New Year’s (or not) Pork with Apples and Onions Recipe

My husband received an anonymously provided subscription to Martha Stewart Living a couple of months ago, and I’ll admit that I’ve been inspired by some of the recipes. Here’s one that I made yesterday for my family as we celebrated New Year’s.

I also made the traditional sauerkraut and pork, but this one was truly delicious — and I got a lot of compliments from my family, even from traditionalists like my dad. For the liquid, I used a combination of white white with apple cider vinegar. I also had 10 chops and increased the amounts accordingly — worked just fine. I had two pans going — one Teflon and one not. I’d recommend a good steel or cast iron pan for this because those do better with browning.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 6 bone-in pork chops (loin or shoulder), cut 3/4 inch thick
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil or vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 large white onion, sliced
• 2 to 3 apples, cored and sliced (about 3 cups)
• 1 cup beer, white wine, cider, or chicken broth

Directions

1. Trim the chops of excess fat. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat a 14-inch cast-iron skillet (if you have a smaller one, you’ll need to work in batches) over high heat, and then swirl in the olive oil. Lay in the pork chops and don’t move them for a few minutes, to assure a good golden sear forms. Turn and brown well on the second side for a total of about 10 minutes. Transfer the chops to a warm plate.
2. Swirl the butter into the pan. Add the onion and apples. Saute until the onion slices are lightly caramelized and the apples have begun to soften, about 8 minutes. Stir in the beer or other liquid. Return chops to the pan.
3. Cook until the pork is tender, about 15 more minutes (depending on the size of the chops), turning halfway through and covering the chops with the apple mixture. If the apple mixture needs a little thickening, transfer the chops to the warm plate again and simmer the mixture on high for a few minutes to reduce. Serve the chops over rice or mashed potatoes with a large spoonful of the apple-onion mixture over the top.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Pork Chops with Apples and Onions – Martha Stewart Recipes

Thanksgiving Recipes for Your Files

This year, my husband made many dishes, but these were the best two:

Lalli Family Turkey Stuffing (via Sonya Yencer, including her notes)

My Reader’s Digest on why this is so good: The cornbread and the sausage. Cornmeal gives it a nice non-soggy texture, and who doesn’t like sausage?

Just so you know, this makes a ton. I usually half the recipe at least. I guess use the whole recipe if you REALLY like serious leftovers or are feeding ALOT of people. But, dang, is it good and totally worth the work. I have stuffed the bird and done it separately with good results.

Makes enough to stuff a 24-pound bird plus extra to bake in a casserole 

Adapted from the cookbook “Stuffings” by Carole Lalli. If using homemade cornbread, toast it right before using or it will be a bit mushy.

2 pounds unseasoned bulk sausage meat
12 cup unsalted butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 large shallot, minced
3 inner ribs celery, leaves included, diced
Kernels from 4 ears of corn
4 fresh sage leaves
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
12 or so cups broken-up day-old corn bread
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup (or less) chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste

In large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat, brown sausage meat, stirring to break up, 5-7 minutes. Remove sausage with slotted spoon and set aside on paper towels to drain. Pour off fat from skillet, but do not clean pan. Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Add onion, shallot and celery; saute, stirring, 8-10 minutes until soft but not browned. Add corn, sage and thyme leaves and cook 1 minute. Set aside to cool about 10 minutes.

Place bread in large bowl; add ingredients from skillet along with parsley. Carefully combine into rough mixture. Add just enough chicken broth to hold together loosely. Season with salt and pepper, if necessary.

Use as turkey stuffing, or drizzle with half-cup broth and bake in lightly buttered shallow baking dish, loosely covered with foil, for 30 minutes in a pre-heated, 350-degree oven.

Epicurious Sweet and Tart Cranberry Sauce

This recipe is awesome. It’s the orange peel and parsley that make it go beyond your run-of-the-mill cranberry sauce. It’s amazing, really!