 |
| A Quick and Easy Sauce |
We are all getting used to cooking during the COVID-19 pandemic. And we are no exception. We are adapting to what is available in the stores, and what is comforting.
Here's something that has worked for us that I thought worth sharing.
We can get pork chops when lots of other items, like chicken and hamburger meat are out of stock. That's been my strategy --- look for things that other people would not --- like lamb shanks, and duck confit. Plus we've been making things that use beans or come in cans. In all cases we are doctoring them up with items from the pantry.
In our pantry, we had a jar of LMR apple butter. It came with one of our wine shipments last year, a tag-along gift item. Not something I picked out; nonetheless, I was intrigued.
I remember my grandmother talking about making apple butter in the fall at her church. They would do it in a big cast iron pot outside. And I remember that my dad enjoyed it. He would put it on toast.
Apple butter --- and all fruit butters --- are made from over-ripe fruit and cooked down into a dark thick "butter." A liquid is added, like apple cider. And a spice, usually cinnamon. And sometimes a sweetener, like sugar or honey. But no butter.
It is available commercially by companies like Mott's Apple Butter. Or at Trader Joe's. But we can get it locally because we have a big Mennonite population in the area. If you look for it, you will probably find it.
To my taste, it is too sweet "as is" for roasted pork, so I decided to mix in Worcestershire Sauce.
A 2 to 1 ratio works well, for example, 2 T. apple butter plus 1 T. Worcestershire sauce, then mixed together well.
That's what I did the first night. Then, I mixed up a whole jar and stored it in the refrigerator for future use. About 2/3 cup apple butter to 1/3 cup Worchestershire sauce. Taste as you go, adding on as much Worcestershire sauce until the butter no longer tastes sweet, but stays thick.
We've had this dish three times already during our self-quarantine, varying the vegetable that goes with it. It's so easy, and yummy!
--Barbara
Pork Chop with Savory Apple Butter
Serves 2
2 center cut pork chops
oil
salt and pepper
4 T. apple butter
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
An hour or two prior to preparing your meal, remove the pork chops from their packaging, dry them with paper towels, and place them in one layer on a plate to air dry. Refrigerate.
A half hour before roasting, bring the meat out to warm up, while you get everything else ready.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Combine the apple butter with the Worcestershire sauce.
If you are roasting veggies along with the pork chop, prepare them, add to a bowl, toss generously with olive oil, salt and place on a sheet pan, in one layer.
For the pork chops, use a roasting pan (I use original CorningWare) which can go under the broiler, because you will broil them at the end for a few minutes.
Add a little olive to the bottom of the pan. Salt and pepper both side of the pork chops and place them in the pan, leaving space in between.
Put both the pork chops and the veggies in at the same time. (You can always remove the veggies when you like if the meat takes longer.)
To brown them, turn the broiler on high and roast for a minute or two until golden brown, but not burnt.
I roast the veggies on the rack below the pork chops. The broccoli shown here may look a little over done but it is not. It is delicious. I just left it in the whole time that the pork chops were baking.
Spoon some of the savory apple butter over each pork chop and serve.