Keep the family toasty all winter long with a warm and hearty meal of pork chops, apples, and potatoes with a handful of kale. This recipe, courtesy of Kerry Altiero’s new cookbook, Adventures in Comfort Food combines sweet, salty, and tart flavors and the final dish is exactly what your family needs on a cold winter day.
Serves 2
Ingredients:
2 (8 oz) center-cut boneless pork chops
1½ cups mashed potato
2 apples, halved and cored
More olive oil on hand
6 leaves kale, coated in olive oil
¾ cup cider
Drizzle cider vinegar
Salt
Coarsely ground black pepper
Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 375°F. On the stovetop, heat a 9-inch heavy skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium-high heat. Place the chops fat-side down. We hope you have an exhaust fan. Brown the fat until dark, almost black, about 5 minutes.
2. Turn to the flat side and brown. You do not want to cook it through at this point, so don’t turn to the other side.
3. In a 9 x 12-inch oven-safe casserole dish, place the mashers in a pile. Next to them place the apples, cut side up. Brush both with olive oil. Add the seared chops next to them.
4. Into the oven! Bake for 10 to 20 minutes. The apples will puff up and eventually get to the consistency of applesauce. As you see the apples beginning to puff (it will be at least 10 minutes), top the entire dish with the kale leaves and roast away.
5. When the kale is dark green and beginning to crisp at the edges, pour in the cider. Bubble and boil it will. When everything is hot and the chops are medium or medium-rare (12 minutes or so), remove from the oven and plate. Drizzle some cider vinegar over. Finish the dish with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
Recipe from ADVENTURES IN COMFORT FOOD by Kerry Alteiro
Page Street Publishing/October 2014
Get the book from Amazon or Barnes & Noble
Kerry Altiero is the chef/owner of Cafe Miranda, a popular and multi-cuisine restaurant in Rockland, Maine. Kerry won Maine’s Lobster Chef of the Year in 2012 and Cafe Miranda was named Best Farm to Table Restaurant in 2013.
