 |
|||||||||||
|
Pork chops with two seasons of vegetables By Kady Guyton
This is a great time of year to be a chef. The spring vegetables are starting to show up and the winter ones are still around, allowing an observant cook to get the best of both seasons. Fennel is a new arrival I'm happy to see. Sweet and crunchy when raw, mellow when cooked, fennel is coming into its prime right now. Fennel is entirely edible and the feathery stalks can be used to flavor salads and soups even after the bulb has been consumed. It's also very high in vitamin C, a good thing as we head out of winter. Normally I prefer fennel fresh in salads, but I had a fennel neophyte at my table this week, so I decided to ease him in slowly. When roasted, the strong licorice flavor in fennel smooths out into a very pleasant complements other root vegetables very well. To that end, I decided to roast the fennel with carrots, spring onions, apples, sliced chard and pork chops. The old wisdom regarding pork was to cook it throughly in case of trichinosis - a parasite that could be found and transfered in raw or undercooked pork. Now all commercially produced pork in the United States is vaccinated for trichinosis at birth. Safe handling rules still apply, but pork bought at a grocery store can be prepared with a little more leeway. For this recipe, either bone-in, thick cut or a pork roast will work fine. The point is to finish the meat on top of the vegetables so it can provide additional flavor. Pork chops can be tricky; the meat is lean, so they can dry out quickly. However, most people don't care for the taste of rare pork, so it should be cooked to at least medium well - or 165 degrees on a meat thermometer. The trick to juicy pork chops is to sear them in a skillet on the stove, then transfer the pan and contents to a hot oven. In this case, the vegetables are started first, then the meat is allowed to finish cooking in the same dish. Don't overthink the vegetables too much. Fennel, carrots, brussels sprouts, apples and onions all roast up very well. If you decide to use spinach or chard, toss it in during the last ten minutes of cooking. This will give it time to wilt without dissolving. Serve this with a crisp green salad and some crusty bread to soak up the pan juices. Pork chops with Roasted Spring Vegetables 4 pork chops Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a deep baking dish, toss fennel, carrots, onion and apple with the vinegar and olive oil. Sprinkle with rosemary, salt and pepper. Put in the oven and roast approximately 25 minutes. Meanwhile, salt and pepper the pork chops and sear on both sides in a hot pan with oil until brown. Transfer to the oven and place on top of the vegetables. Add spinach or chard during the last five minutes of cook time and allow to wilt. Check internal temperature of pork chops with a meat thermometer. When it reaches 165, remove from oven and allow to sit for five to ten minutes before serving. |
||||||||||
