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! 

Friends, Meatloaf, and Three Wines

Yesterday Noel's friend from high school, Scott came over for dinner. I wanted to make something that was sure to show off my kitchen skills. I came up with meatloaf, but how could I make it special? I know what you are thinking, he used bacon. No not this time. This time I used mozzarella cheese, brussel sprouts, carrots, garlic, pink, white, green, black pepper corns and saffron. I was a little buzzed after a few beers at Savin Bar and Kitchen and a bottle of wine between Tom and I so I don't know the exact measurements of the spices probably tablespoon each pepper and three pinches saffron. First I had to figure out how to put the veggies in without there being too much water. Rebecca to the rescue. She is one of the owners to Beacon Hill Wine and Gourmet in Melrose, MA. Her and I always chit chat about food and she has taught me a thing or two. So when I had to figure out how to put the veggies in my meat loaf I knew just who to call. She came up with the idea to roast them on high heat for about 20-30 minutes. I cut the carrot up into half inch flat pieces, smashed two garlic cloves and de-leafed 6 brussel sprouts. As they were all roasting I made my meat mixture. I had the half pork, half beef meatloaf mix and added a pound of Italian sausage. I had some rolls that I got at Bacco Wine and Cheese that I had left out for a few days, perfect for making breadcrumbs. I cut up half a roll added the pepper and saffron and mixed it all up in the meat. I put half the meat in the pan then covered the meat with half the mozzarella cheese then covered the cheese with the brussel sprouts and carrots and topped with the rest of the cheese and the rest of the meat. Just before I put it in the over I sprinkled a little fresh parmesan cheese, fresh cut pepper, and a pinch of saffron. I cooked it at 350 until the thermometer reached 160. When it got to 155 I put a little or parmesan cheese on top. I wish I took a picture of this when it came out of the oven. Not only did it look good but it tasted amazing!! All the spices mixed together divinely and the veggies were perfect especially with the mozzarella.

I opened three bottles of wine yesterday. Before Scott came over my buddy Tom stopped by to unwind from work before taking the long T ride home. To help him unwind and to celebrate my trip to Chile (in three days) I opened Secreto Viognier, from Viu Manent. I love this wine!! Viognier is one of my most favorite wines. It's floral, with pears, nectarine, lime and a healthy acidity. There is nothing not to love about this wine. Secerto is a fun wine. By law a wine must be 85% of a grape to be put on the label (in California 75%), so 15% can be anything. Viu Manent ran with this and came up with Secerto. Sometimes a winery will put on the back label what has been blended in a wine, but they don't have to. Secerto does not tell you. Each variety has a different label that is painted by Catalina Abbott that shows someone keeping a secret. This is a just a fun wine from bottle to juice. The next bottle was a bottle that Scott brought to our house. I also find it interesting what people will bring to my house. He brought Chateau Smith Cabernet Sauvignon from Columbia Valley. I love Washington State wines. This wine was great! Nice cedar, dark cherry and rose. This wine is made by Charles Smith, he was wine maker of the year 2009 and is the brain behind such brands a Kung-Fu Girl, The Velvet Devil, and BOOM BOOM . I can't wait to try more of these wines, it was a nice change of pace having someone bring wine to my house. I am going to stop telling people not to bring wine to my house. After that wine was polished off I opened Viu Manent Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon knowing that if we didn't finish it I could just show it the next day. I love being a wine rep!!!! I can open a bottle have a glass or two and just show the rest the next day. This wine is one of the best value wines in my company portfolio and may be my favorite wine ever under $15. This is a Cabernet that could battle some of the Napa Cabs that are twice the price. About a year ago I dorked out with my bestie Molner. I opened a very nice Bordeaux, a Sonoma cab and this wine. At first taste Molner asked why my third bottle was a nicer bottle than the second.  I told her it wasn't and that the Chile wine was half the price of the Sonoma wine. We both agreed that night Viu Manent Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon was the winner that night. All three of these wines are must try wines!!

Saturday at 330pm I get on a plane and go to Santiago Chile for a week. I get to visit Viu Manent and their vineyards. I will make sure to post about the wines I drink while down there and maybe a few of the dinners. I can't believe this trip is already here!!

The Bunny looked more like a Pilgram

Easter came late this year, Warren and Curtis came early. Noel had invited them to an Easter dinner this year. We never really get a holiday with them, Thanksgiving and Christmas is divided by my parents and her mom's. So I wanted to cook something big. Noel wanted to come up with a "menu" last week, I wanted to wait until we went grocery shopping. Turkey was on sale, so it was an easy choice. Two Thanksgivings ago I made a turkey at my parents house that was awesome!! Turkey with Herbs de Provence and Citrus. It was so good then and I knew I it would be good now. Funny story- the first time I made this I almost burned down my parents' house. There is a lot of chicken stock and butter used in this recipe and the pan I used was a cheap pan that folded as I took it out of the oven. As it folded in half, the liquid spilled in the electric oven, hit a coil and instantly caught on fire. As everyone was running around looking for a fire extinguisher it came to me shut the oven door. Fire went out in a few minutes but the stove shut down. I learned this time to use a cookie sheet under the cheap style roasting pan so that wouldn't happen again, especially in my gas stove.

This Turkey with Herbs de Provence and Citrus is so tasty and so easy to make. We found it on Foodnetwork.com, we find a lot of recipes on there. It takes about three hours, 30 minutes are prep. Need to cut an orange, lemon and onion into quarters, get fresh rosemary, thyme, sage and stuff it in the bird. *Make sure the neck and giblets are taken out of the bird and put in the roasting pan. Melt two tablespoons of butter with one tablespoon herbs de provence (you can find this anywhere), one tablespoon pepper (I used pink,black, white, and green pepper corns), and one tablespoon salt. Instead of using a pan I have a stainless steel bowl that I melt butter in, I find at a low heat the big bowl makes it easier to melt and not burn!! Take the melted butter and brush it all over the bird, making sure to get under the skin as much as you can. Let it stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes and preheat oven to 400. This is where I like to open the bottle of wine and pour myself my first glass. After 30 minutes tent some tinfoil over the breast and roast 20 minutes. The kitchen should start smelling like heaven!! Now add three cups turkey stock (it ask for chicken but I found turkey) and a few more sprigs of rosemary, thyme and sage. I also melted two more tablespoons of butter mixed with the same herbs and pepper mixture and brushed it over the turkey again. Let roast another 40 minutes, reduce the heat to 350, remove the tinfoil and add one more cup of stock. Let it roast until the thighs reach 165, every so often you want to basted the turkey(I did about every 15 minutes). Your house is going to smell so good!!

After the turkey is done you want to let it rest about 30 minutes. This is the perfect time to make any veggies, potatoes, and the gravy. This recipe has a gravy it tells you to make and it is so good Noel was dipping chips in while we were watching t.v. that night. First, melt six tablespoons butter, whisk in one-third cup flour, make sure to break up any chunks, and start to blend in four cups of the juice the turkey was sitting in. Cook about 10 minutes and whisk often until thickened to your liking. A gravy that people would kill for!! Wait what about that bottle of wine I opened, where did I use it on the turkey? I didn't, I drank it. I picked Viu Manent Reserva Carmenere knowing it would go well with the turkey. 

I did make two sides. Mashed potatoes and a veggie medley, Noel calls it a hash. It's kinda like a cooked salad. I started with bacon...BIG SURPRISE THERE!! I cut about two cups of small chunks of bacon. Put them in a skillet over low-medium heat to melt down some fat. While that was going on I minced two cloves garlic, diced a medium shallot, chopped large carrot, one celery stock, a red pepper, and about dozen or so brussel sprouts. After the bacon was cooking for five minutes or so, I tossed in the garlic, shallot and celery, and cooked until they smelled good(about minute or two), then added the carrots and cooked for about another two minutes. As the carrots were getting soft I added the red peppers and topped with the chopped Brussels sprouts. I then added a tablespoon of the gravy and a dash of herbs de provence to the veggies and covered the skillet to let steam. As the veggies were steaming, I was able to make my mash potatoes. I didn't know what to do with them, but as I was just about to give up and serve them plain, I saw my cayenne pepper and saffron. A light went off in my head and I added a dash of pepper and two pinches of saffron. I didn't tell my guest what I had done I wanted to hear from them what they thought. Everyone was in love with the taste. The gravy made them a little more playful. 

This was one of my favorite holiday meals to make. First, I made it in my own kitchen. Second, it was a recipe I had  conquered a few years ago, so I was able to make a few changes to show my personality. Next time I make this I may even blend my own herbs de provence, it looks pretty easy.