Twitter often leaves me hungry.
Friends write slivers of the dinners they are creating at home (”Twice-cooked pork belly with pickled cabbage and taro”) or sampling at restaurants (”Porchetta stuffed with homemade sausage, roasted mushrooms, bacon, carmelized onions, & garlic, braised 6hrs”) or creating for other people (”Nothing says love like a spicy salami!”), and we are left feeling a little faint with all the possibilities, determined to get into the kitchen to make ourselves something that will satisfy that phrase-driven hunger.
A few weeks ago, Jonathan Gold left me ravenous. Now, let’s be honest: this often happens. The man is a god of food writing. Bawdy and confident, fascinated by street food and the dishes that come out of poverty, unabashed celebrator of all things Los Angeles (and even the Valley), Johnathan Gold always makes me laugh and gasp at his turns of phrase:
“The vibe here is evolved crunchiness, which is to say, like a pre-gig potluck whose intrinsic veganism has been expanded to include ricotta cheese and the occasional slab of organic pork belly, all resting comfortably within the boundaries of conscious omnivorousness. The stewed Rancho Gordo beans with toasted bread crumbs were delicious.”
And then he makes me hungry.
I happened to be on Twitter when he responded to my fellow writer and friend Renee Schettler’s wonderings about what to do with apples when feeling adventuresome. Johnathan Gold sent back this message:
@thejgold “Richard Olney’s pork chops and apples in mustard sauce. Godhead.”
That was enough to make me want to be in the kitchen, cooking.
It took a couple of weeks, and these pork chops, for us to have the occasion to make this recipe, in our own way.
Worth the wait.
Thank you, Twitter.
(You don’t have to wait, however. You can make this today.)
Pork Chops with Mustard and Apple Sauce, adapted from Richard Olney
2 slightly tart apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 bone-in pork loin chops
1/4 cup apple cider
1 medium onion, fine chopped
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
3 heaping tablespoons mustard
1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter
Preheat the oven to 450°.
Lay the apple slices in the bottom of a glass baking pan (we used a pie pan). Throw it in the oven for 15 minutes.
As you are baking the apples, set a large sauté pan over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil. When the oil is hot, sear the pork chops until the bottom is browned, about 7 minutes. Flip them over and sear the other side.
Pull the apple pan out of the oven. Put the seared pork chops on top of the apples.
Deglaze the sauté pan with the apple cider, reducing the liquid until the pan is almost dry. Pour that reduced liquid over the chops.
Add the remaining oil to the hot pan. Toss in the onion and cook, stirring, until it has become soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the sage and rosemary and cook until they release their fragrance, about 2 minutes. Pour in the chicken stock. Stir in the mustard and combine.
Cook until the liquid has reduced to ½ its volume. Add the butter and whisk it into the sauce quickly.
Pour the mustard sauce over the chops and apples. Return the pan to the oven and bake until the pork chops have reached an internal temperature of 160°, about 15 minutes.
Feeds 2.
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