recipe of the week: pork chops and applesauce (and smoothie redux)

It’s too freaking hot outside to cook anything even remotely like this today. But a few days ago, on a cooler evening, this masterpiece emerged from my kitchen:

The recipe comes from the Food Network website, with a few minor changes based on my pantry and personality.

For example, one should deglaze a pan with white wine. I used apple juice. Also, I’m leaving out the whole homemade roasted applesauce part because the stuff from a jar worked great.

Served it with steamed rapini, sauteed in olive oil with garlic.

Michael Chiarello gets the credit for the chops recipe. I’m just the messenger:

Pork Chops with Toasted Spice Rub and Apple Dressing

4 (8-ounce) center-cut pork chops
salt
2 tablespoons Toasted Spice Rub, recipe follows
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup apple juice
1/2 cup applesauce
1 TBSP honey

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Season both sides of the pork chops with salt and toasted spice rub.

Heat the oil in an ovenproof skillet over medium heat and sear the pork chops until golden brown, about 4 minutes on each side. Place pork chops on baking sheet. Remove excess oil from skillet.

Bake the chops until just cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove to a serving platter.

Over medium heat, add the apple juice to the skillet, stir, and reduce to 1 to 2 tablespoons; add the honey and applesauce and bring to a simmer. Spoon over each chop.

Toasted Spice Rub

1/4 cup fennel seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds (if you’ve got ’em — I used ground coriander, and added it with the red pepper flakes)
1 tablespoon peppercorns
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup chili powder (or combination of chili powder and paprika in my case as we were almost out of the former)
2 tablespoons sea salt
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Toast the fennel seeds, coriander seeds, and peppercorns in a small, heavy pan over medium heat. When the fennel begins to turn light brown, add the red pepper flakes, and toss several times. Immediately turn the spice mixture out onto a plate to cool.

Put in a blender with the chili powder, salt, and cinnamon and blend until the spices are evenly ground. If you have a small spice mill or a coffee grinder dedicated to grinding spices, grind only the fennel, coriander, pepper, and chili flakes. Pour into a bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients.

Keep the spice mix in a glass jar in a cool, dry place, or freeze.

Note: If you have an exhaust fan over your stove, turn it on before you start toasting the spices. Be careful not to inhale the fumes once you add the red pepper flakes.

Yield: 1 cup

* * *

Smoothie Redux

I’ve mentioned before how nice a milk and fruit smoothie can be. In this warm weather, I suggest placing the following in a blender and whizzing on high: 1/4 cup half-and-half, 3/4 cup low fat milk, 4 ripe strawberries (stems removed), dash of maple syrup, 6 ice cubes. Yummy!