Pork Chops That Would Have Johnny Appleseed Smiling

Sitting on my kitchen counter is a huge bag of apples, they are the apples from Noel and my great day apple picking. Now it is time to figure out what to do with the apples. In past years I have stuffed pork chops, made countless pies, made apple hash, apple stuffing and more that I can't even remember. Today as I drove around I started thinking about what to do with the pork chops we bought and some apples. I decided since the pork chops we bought were not thick enough to stuff, I would make a sauce to put on top of them. Now I had to figure out how to make the sauce. First I wanted to use my favorite white wine, Gewurztraminer, but after bouncing a few ideas with my foodie friend Rebecca from Beacon Hill Wine and Gourmet in Melrose, we came up with using hard apple cider. She showed me Julian Hard Cider and we came up with a way to make a sauce.

What You Need

24 oz bottle Hard Cider

2 Large apple peeled and cut into pieces

2 tablespoons honey

2 pork chops 

salt

In a sauce pan add the the Hard Cider, apples and honey and reduce by half. You know its done when it looks like chunky apple sauce. Takes about 20 minutes. Salt each side of the pork chops and broil them until they reach 160 F. Let the pork chops rest five minutes. When plating the pork chops cover them in the apple sauce. I served them with roasted brussel sprouts that I halved, and a pasta side that you can find at any grocery shop.     

Noel is a huge fan of apple sauce and really loved this one. I finally did something right! The pork and apple sauce went together excellently and the honey really came through to give the meat a beautiful sweetness. The brussel sprouts were a great add to the meal. I only picked the pasta side because I forgot to make the rice, but it still went well with the meal. All in all, this is one of my favorite apple dishes that I have made so far.

The Cider

I bought two bottles of the cider so I had one to cook with and one to drink with the meal. Rebecca was right, this is a great cider and I'm not usually a fan of cider, I rather drink beer. But this cider has a wonderful tartness and a great balance of fruit and acid. They use only fresh apples and you can tell from the taste, it is better than any cider I have ever had. This cider's recipe comes from a recipe made in 1670 colonial America. I was unaware of the history of Hard Cider in American society, but it goes back to the beginning of our history. Until prohibition Cider was the original drinking man's beverage. The Julian website has a great history that everyone should read it! 

Garfeild is Not the Only One That Loves Lasagna

The days are getting shorter, the weather is getting cooler and that means one thing... it's time for apple picking. Noel and I have gone every year for the past five years. We love Honey Pot Hill Orchards in Stow, MA. They have 200 acres of apple and pear trees, pigs, goats, cider donuts and much more. This time we brought with us our friends Katie and Jen. It was a great time, I climbed a few trees, pick a lot of apples and pears, we took the hay ride all over the orchard, Jen got three great pumpkins, Noel and I got apple butter, and we all got cider donuts. It was a great day and I will be cooking dinner with an apple theme for a week.

After we all got back from apple picking Noel and I invited Jen and Katie to stay for dinner. This was my first real chance to cook for a large audience. Earlier in the week I made a tomato sauce for some pasta and I had a lot left and knew I had to make a lasagna. Having a few people over made this the perfect meal to make. It's pretty easy to make, it can feed a lot of people and they are delicious.
What you need
tomato sauce (I prefer to make my own)
ricotta cheese
mozzarella cheese
parmesan cheese
ground beef
Italian sausage
table spoon oregano
lasagna noodles
half cup of red wine

Pre-Heat the oven to 350. First you need to cook the noodles to al dente and brown the ground beef and sausage with red wine. Then is a loaf pan you need to layer all the ingredients, pasta, ricotta cheese, sauce and meat mixture, mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese, repeat until you the pan is full. The top layer I cover it in tomato sauce, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese and oregano. Bake for 45 minutes, and when it's done let sit for 15 minutes to cool. This meal put a smile on everyone's face and made me look like a real chef.

As I said we did go apple picking and we had friends over for dinner so I had to make a dessert. I made a good old fashion apple pie. I love baking apple pies!! There is nothing better for dessert in the fall, especially after you spent all day picking your own apples. Noel and I were out a second hand store a few weeks ago and found a great pie plate that has a very easy recipe for an apple pie. Like all other recipes I added a little Dan to this one by adding some of the apple butter that we bought.

What you need
2 pie crust
4-6 apples
cup of sugar
table spoon cinnamon
table spoon nutmeg
2 table spoons butter
2 table spoons apple butter
2 table spoons flour
dash of salt

Pre-heat oven to 400. Mix together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. In a pie plate put down the first layer of pie crust. Fill with a layer of apples, here is where I also added the first table spoon of apple butter and half the sugar mixture. Add the rest of the apples, another table spoon of apple butter and the rest of the sugar mixture. Cover this with the second pie crust. Brush on the butter and I always add a little sugar and cinnamon on top. Before the pie goes in the oven make sure to poke the top of the pie with a fork so it does not explode while cooking. Cook for 50 minutes or until golden brown and let sit for at least half hour. What  a great end to a great meal!! Add a scoop of ice cream to make it even more tasty.

The Wine 
As for wine we opened four bottles tonight and they all were good. I opened for the dinner Cent'anni Ripasso Valpolicella. If you're going to make Italian food you have to drink Italian wine, it just makes sense!! This is a wine that Cielo e Terra came out with to celebrate their 100 years as a family run vineyard. This wine has a nose that is so beautiful and anyone woman would love to wear it instead of perfume with its ripe baked berries and Italian herbal notes. The palate shares a lot the same and is beautifully well balanced and has a subtle spicy complexity. For someone that is not a huge fan of Italian wine this wine sure could change my mind.

Home Sweet Home

It has been a busy past month and I am ashamed that it has taken me this long to post another great meal. Noel and I moved across town, we no longer live up the Hill from hell!! We moved to Fenway and it has been great so far! Easy to park the car, we have so many great bars and restaurants in the hood and we live across from a park, Max loves that. The apartment we moved to is great too, it's bigger and has a much better lay out. When Noel first saw the apartment she was thrilled with the "grown up kitchen". Our kitchen has more cabinets and counter space which makes it much easier to cook in. Plus, it has a dishwasher, yet for some reason Noel still hasn't done her fair share!!! The only problem is the stove is electric, but that hasn't slowed me down.

Tonight I wanted to make a good old fashion home cooked meal. A meal that would help make this new apartment feel more like home and what is better for that than Pot Roast. This is a meal that is easy to make and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy all over.


What You Need
1 1/2 to 2 pound pot roast
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
few sprigs of fresh thyme
large carrot cut up
6 fingerling potatoes
cup of red wine (I used an Old Vine Zinfandel)
1 can beef broth (I didn't have beef broth so I used a can of beef stew I had)
salt
pepper
1 bay leaf
tablespoon oil (I used a spicy sesame oil from Boyajian)

Pre-heat the oven to 350. Salt and pepper the roast. On the stove top, add olive oil to a dutch oven and brown the roast on all sides, about five minutes. Take the roast out of the dutch oven and add the onions and cook until softened about seven minutes add the garlic and cook until the kitchen has that great smell. Add the roast, the wine, a bay leaf and the thyme to the dutch oven and let it simmer a few minutes. Put the dutch oven in the oven and cook for hour and half. Add the carrots and potatoes and cook for another hour.

See how easy that is? Definitely a meal that makes you feel at home. The pot roast came out perfect!! You don't even need a knife to cut the meat. The carrots and potatoes were perfectly cooked and helped make the meal. This is something I will cook over and over again!!

The Wine 
So I always say drink the wine you cook with. It makes for an easy pairing. As you know from past posts I don't cook with anything I wouldn't drink. Tonight's wine was The Immortal Zinfandel from Peirano Estate. I never have been a huge fan of Zinfandel until I tried this wine. It comes from the oldest vines that are on their original root stock in the US. They are about 113 years old. But how can that be? Original root stock? Wasn't there a bad out break of Phylloxera? If you don't know what Phylloxera are, they are tiny bugs that attack grape vines. They were brought to the world when the US exported local grape varieties to Europe. The wild grape vine of North America had 1000 of years to evolve to become immune to these pests, but the wine grapes vines of Europe were at major risk. The pest nearly wiped out the French industry and put a major hurt to the rest of Europe and eventually the WORLD. Chile is the only country that claims to never have had Phylloxera. People finally figured if you graphed the american root stock to the wine vines then the Phylloxera were harmless. This all happened about 120-130 years ago, so how could Peirano have vines on their original root stock. Peirano Estates is located in Lodi California and the soil is really sandy. Phylloxera can not live in sandy soil.

The older the vine the harder it is for the vine to create the fruit. So the fruit is smaller and more concentrated in flavor. It not is not uncommon to get three, four even five tons of grapes per an acre. The older the vine the less fruit they can produce per an acre down to one maybe two tons per acre. This wine is divine!! From the second it is HAND picked, they treat the grapes with white gloves. The wine has great aromas of spicy cherries and earthy red fruit. The palate doesn't disappoint either with its sweet cherries, strawberries and spicy cocoa. This Zinfandel is a wine that any wine lover would enjoy. Even people that usually dislike Zin, like myself.