Tag: pork chops

Hubert Keller’s Pork Chops with Calvados Sauce, Sautéed Apples and Roasted Creamed Corn

.Reading time 6 minutes.

Serves: 2

A lot to unpack here.

Nat’s turn to wow with a late, midweek lunch. Something to look forward to during the week, something to smile about afterwards.

French Bistro the theme locked in.

Nat started with a freshly baked baguette: cheese, pâté, cured meat.

What a way to start with a cold lager!

And then this dish.

Something to smile about afterwards? You absolutely bet!

This was French Bistro as good as you could imagine. Absolutely impossible to fault.

So Hubert Keller? I’d never heard of him, though he trained under Paul Bocuse, the father of modern French cooking who undisputedly set the benchmark for this style of French cuisine. (Fun fact: my parents went to a dinner he hosted in Sydney and Mr Bocuse signed a menu for me. I still have it!)

And then this cut of pork. I’ve mentioned our amazing local butcher Hummerstons and a quick text to Steve and he had it under control. 2 double pork chops with 1 bone removed, about 4cm thick. Talk about a dramatic presentation!

Nat and I debated using a thinner pork chop as an easier entry to this dish, though absolutely do not cut corners. If ever there was a time to engage your butcher and have the double chop, it is this.

The roasted cream corn with the spring onions and parmesan is just luxury and pairs perfectly with the pork and the apple. Did I mention smiles?

Occasionally you wander onto a dish that is a hero and this is one of them.

It is rude however to suggest that Nat wanders into anything when it comes to food.

This was always going to be an extraordinary meal and mopped up with a homemade baguette and glass of light red, very hard to argue that life isn’t great.

P.S. Nat says start the corn first.

Ingredients

2 double pork chops with 1 bone removed, 4cm thick
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
4 Fuji apples
2 tbsp butter
3/4 c Calvados apple brandy*
1 c apple cider
1 c chicken stock
2 tbsp chives, thinly snipped

Creamed Corn

2 ears corn, husks removed, both ends trimmed
2 tbsp softened butter
Pinch salt
Pinch pepper
1 c heavy cream
1/2 c chicken stock
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
2 stalks spring onion, thinly sliced
1/4 c Parmean cheese grated

Method

  1. Peel the apples and cut each into 6 wdges. Cut out the cores, and trim each wedge into a football shape. Reserve all peels and trimmings.
  2. In a small sauté pan, melt butter and add apple wedges. Coover over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until apples are browned and softened, 10 – 12 minutes. Set aside. Season both sides of the pork chops with salt and pepper and in a sauté pan large enough to hold both pork chops, heat oil until smoking.
  3. Lay pork chops into hot oil and sear approximately 7 minutes on each side until golden brown and the internal temperature is at 62c. **
  4. Remove from the pan and cover with foil to keep warm whilst you make the sauce. Discard half the fat and trimmings from the pan, then add apple trimmings and sauté over medium-high heat for a few minutes.
  5. Add Calvados and apple cider, and bring just to a boil. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 5 minutes, or until it becomes thick, with a syrup-like consistency. Add chicken stock and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer, pushing down on the apple trimmings with the back of a spoon to remove all juices.
  6. Put the sauce back in the pan over low heat and add the chives. Taste and adjust for seasonings.
  7. For the creamed corn, heat the oven to 180c. Brush the corn with butter and season with salt and pepper. Warp each corn ear in foil and roast in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the corn starts to brown.
  8. Unwrap the corn and when cool enough to handle, slice off the kernels. In a small saucepan over a medium-heat, combine cream, ginger, salt and pepper and reduce by one-third, 5 – 7 minutes. Add the corn kernels and chicken stock to reduced cream and cook for 10 minutes, or until cream thickens and is absorbed by the corn.
  9. Remove corn from the heat, and stir in the spring onions and Parmesean cheese.
  10. Served the pork, with apple wedges, corn alongside and the sauce ready to pour.

* Substitute 1/2 c brandy and 1/4 c apple juice.

** This will take longer. Potentially finish off in the oven if the internal temperature is rising too slowly.

Gretta Anna’s Pork Chops with Mustard, Apples and Garlic Cabbage

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serces: 6

This is just a wonderful bit of Provincial bistro cooking. So tasty, so simple, so warming.

Nat cooked this for lunch in the heart of winter last year and it totally nailed the brief.

French cooking luxury on a budget.

Ingredients

50gm butter for pork
6 foreloin pork chops
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into lengths

Onion mustard sauce

25gm butter
3 onions, chopped
350ml dry sherry
150ml chicken stock
150ml pure cream
3 generous tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp cornflour mixed with 2 tbsp water

Garlic cabbage

25gm butter
2 large onions, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 – 5 large garlic cloves, crushed
3 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley (stalks and all)
1/4 cabbage, finely sliced

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c.
  2. Heat 50gm butter in a fry pan over a medium heat and sauté the pork chops for 5 minutes each side, turning until golden. Transfer the chops to a casserole dish.
  3. To make the onion mustard sauce, heat the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and sauté the onions for 5 minutes until soft though not coloured. Add the sherry, stock, cream and mustard, then stir the cornflour mixture in to thicken. Simmer for 2 minutes, then add to the casserole dish with the chops. Season with salt and pepper and cover with a lid.
  4. Cook in the oven for 40 minutes, then add the apple and cook for another 10 minutes, until the apple pieces are soft but not falling apart. Remove all the fat from the top using a spoon or a ladle.
  5. To make the garlic cabbage, heat the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and sauté for 5 minutes until soft though not coloured. Add salt, pepper and garlic and sauté for 1 – 2 minutes and add the parsley. Add the cabbage and toss for a couple of minutes until the cabbage is heated through and coated with the buttery mixture, but still crisp.
  6. Serve the pork with the garlic cabbage.

BBQ Thai Basil and Ginger Pork Chops (with Tomato Salad)

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

There is this wonderful website (well, Instagram) I follow called What to Cook.

It is by a father/daughter team where he cooks really simple, fresh and fun food and she takes great photos of the food. They look like they have so much doing it and they are obviously eating well.

I have only cooked one of their recipes (this one) though I have a bunch more lined up. Its modern, bistro-quality food and during the week, that’s just fine.

I let this marinate for two nights before BBQing and together with the salad, a bottle of white we opened and my favourite travelling companion Nat, we had a perfect weeknight in.

Ingredients

4 large pork chops,
1 Thai chilli, finely diced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
½ c fresh thai basil leaves
Pinch of salt
Juice of 1 lime

Tomato salad

1 bunch butter lettuce, leaves torn
2 vine-ripened tomatoes, sliced
1 oxheart tomato, sliced
2 baby cucumbers, sliced
½ cup bean sprouts
¼ cup fresh mint leaves

Salad dressing

3 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp palm sugar, grated

Method

  1. Place the chops in a dish, then add the chilli, ginger, garlic, salt Thai basil, lime juice, cover and marinate in the fridge for 2 hours (or as long as you want).
  2. Preheat your BBQ over a high heat. Once preheated, BBQ the chops until cooked and then cover with foil and rest for 5 miutes.
  3. To serve; assemble the salad on the plates and drizzle with the dressing. Add the chops and (in their words) “enjoy”!