Work has been stressful for me lately. I've just been really busy and have been having motivation issues. Plus, I have a really bad habit of not being able to leave work at work, and I tend to stress about work at home. This is one reason why I am so addicted to knitting--it's one of the only things that can completely occupy my mind. Cooking has the same effect. I don't cook as much as I'd like to because I am sometimes too tired to put much effort into cooking. But, something about the fall begs me to cook. I love hearty fall foods: stews, warm casseroles, root vegetables, pork chops with apples! Earlier this week, I had a craving for just that: spiced pork chops with apple chutney.
The chutney was quite good. It calls for apples, cranberries, brown sugar, cider vinegar, dry mustard, ginger, all spice and salt. Although I tend not to like mustard, even in dry form, I really liked it in this. It counterbalanced the cider and the sweetness of the apples and the cranberries.
The pork chops I used were thicker than called for, and I always find that I have to cook pork chops longer than recipes call for. I can never get the inside cooked correctly without the outside overcooking. I started these on a stove-top grill pan, and finished them in the oven. They actually turned out really good and juicy!
We paired it with sweet potatoes that had been baking in the oven and some apple cider wine from a small winery in southern Indiana, Huber's Winery. We got the wine in September when we went with some friends. We did a wine tasting, and I really liked this wine. It's a seasonal selection. It's a little thick and a little sweeter than I typically prefer, but it really does have an apple cider taste, which I love! And it paired well with the chops.
No comments:
Post a Comment