Pork Chops with Apple & Red Onion Chutney

Well, it's March 1, the clocks go forward next week, and some migrating geese came over our house today. So even though it's actually snowing right now it suddenly feels as though there maybe won't be too much time left for hearty winter dishes. This is a lovely one.

I first made it last year, so it isn't part of the resolution thing. It's from a book called Quick Food: Easy Everyday Ideas for Busy Cooks that I picked up because it looked pretty, but turns out to have some great recipes.

They serve it with sauteed green cabbage, which sounds nice, but we did roasted veggies instead as we had some parsnips and squash to use up. I've provided info for both here.

The Recipe: Pork Chops with Apple & Red Onion Chutney

• Quarter cup butter
• 2 small red onions, sliced
• 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, then cut into quarters and sliced
• Quarter tsp ground cloves
• Third cup honey
• 4 8 oz. pork loin chops

• For cabbage: 1.5 lbs green cabbage, thinly shredded; 1 tbsp butter; half tsp caraway seeds

• For roasted veggies: 2 parsnips; quarter butternut squash; 2 carrots; 1 large potato; 1 tbsp dried rosemary. [This is a guess; I think I did about half this amount tonight for us.]

Serves 4

1) If you're making roast veggies: Peel and cut into pieces about an inch square, put into a roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil. Season with plenty of salt, ground black pepper, and dried rosemary, and toss to make sure they're covered with the oil. Roast in oven at 425F, turning occasionally, for about 45 mins, or until tender and browned to your taste.

2) To make the chutney: Melt butter in a saucepan, then add the onions, apples, cloves, and honey. Simmer, covered for 10 mins over low heat. Increase the heat to medium, cover, and cook for another 20 mins until the liquid is reduced to a thick chutney.

3) Season chops well on both sides with salt and ground black pepper. Saute the chops over medium-high heat for 6-8 mins on each side, or until browned and cooked through. Remove pan from the heat and allow chops to rest for 2 mins.

4) For cabbage: Melt butter in large saucepan, add caraway seeds and cabbage, and cook, covered, over medium-low heat, tossing a few times with tongs, for 12 mins or until tender.

5) Serve, with spoonful of chutney on each pork chop.

Thoughts/Tips/Mistakes

The recipe makes up into a lot of chutney, as you can see from the pics. I made half the recipe for the two of us, but it could be enough for 4 people (my red onion was a little large, though).

Pix

The chutney











The pork chops (Jack's handiwork)







The veggies (cooked a little long, but that was fine by us - we like them a bit blackened)


A rather murky picture of the finished product, with a huge amount of chutney, and some peas for color