Background
It's that time again, folks. The leaves are turning (or have fallen!), the air is brisk, and I can see my husband's whole face light up when I mention the prospect of apple pie. And since he's open minded, he doesn't just limit his apple consumption to pie form. No, he'll also accept pig, as well. This is a recipe I came up with by combining a couple of favorite pork comfort dishes.
This recipe is also distinctive because it more closely resembles how I typically cook. Some of the amounts of ingredients are approximate, given that I tend not to measure things. For the purposes of this blog, I try to post concrete measurements in my ingredient list. But really, sometimes, you just want to go by feel. So here is an example of me going by feel. I hope you enjoy!
Ingredients
2 2" pork chops or 4 1" pork chops
1 C. rice
olive oil
2 medium-large apples
1 C. broth (beef, chicken or veggie)
1/4 C. dryish white wine (whatever is turning to vinegar in the fridge)
corn starch
several t. rubbed sage
good handful of currants
1 small tomato, thinly sliced
1 small green pepper, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced
Directions
Preheat oven to 350.
Start rice cooking in a 3-4 quart pot.
In a medium-large sauce pan, bring broth to a simmer. Add white wine and stir well. While stirring continuously, add enough corn starch to thicken broth to a light rue (kind of syrupy consistency). Add 1-2 t. dried rubbed sage. Pour out of pan and set aside.
In same pan, brown pork chops in a little olive oil. Salt and pepper both sides while browning. Do not cook all the way through. Place browned pork chops in the bottom of a deep baking dish (make sure dish is big enough for apples to fit around the pork chops and deep enough for rice to go on top).
Peel apples and chop them into bite-size chunks (I use the apple corer/slicer thing that cuts out the core and slices the apple into 8ths - then I cut each 8th in half). Sprinkle in bottom of baking dish around pork chops. Pour rue over the apples and chops.
The rice should be done cooking now. Fluff with fork and add currants and another 1-2 t. of sage. Mix well. Pour rice over top of chops/apples in baking dish.
Place sliced veggies on top of the rice (my mom always put them on top of where each chop was so it was easy to figure out where to dig out the meat - the rice will cover them up).
Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 1 hour.
Notes
• When I did this, I used 1 t. of sage in the sauce and 1 t. of sage in the rice. I kind of lost the flavor because by the time you put it all together, it's a lot of food that sage has to battle. That's why I suggested 1-2 t. in each place. Same with the wine... the sauce smelled wonderful when I made it, but I lost the wine flavor in the whole dish... so again, maybe play it by ear.
• I used the 2" chops and I was nervous about them not cooking all the way through, so I browned them a little longer. Mistake. And hour was plenty to cook them through. They turned out a little dry - better by the fat :)
• If you aren't a sage fan, play around. Another flavor I really like with pork is tarragon, but playing with flavor is always fun. If you stumble upon something extraordinary, be sure to let us know!
