Gratuitous Food Post
Jul. 7th, 2007 08:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fenchurchI was rewatching the Good Eats episode "Major Pepper" the other day and decided it was time to give Slow Cooker Pepper Pork Chops a try... so, yesterday, I fired up the slow cooker and oooooo... was it good. Even though it calls for quite a bit of pepper, it cooks long enough to mellow the heat a bit, so you get the pepper flavor without as much of the bite. I had originally thought I would end up pushing the dried apple slices (and I highly recommend finding some NOT treated with sulfur) to the edge of my plate, but they'd absorbed the flavors from the pork chops really well and were quite tasty!
Slow Cooker Pepper Pork Chops
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons black peppercorns, slightly crushed (not ground)
1 pound ice
4 (1 to 1 1/2-inch thick) bone-in pork chops
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 ounces dried apple slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, julienned
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Combine the vegetable broth, 1/2 cup kosher salt, brown sugar and peppercorns in a medium saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Cook just until the salt and sugar dissolve, then remove from the heat and add the ice. Place the pork chops into a 2-gallon zip-top bag along with the mixture and seal. Place in a plastic container and refrigerate overnight.
Remove the chops from the brine, rinse, and pat dry. Season on both sides with the kosher salt and set aside
Place the apples in the slow cooker.
Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a 12-inch stainless steel saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute the pork chops on both sides until golden brown, approximately 5 to 6 minutes per side. Once browned, place the pork chops into the slow cooker atop the apples.
Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan followed by the onions and saute until they begin to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chicken broth to the pan to deglaze. Add the black pepper and thyme and stir to combine. Transfer this to the slow cooker, set to high, cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Decrease the heat to low and continue cooking for another 4 hours and 30 minutes or until the pork is tender and falling away from the bone.
In other news, Yakima Fruit Market up in Bothell has fresh local strawberries!! Not at all like the stuff you find in regular grocery stores... these are the sort you'd pick off a plant in your backyard: generally small, not perfectly shaped and oh. so. sweet!
I also picked up some apricots to dry... considering![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
taradaktyl and her family have gotten MUCH more use out of our dehydrator than we ever have, I think it's about time we start using the thing!
Slow Cooker Pepper Pork Chops
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons black peppercorns, slightly crushed (not ground)
1 pound ice
4 (1 to 1 1/2-inch thick) bone-in pork chops
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 ounces dried apple slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, julienned
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Combine the vegetable broth, 1/2 cup kosher salt, brown sugar and peppercorns in a medium saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Cook just until the salt and sugar dissolve, then remove from the heat and add the ice. Place the pork chops into a 2-gallon zip-top bag along with the mixture and seal. Place in a plastic container and refrigerate overnight.
Remove the chops from the brine, rinse, and pat dry. Season on both sides with the kosher salt and set aside
Place the apples in the slow cooker.
Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a 12-inch stainless steel saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute the pork chops on both sides until golden brown, approximately 5 to 6 minutes per side. Once browned, place the pork chops into the slow cooker atop the apples.
Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan followed by the onions and saute until they begin to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the chicken broth to the pan to deglaze. Add the black pepper and thyme and stir to combine. Transfer this to the slow cooker, set to high, cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Decrease the heat to low and continue cooking for another 4 hours and 30 minutes or until the pork is tender and falling away from the bone.
In other news, Yakima Fruit Market up in Bothell has fresh local strawberries!! Not at all like the stuff you find in regular grocery stores... these are the sort you'd pick off a plant in your backyard: generally small, not perfectly shaped and oh. so. sweet!
I also picked up some apricots to dry... considering
taradaktyl and her family have gotten MUCH more use out of our dehydrator than we ever have, I think it's about time we start using the thing!
