fall-inspired pork.

One thing I pride myself in is being able to change my husband's mind about food. Pork chops is one of those things that he never really liked. Me, on the other hand, grew up on pork of many kinds. BBQ'd, fried, braised, sauteed . . . you name it, I probably had it. I made it my mission to have the hubby like at least ONE pork dish.

Why not pork chops?

This recipe is fall-inspired. It has apples, cherries, and sage. I've also added some savory spicy sausage to cut the sweetness of the fruit. I like to serve this with mashed potatoes and collard greens. This time around, I made green beans and leek smashed potatoes. The hubby found this filling and, thankfully, really tasty. Yay for pork!

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Apple-Cherry Stuffed Pork Chops
(makes 4 servings)

4 (thin-cut or 1-in) pork chops, boneless
olive oil
garlic powder
onion powder
paprika
rubbed sage
salt and pepper

2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp dried sage
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
2 oz. spicy Italian sausage
1 small apple, peeled and grated
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
4 stalks green onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped dried cherries
1 cup plain bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
salt and pepper

 
Preheat oven to 350F degrees.

Cut a pocket in the pork chops with a very sharp knife, carefully bringing the pocket as close to the edge of the chop as possible without cutting through. Drizzle with olive oil then season with garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, rubbed sage, salt, and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Add butter and oil to the pan. When frothy, add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add sausage, sage, and fennel seeds and cook for a few minutes, crumbling the meat. Saute in apple, celery, onion, and cherries until tender and vegetables have given off most of their liquid. Remove from heat then stir in bread crumbs and parsley until mixture comes together. Season with salt and pepper, as needed.

Heat a oven-safe pan over high heat with a little bit of olive oil. Working carefully, stuff each chop firmly with a quarter of the stuffing mixture. Once the pan is hot, add the chops and sear on both sides. Once they have been seared, transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Increase the temperature to 450F degrees and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes or until pork is cooked to desired doneness.

tarragon chicken over polenta.

just got back from a trip. missed my kitchen and decided to whip something out of the blue. never tried making polenta before so i decided to use this recipe. all in all, turned out to be a good dish. it's good to be home. :)

 
Tarragon Chicken
(serves one)

1 skinless boneless chicken thigh, chopped to small pieces
1/4 cup white onion, roughly chopped
1/8 cup fennel bulb, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 to 1 1/12 tsp dried tarragon
1/2 tsp fresh fennel leaves
1/4 tsp paprika
salt and pepper
olive oil
1 to 1 1/2 cup low sodium chiken stock
1 to 2 tbsp cornstarch with water for thickener

Fry onion and garlic in olive oil until fragrant. Add chopped fennel and cook for an additional couple of minutes. Add chopped chicken thigh, tarragon, paprika, fennel leaves, and season with salt and pepper. Slightly brown chicken then add chicken stock. Let simmer for 5 minutes then add thickener. Cook additional 5 to 10 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked. Serve over polenta.

 
Soft Polenta
(from La Buona Cucina)

2 cups chicken broth or stock
2 cups water
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup coarse or medium grind corn meal (white or yellow)
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated cheese*

*Parmigiano Reggiano, Pecorino Romano, Asiago, Gorgonzola...or a combo of all 3 totaling 1/2 cup.

In a 4- to 6-qt. pan over medium-high heat, bring the water and broth to a boil. Whisk in the salt and then the corn meal in a thin, steady stream, whisking non-stop until smooth.

Reduce heat to low and simmer, whisking pretty frequently, for a good 8-10 minutes or until smooth and thickened.

Remove from heat and stir in butter & olive oil, cheese (if desired), a few grinds of pepper, and taste for salt.

Now, you can serve this right away or you can cover and it should keep warm and soft for about 20 minutes.

skin-on, potato leek fennel soup.

it's been so cold here as of late. we've have a couple days of rain and i've been hiding under the blankets. brrr....soup was definitely in order. up next: hearty soup for a cold winter's day. :D


i've never cooked with leeks or fennel before so i thought, "great! experiment time!" chopped those up along with some onion and got some red potatoes. and because i didn't want to peel them, just took most of the big eyes and cubed them. huzzah for laziness!

and then buttery goodness with a dallop of garlic. yummm....

first in the pot were the potatoes. sauteed them a bit in the butter till they were half done then added the leeks, fennel and onions. threw in some salt and pepper and all-purpose seasoning for some extra kick. :D then after that sauteed some, chopped parsley and a bit of the fennel fronds was put in the mix.

then horrors upon horrors, i added a can of creamed potato soup. nooooo!! i don't know...there's just something about adding a can of soup that makes my inner chef cringe. but, with that said, i added the can anyway and told my inner chef to shut up, added a cup of water, then stirred that around a bit. then i took some low fat half-and-half (cuz i's tryin' to be healthy, yo!) and added enough to have a semi-thick soup consistency. then i let it have a rapid boil to a small simmer.

as the soup was happily simmering away, i prepped the bread and then added the green onions to the concoction during the last five minutes of cooking.

mmmmm....delicious hot soupy goodness. very hearty with the potatoes and an experiment that ended well. and the bread i bought went surprisingly good with the soup. i will definitely make this soup again. tasty!