Sous Vide Pork Chops with Hard Cider Glaze

I love pork chops and apple. Apple-stuffed might be my favorite, but this recipe is delicious and simpler. If you don't have a sous vide, you can just cook pork chops normally and finish with the glaze. They're really juicy and flavorful and a great fall dinner. I served them with Ina Garten's roasted cauliflower with pecorino and panko - a great side! (Taken from this recipe.)

Pink Applesauce

It seems that half the people I've spoken to recently have a plethora of apples from either weekend apple picking, or someone else's weekend apple picking. My sister-in-law gave me a whole bunch of apples from her uncle's apple tree - thanks Uncle Bobby! They were little and bright red. Not entirely sure what kind of apples they were. I've made a few things, but this weekend I made some really delicious, and pink, apple sauce! I read somewhere that as long as you use a food mill, you don't need to peel or even core the apples. Makes it so much easier, and you also get all the good flavor (and in this case color) from the skins. The bright red skins gave the apple sauce such a pretty color, and the cinnamon stick I cooked them with gave it just a little bit of a cinnamon flavor. Yum! Also, it's only three ingredients. Very simple. 

New Pie Book

Isn't that the most beautiful pie? It's from my new cookbook, Four and Twenty Blackbirds - thanks Palmer and Austen! This particular pie was salt pork apple pie. It was really tasty, but it's an odd one and I think it would have actually been better sans pork. I can't wait to make another pie from the book, though, because the crust was so, so flaky and buttery and crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, and there are so many great looking recipes and helpful tips.

Apple Sauce

Right before Sandy struck, I pulled out the trusty food mill and decided to make some apple sauce. It just seemed good for stormy weather. I went to Gristedes, which was hopping and didn't have any carts or baskets, and piled lots of apples in my arms hoping they wouldn't tumble before I could check out. The apple sauce was so tasty, and the food mill makes it velvety and smooth. It's also really simple. It took about half an hour and it was way better than store bought. I went off the Cook's Illustrated basic apple sauce recipe; fool proof, really. Leaving the skin on while you cook gives it a lot more flavor.

Apple-Stuffed Pork Chops with Cider Garlic Glaze

I had some good friends over for dinner last night and one of them, Charlie, requested these pork chops. I made them for him once before for helping me carry a table from my sister's apartment to my then new apartment. They're super tasty and a really special weeknight meal. The sauteed apples are so tasty, I'd love to find another use for them. The sweet of the apple and the rich butter, the salt, and the kick of the chipotle powder is awesome. The cider glaze is also incredibly good - syrupy but with garlic. Yum! I served it with minted pea puree. (Jamie loves pea puree, so it's becoming a staple in our house.)

Serves 4
Ingredients:
4 bone in pork chops, the thicker the better
1 1/2 apples (I used 1 Granny Smith and half a Gala) peeled and thinly sliced
3 cups apple cider
4 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, smashed and peeled
1/2 tsp chipotle powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper

Apple Tart

This is from Ina Garten's recipe, but instead of making the pastry by hand, I just use puff pastry. This always looks really fancy and just takes a few steps and ingredients. Great to serve with some vanilla ice cream. Don't be alarmed by the sugary caramel that forms around the pastry - it's totally normal. Just make sure to use parchment paper to line the cookie sheet otherwise clean up really stinks.

Ingredients:
2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored (melon ballers work well), and thinly sliced
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
just under 2 cups sugar
3 tbsp cold, unsalted butter cut into cubes
2 big tbsp apricot jelly
2 tbsp water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Roll out pastry into a square and put on parchment lined baking sheet. Arrange apple slices overlapping (as shown below) and sprinkle with sugar and dot with butter.