Pork Chops with Roasted Apples and Pearl Onions

Sometimes I dread the day that I have to be an actual grownup 100% of the time.  One day in the hazy future, I am going to have to be somewhat more responsible.  And by responsible I don't mean having only a small scope of ice cream after a dinner of cereal.  I mean responsible like cooking a balanced dinner each night, eating a range of fruits and veggies, and not impulse buying ice cream in the first place.

People, we are not getting younger.  Responsibility time is just around the corner unfortunately.  Yours truly is about to turn a quarter of a century in less than a month.  Yes, I know, I know, maybe 25 isn't that old, but to me it's a scary number, round multiple of 5.  (PS - Mom, your youngest is about to turn 25! Ah!)  My days of sitting on the couch after a long day, eating cereal and watching 80's TV reruns are numbered.  I'm going to have to finish growing up eventually.  I'm going to have to make more things like pork chops roasted with apples and onions.  Oh the hardships....

Pork Chops with Roasted Apples and Pearl Onions
Cooking Light, September 2012

This wasn't a stand out dish.  It was good, but not amazing.  In other words, was eaten up completely, but not quite big green cookbook worthy.  Tuesday night dinner worthy though, you know, if you run out of cereal and ice cream.

2 1/2 tsp. olive oil, divided
1 1/2 c. frozen pearl onions, thawed, pat dry
2 c. Gala apple wedges
3 tsp. butter, divided
2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
4 (6-oz) bone-in center-cut pork loin chops (about 1/2 in. thick)
1/2 c. chicken stock
1/2 tsp. flour
1 tsp. cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Heat large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tsp. olive oil to pan and heat.  Add onions to pan and brown for 3-4 minutes, stirring only once or twice to let the onions get some pretty brown on them. Add apples to pan and put in oven. Roast at 400° until apples are fork tender, about 10 minutes.  Toss immediately with 2 tsp. butter, thyme, salt, and pepper.  Transfer mixture to plate and cover with tin foil to keep warm.

Heat remaining oil in pan over medium-high heat. Season pork chops lightly with salt and pepper.  Cook pork 3 minutes per side, flipping only once to get a nice brown.  Remove pork from pan and tent with foil to keep warm. Whisk together broth and flour until there are no more lumps.  Pour into hot pan and bring to a boil, scrapping up any lose bits into the broth.  Boil until mixture is reduced to about 1/4 cup.  Add vinegar and remaining tsp. of butter, serve over pork and applies.

Apple Cider Pulled Pork

In the most uncharacteristically Northern Illinois way, it has been warm here the last few days.  My heart wants so badly to believe that the warmth is here to stay, but unfortunately my brain knows better.  My brain knows that it is only a matter of time before Mother Nature plays what must be known as the cruelest April Fools' Day joke there is... Spring is coming!  Go for long walks, sit in the sun!  What, 2 feet of snow?  Gotcha!  April Fools!

I promise, living in the Midwest has only made me a little bit bitter.  And even if I do know better, I can't help but daydream on this beautiful 70 degree day of the better things to come: spring, warmth, sunlight past 6 pm in the evening, fresh corn and tomatoes, cooking in a tank top and trying your best to minimize the amount of time your oven spends heating up your apartment just so your AC can cool it right down again, and lots, lots and lots, of pulled pork sandwiches.

Ben and I are both big fans of the pulled pork.  We were spoiled quite a bit with me living in South Carolina for awhile and any trip to the south isn't quite complete until we've had a BBQ pulled pork sandwich.  So when I told Ben all week long that I was making pulled pork for our Wednesday dinner together, his mind saw shredded pork smothered in some sort of BBQ.  And even though I gave him this instead, he was still quite happy.

Ben thought immediately that it was BGCB material, however I have my suspicions he's just trying to fill the thing out.  I think it has potential.  It's different and good, but the tang I was expecting from the apple cider wasn't there as much as I had hoped.  I used Simply Apple and Hornsby's Hard Cider, so I might play around with my ciders.  There was also A LOT of onions.  The initial recipe called for 4.  Being the kind, considerate girlfriend that I am, I cut it down to 3 (Ben is still convinced he doesn't like onions but only when he can see them...) and sliced them up the night before.  When I was assembling the next morning (did I mention this was a slow cooker meal!?  Perfect for those warm days...), it just looked like way too much.  I used a little more than half the onions I sliced up the night before.  And there was still a lot of onion.  The taste doesn't over power or anything, there was just onion every where you looked.  In the end the verdict was quite good:  I had a happy boyfriend and a full stomach myself.  I just need to tinker a bit more...

Bloggerversary....  Hey!  In case you didn't notice, someone's bloggerversary is coming up... (I've been debating about celebrating it the way I do my birthday... all week long!)  I've ordered myself a nice little bloggerversary gift just for the occasion.  Excited?  Me too.  I'll break it out on the big day!! (March 31st, just in case you were planning on sending gifts...)

Apple Cider Pulled Pork
adapted from Food 52

1 bottle hard apple cider
1-2 c. 100% apple cider
1 c. ketchup
1/2 c. dark brown sugar
1 Tbsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. siracha
2 onions, thinly sliced
4 lbs. pork shoulder

To make sauce, measure out hard cider and add enough apple cider to measure 3 cups of liquid.  Whisk in ketchup, brown sugar, paprika, cumin, garlic powder and siracha.

Place half of the onions in 4.5 qt or larger crock pot.  Place pork shoulder on top (if you have time, brown pork shoulder on stove top first).  Pour sauce over top and cover with remaining sliced onions.  cover slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours, until pork is fall apart with forks tender.

Remove pork from crock pot and set aside.  Turn crock pot to high heat and let sauce boil, reduce and thicken, skimming any fat from surface that shows up.  Using hands or forks or both, shred pork.  I kept mine separate (to help Ben with his onion fear), but you could also mix the pork back in the sauce and onion mixture.  Scoop pork and onions onto buns and make sure to top with sauce.  Enjoy!

Cheesy, Slow Roasted Onions

I was so ready to love this recipe.  And to be honest, I've managed to talk myself into thinking maybe I actually did.  I blame the confusion on this sickness that I really just can't seem to kick out of my system.  Obviously my food loving sensory detectors are on the fritz if the rest of my body is feeling this crudy.  I should be doing nothing but watching movies on my couch, in my pjs, eating buckets of gooey, yummy, milk rice.

Yet, I'm at work each day, working out a few times afterwards, going grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning and doing laundry, and oh yeah, getting ready to move in a matter of days.  And then I made cheesy, slow roasted onions, wanting so desperately to love them like I thought I was meant to, and I just couldn't.

Which is a pity, because when you see how simple this recipe is, you can imagine how great it would be to love them.  To come home and even with a to-do list that is a mile long, still get these in the oven in less than 3 minutes.  I think the problem came from too much Meyer Lemon Olive Oil (a Homegoods purchase I am still so psyched about) and weird cheese.  Yes, mostly I blame the cheese.  Don't ask for reasons, because it makes sense in my clouded brain.  Next time around I'll stick to something a bit more normal, less adventurous, you know aged cheddar or something.  And yes there will be a next time, because I know deep in my bones that I was made to love cheesy, slow roasted onions.  We were meant to be.

I'm moving, again!!  I know, I haven't even unpacked all my boxes from the last move.  Ah well, there's not point now!  So, please be patient with me and the lack of creativity as we work through my cooking backlog and I get the rest of my stuff packed back into boxes... again.

Cheesy, Slow Roasted Onions
From November 2011's Cooking Light

2 medium sized onions
Olive Oil, preferably fruity
Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degree F.

Peel and quarter onion by cutting a cross from the top of each almost to the root.  Place in oven proof dish and drizzle lightly with olive oil ("A fruity olive oil is best if you have the choice").  Tent onions in foil.  Place in oven and roast for 45 minutes.

Remove onions from onion and discard oil.  Spoon some oil over the onions and return to oven, uncovered, until golden and soft, about 15 minutes more.

While roasting, slice some cheese thinly (recipe suggests cheddar, Gruyere, or Camembert).  Once onions are soft, top with cheese and return to oven until cheese is melted.   Serve immediately.