An apple a day...

This is from a few days ago, but it's been a busy week or so, what with the youngest kid's birthday and work and all. Speaking of, here's his birthday cake, made and decorated by my lovely wife, Cheri. The design is all hers. She also made the platforms and the slingshot (homemade pretzels). My contribution? Finding the figures (pencil toppers) and thinking of Jordan almonds for the eggs.

Anyway, here's the food. First, the cast of characters:

We had thawed some center cut pork chops, but didn't want to do the same old thing (barbecue seasoning and bake, or Southern style breaded and fried). I was wandering around the kitchen, opening cabinets, staring into the fridge, trying to figure something out, when I caught sight of the jug of apple cider I'd bought weeks before and forgot about. Apple and pork goes together....eureka!

First, marinate the chops in the cider, along with some kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, granulated garlic, cinnamon, clove, and freshly grated nutmeg, for about an hour.

Meanwhile, I shredded some Russets on the mandoline for potato pancakes. Once the chops had sufficiently marinated, I heated up the big cast iron skillet, added half a stick of butter, and started cooking them. I poured the cider from the marinade into a sauce pan and brought it to a boil for a few minutes, then added some more cider and the can of apple sauce I fortified it with some more nutmeg, cinnamon and clove, and also added a little brown sugar. I let that simmer while the chops cooked.

Isn't the steam awesome, or is it just me?

All that processing, I turned my attention to the taters. To the shredded russets, I added a large egg, a splash of milk, kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, granulated garlic, Spanish paprika, and some flour. Mixed all that up, buttered up the griddle, and formed out the mixture by generous tablespoonfuls.

When the chops were done, I transferred them to a wire rack on a cookie sheet in the warm oven, then added the rest of the stick of butter to the skillet. Added enough flour to make a roux, then poured in the cider/applesauce mixture. Mixed in some more cider, fortified the spices, and voila! Apple gravy.

Flip the potato pancakes, pop a steamer bag of green beans into the microwave, and it's time for dinner.

Plating: one pancake, a little pile of green beans, one chop. Ladle some of the gravy over the chop, and sprinkle on some shredded colby-jack cheese (sharp chedder would've been better, but you gotta go with what you've got).

Hungry yet?

In the briny deep

So here's my first attempt at brining pork. This is enough to brine 3 or 4 butterfly pork chops, about 1/2 inch thick, or a smallish pork roast.

Brine for pork

2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup Kosher salt (or 1/2 cup table salt, not iodized)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. black peppercorns
2-3 bay leaves
1/2 Tbsp. vinegar
1 Tsp. dried Valencia orange peel
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 cups ice water

Combine everything but the ice water in a sauce pan, and heat over medium heat until the salt and sugar are completely dissolved. Remove from heat, and stir in the ice water to cool the mixture. It should be cooler than lukewarm. Place the target meat in a large Ziploc bag, and pour in the brine. Seal the bag, place it in a shallow dish, and refrigerate for at least one hour up to 24. The chops are fine after an hour, a roast would take at least 5. Remove the meat from the brine, pat dry, and cook. You can bake, roast, grill, smoke, even pan fry these to good effect.

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain

Here's the meal that was in my profile photo, and is now at the bottom of this post. The side dishes are not my original creations (spinach and garbanzos from a Spanish tapas cookbook, and Vigo brand yellow saffron rice), nor is the bread (Spanish white bread recipe found online and baked by my wife), but the pork and sauce were invented on the fly.

Spanish-inspired rub for pork

This can be made for as much or as little meat as you need. I just eyeballed it, but feel free to use precise measurements.

2 parts Kosher salt
1.5 parts freshly ground black pepper
1 part ground cumin
1 part granulated garlic
1.5 parts coriander
1 part turmeric
2.5 parts Spanish paprika
1 part orange zest (preferably Valencia orange)

Mix the ingredients, then brush the pork lightly with oil, rub the seasoning mixture onto the meat, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. Grill or smoke the meat.

For the plate in the photo, I used two beautiful pieces of pork tenderloin. I seared them over high direct heat on the grill, then moved them to the other side and cooked them indirectly. I spiked the water in the drip pan with some more orange vest, cumin, and coriander, and let it go while I prepared the other components of the meal.

Spanish-inspired tomato viniagrette sauce

One can whole peeled tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
3 cloves fresh garlic, peeled
1 tsp. coriander
several grindings black pepper
1 Tbsp. Kosher salt
2 Tpsp. Spanish paprika
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 medium sized bell pepper (any color)


Combine all ingredients except bell pepper in food processor bowl or mixing bowl (with immersion blender), pulse several times until tomatoes are no longer recognizable. Let the mixture rest. Brush the pepper with vegetable oil, then roast it over direct heat on the grill, turning frequently until charred all over. Let it cool for a few minutes, then peel, seed and chop. Add the chopped roasted pepper to the mixture in the bowl, and process for a couple of minutes until smooth. If using the processor, transfer to a bowl and let rest until ready to serve. Stir well just before serving, then spoon over pork.