, a little at a time, until well blended with the mango.
3.    Add the cognac and ginger to the apricot-mango mixture and bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, let simmer an additional 8 minutes.
4.    Place the pork chops in a broiling pan on the top shelf of the oven and broil for 7 to 8 minutes on each side. Spoon the chutney onto one side of the chops and broil an additional 1 minute, taking care not to let the chutney burn.
5.    Serve with additional chutney spooned over the chops.

Please see: ‘The Other White Meat’

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Pork Chops Braised in Calvados, Caramelized Apples and Raisins

In Meat, Pork, Recipes on July 6, 2011 at 3:27 PM

                                           Preparation and Cooking Time – 1 hour

Ingredients:
•    6 boneless, center cut pork chops, about 3 lbs., patted dry
•    5 Tbsps. of unsalted butter
•    ¼ cup of flour
•    Freshly ground black pepper
•    Kosher salt
•    1 cup raisins
•    3 Granny Smith apples, cored, skins left on, cut in half vertically, each half sliced in the opposite direction, into ¼ inch slices
•    2 Tbsps. sugar
•    1 large shallot, chopped fine, about 6 Tbsps.
•    1 cup Calvados
•    1 Tbsp. chopped fresh sage, about 12 leaves
•    1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary, about 1 stem

Preparation
1.    Add the raisins to two cups of boiled water and let soak for 30 minutes while performing the other steps. After 30 minutes, strain the raisins and set aside.
2.    Heat 2 Tbsps. of butter on medium heat in a large (14 inch) non-stick pan. When the butter begins to bubble, add the apples cooking and turning them periodically for 6-8 minutes until they begin to release their liquid. Add the sugar and stir, continue cooking and turning frequently for an additional 20 minutes, until well caramelized.
3.    While the apples are cooking and the raisins are soaking, add the flour, salt and pepper to a one gallon-sized Ziploc bag. Then add the pork chops two at a time and shake well to coat the chops.
4.    Add the remaining 3 Tbsps. of butter to a stainless braising pan or covered skillet and heat on high.
5.    When the butter begins to bubble, add the seasoned pork chops in one layer and brown on high heat for 3 minutes, turn and brown the other side for 3 minutes more.
6.    Reduce heat to medium-high. Add the chopped shallots and continue browning the chops for 6 additional minutes, turning after 3 minutes.
7.    Shut the heat and add the Calvados, turn the heat to high to boil off the alcohol, add the caramelized apples and strained raisins, cover and let braise for 8 minutes, turning the chops after 5 minutes.
8.    Remove the cover, add the chopped herbs and cook for 2 minutes more.

Serve with new potatoes roasted with olive oil, rosemary and kosher salt, and a green vegetable such as buttered peas and shallots or Brussel Sprouts Roasted with Hazel Nuts.

Please see Midnight (and Calvados) in Paris.

Braised Pork Chops with Calvados, Apples and Raisins

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Midnight (and Calvados) in Paris

In General Articles on July 6, 2011 at 3:07 PM

It wasn’t until 1991, on my first visit to Paris, that I tasted Calvados. I had read about the famous apple brandy from Normandy in Hemingway’s books and had seen it being drunk by characters in the French films to which I was addicted in the 1950s and 60s. But I never had the occasion to order it, until actually sitting in a Parisian café in Montmartre, where it was the natural thing to do.

Montmartre, December 2, 2005

I had it again on subsequent visits to France, in 1992 when we visited our older daughter who was doing a semester abroad in Aix en Provence, where I sipped it watching the pedestrian parade along the Cours Mirabeau and again in 1999, on a trip to the Languedoc-Roussillon region and the Canal du Midi. The most recent occasion had been in 2005 in Paris where we celebrated our wedding anniversary. That time I brought a bottle of it back home with me. That bottle had been sitting unopened on my liquor shelf ever since, that is until last week.

Recently my wife and I saw the latest Woody Allen film, Midnight in Paris and, as was the case with the French films of the 50s and 60s, the characters were drinking Calvados. That’s when it hit me that I still had that imported bottle of Calvados, and it might be interesting to use it for cooking. So I began thinking…what goes well with apples, the essence of Calvados? Pork immediately came to mind, pork chops or roast pork is usually accompanied by applesauce, so voilà, pork chops and Calvados!

Okay, well then maybe I should also add apples to give the dish some substance, that way I can skip the side dish of applesauce. Next, I thought, caramelized apples would make it even sweeter. My wife joined the production by suggesting that I add raisins as well, since they frequently appear as a sweetener in gravy for baked ham.

This was beginning to come together; all it needed now was some herbs to further enhance the dish.  That part was easy, sage and rosemary each have a natural affinity to pork, thus, emerged my plan. Now it was just a matter of executing that plan and putting it all together.

I hope that you enjoy the result, Pork Chops Braised in Calvados, Caramelized Apples and Raisins, we certainly did! One of our readers recently asked for some fish recipes. Lest I be accused of having ichthyophobia please continue reading at: Fish is not Just for Fridays, Anymore.

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Basta Pasta!

In General Articles on May 13, 2011 at 9:20 AM

Enough with the pasta! Now it’s time for some meat dishes – more protein and fewer carbs. Pork is promoted by its producers as ‘the other white meat‘ and like chicken, the ‘original white meat’, it is sold in many different forms: roasts, tenderloin, pork shoulder, sausages and ribs, and of course chops, either on the bone or boneless. It is also adaptable to a variety of different cooking methods: frying, roasting, broiling, braising and barbecuing.

Also like chicken it goes well in combination dishes cooked with a variety of vegetables. Different sauces and spices enhance its flavor and keep it from becoming boring. A popular Southern Italian dish is Pork Chops with Vinegar Peppers. Vinegar peppers are sweet peppers that are packed and sold in jars like roasted sweet peppers; however, they are preserved primarily in vinegar and spices. The problem is that they are not always easy to find.

As a result, we developed our version after experimenting with different types of peppers. We tried fresh peppers, both red and green, as well as jarred ones. The fresh peppers required a lot of cooking time up front and frankly added little to the finished product. Ultimately we settled on a combination of hot and sweet jarred papers. We also experimented with red wine vinegar and white wine vinegar, but found them both to be too harsh, too acidic; eventually we decided upon balsamic vinegar.

Another issue with pork, particularly pork chops, is that it tends to dry out quickly in cooking. Therefore it benefits from braising, i.e., being cooked in liquid. We chose to cook these pork chops in white wine to keep them moist and add a bit of flavor. Pork Chops with Hot and Sweet Peppers is delicious, quick and easy to make and another family favorite.

Where’s the beef? Check it out at: Steak! It’s What’s for Dinner!