Rosemary Pork Chops with Fig Chutney

Before yesterday, I had never had a fig, but Nick has been eying figs for a few weeks now at the supermarket. This weekend I decided to indulge him and buy one package - until I found out a the checkout that they were Buy One - Get One. So now I have figs coming out of my ears and need to think up some other fig recipes (so share if you have any!).

My first recipe (and my reason for initially purchasing figs) was to try fig chutney. And now I am a fig loving convert. This spiced, but still sweet, chutney was delicious and paired really well with the pork. You could also use it on chicken, I imagine, but the pork was amazing. What was even more fantastic was that it was so easy to prepare.

Ingredients (for chutney):

1/2 c red wine vinegar
1/2 c pomegranate infused vinegar
1/4 lb light brown sugar
1/2 onion, chopped
1/8 c. ginger, grated
1/4 tsp. mustard powder
1 orange, zested
2 slices of dried orange, optional
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp ground allspice
a pinch of ground cloves
a pinch of red chili flakes
1/2 - 3/4 lb figs, quartered

To make the chutney, place the vinegars, sugar, onion, ginger, mustard powder, orange zest, dried orange, cinnamon stick, salt, allspice, chili flakes and cloves in a saucepan over medium - medium low heat. Bring it to a simmer, but not a boil, and let the ingredients reduce by about half to two-thirds.

Add in the figs and let the sauce thicken (the water will simmer out of the figs, and the sugars will help the reduction thicken). Once it has a syrup-like consistency, remove from heat. Pour over meat and serve. 

To make the pork chops, simply add salt, pepper and minced fresh rosemary to either side of the pork chop. Place in a hot (medium), skillet and cooked, flipping when needed, until the internal temperature* reaches 165*F. Once cooked, remove from heat and place on a plate. Cover with aluminum foil and let rest for about 10 minutes to let the juices reabsorb into the meat.

I served this meal with broiled asparagus and garlic bread. 

* I've found the using a thermometer when cooking meat helps to keep the meat (especially poultry and pork) tender and juicy.

Pork Tenderloin with Lime, Chiles & Cilantro

Nick found this recipe on Food Network a while back and it does make a super tasty and moist tenderloin. You do have to start the marinating process either the morning of or night before you intend to make it, so it does take a little forethought. But it's worth the wait.

Ingredients:
1 whole pork tenderloin
1 lime, zested 
1/2 c lime juice
1/4 c. honey
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 chipolte pepper in adobo sauce
1 tsp vegetable oil 
1 tbsp cilantro leaves, chopped


To make the marinade, combine the lime zest, lime juice, honey, salt, garlic powder, chipolte pepper, and oil in a bowl or container, stir or shake to combine. Place the tenderloin in a ziploc bag and pour half the marinade into the bag. Seal and move around so that the marinade touches all of the pork. Let rest overnight if possible, or for at least 6 hours. Keep the remaining marinade in a container in the fridge.

When it's time to make dinner, pull out the pork tenderloin and turn up the grill. Once the meat has come to room temperature, place it on the grill. Cooking time is about 15 minutes, turning/ rotating the meat every two minutes. A bit high maintenance, but well worth it! Use a meat thermometer if possible to avoid overcooking. Once it's reached 140 degrees internally, remove from the grill. It should have a nice char on the outside. 

Place the cooked pork onto a sheet of aluminum foil. Fold up the sides of the foil and pour in the other half of the marinade. Fold the aluminum shut, making a little pouch. This keeps the liquid inside to get absorbed by the resting pork. Let it rest for about 10 minutes. 


Once it's done resting, cut into rounds, garnish with cilantro and serve. 

Pork Chops, Take 2!

Remember this recipe? We were happy with it, but wanted to try a few tweaks the second time we made it.

 Ingredients (for 4):

2 Golden Delicious apple, diced
1 Granny Smith Apple, diced
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 1/2 oz. golden raisins
1/2" piece ginger root, smashed (removed from sauce before serving)
1 1/2 tbsp light brown sugar
1 c. apple cider, plus a splash
1/4 tsp cinnamon
a pinch of nutmeg
a drizzle of olive oil
4 pork chops, seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper
1 tbsp butter

I've bolded the ingredient changes. The basic process was the same, but with those minor changes, we really thought that it came out even better. It was a little less sweet and had a bit more kick and tang thanks to the additional lemon and granny smith apple. We also chopped the apples a little smaller this time, since we wanted it a little less chunky, but it doesn't affect the flavor, so use a size that you like. This did make enough for 4 chops, not two.

Pork Chops

Last week we had bought an 11 pound pork loin because we wanted to try this recipe, but they don't carry roasts in our grocery. So, we bought a huge loin which Nick cut up into various portions of roasts and chops. Plus, we are cheap, and it cost less to buy entire pieces of meat and cut them into portions yourself than to buy prepackaged portions from the grocer. We usually do this with most meats, beef tenderloins for steak, and whole chickens which we then freeze into portions we can use later.

So, back to the chops. We used a this recipe, with a few tweaks.

 Ingredients (for 2):

2 Golden Delicious apples, chopped
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 oz. golden raisins
1/2" piece ginger root, grated
2 tbsp light brown sugar
1 c. apple cider
1/4 tsp cinnamon
a pinch of nutmeg
a drizzle of olive oil
2 pork chops, seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper
1 tbsp butter

Place the apples, lemon juice, raisins, ginger root, brown sugar, cider and spices into a pan. Heat over medium high heat until the apples get soft and much of the liquid evaporates.

In a separate pan, brown the pork chops. Once browned, cook on medium heat until cooked through. Remove them from the heat and then deglaze the pan with the butter and cider. Pour the pan sauce over the chops and top with the apple mixture.

We did tweak the original recipe a bit, we used thinner pork chops and ended up grating the ginger into the applesauce instead of removing it. We'd like to try adding a Granny Smith in the mix for some tartness the next time, so we'll let you know how that goes.

We served this with a heaping side of roasted broccoli with pecorino and a loaf of olive bread with pesto for dipping. We'll have to share the ridiculously easy recipe for the bread in another post, because once you make it, it will be a staple at every meal it's so tasty and warm!