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I recently purchased a half gallon of Delicious Orchards apple cider for chicken and dumplings. I only needed a small amount for the recipe, so what do I do with the rest of the cider? Besides drinking it, I prefer to use it in a recipe. I went through the New York Times Cooking app, which is very good resource for excellent recipes, and found a terrific one by David Tanis. The recipe is Pork Chops with Apples and Cider. Mr. Tanis spent a month in Normandy, France and discovered the region had an abundance of apples. It’s an area of France where there’s artisanal cider making and also the distilling of apples into Calvados, an apple brandy. Mr. Tanis came up with the following recipe based on the Normandy region where cider and cream are combined for a delicious sauce.
Based on the notes of other cooks who made this recipe, I wanted to make sure my boneless pork chops were at least 1” thick. Mr. Tanis suggested 1/2” pork chops. Other adjustments I made to his recipe based on what I had in my pantry include ground allspice instead of whole berries, cornstarch instead of potato starch and I used homemade crème fraîche (heavy cream and buttermilk) instead of purchasing it (available at Whole Foods and Wegmans).
The dry rub for the pork chops went together without any problem. I still have fresh sage in my garden which I finely chopped for the recipe. Also, I adjusted all the quantities for the recipe as I was only making two boneless pork chops for my husband and I. Based on some of the comments from some of the cooks, I wiped the herbs off the meat before sautéing. Some cooks thought the meat tasted salty. My pork sat with the herbs on it for a few hours. The taste infused the pork with wonderful flavor. I think the next time, I’ll leave it on. 

While I was prepping the pork for supper, I found a recipe for delicata squash, which I picked up at Dreyer Farms in Cranford. On the website www.dinneratthezoo.com, the blogger, Sarah, had the most scrumptious recipe that used olive oil, brown sugar, maple syrup and cinnamon. The squash was tossed with these ingredients then roasted in the oven until they were beautifully caramelized.

This was a terrific dinner on cool evening. The pork was tender and the sauce flavorful. I loved the delicata squash. What is so great about delicata squash is that the skin is edible. I need to get a few more while they’re available. My husband also enjoyed the meal. These two recipes will be in my cooking rotation. As a matter of fact, if you wish to try the recipe using bone in pork loin chops, Whole Foods has them on special now through Tuesday, October 23rd for $4.99/lb. or $4.49/lb. if you are a prime member. 

While on the subject of current Whole Food specials, they also have Beef Top Round Steak or London Broil on special for $5.99/lb.; for prime members $5.39/lb. Air-chilled whole chickens are $1.69/lb.
Pork Chops with Apples and Cider
The New York Times, October 5, 2012
“The City Kitchen” column, “A Taste of Fall in a Bottle of Hard Cider”
By David Tanis
  
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Time: About 1 hour
 
INGREDIENTS
 
FOR THE SPICED SALT
¼ teaspoon black peppercorns
3 cloves
4 allspice berries
2 tablespoons roughly chopped sage
1 and 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
 
 
FOR THE PORK AND SAUCE
6 boneless pork chops, 4 ounces each, about 1/2-inch thick
2 large apples
2 tablespoons butter
 All-purpose flour, for dusting
½ cup hard cider, plus 2 tablespoons
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 and 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 teaspoons potato starch dissolved in 2 tablespoons cold water
3 tablespoons crème fraîche
1 tablespoon Calvados, apple brandy or Cognac, optional
2 tablespoons finely cut chives
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
 
PREPARATION
  1. Make the spice salt: Put peppercorns, cloves, allspice and sage in a spice mill or mortar and grind to a powder. Remove to a bowl and stir in salt. Season pork chops on both sides with salt mixture. (There will be some salt mixture remaining; use it to season the sauce, Step 4.) Cover and leave chops at room temperature to absorb seasonings for at least 30 minutes.
  2. Peel, quarter and core apples, then cut each apple into 12 wedges. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a wide skillet and raise heat to medium-high. Add apple wedges in one layer and brown gently on one side, about 2 minutes. Brown on the other side and cook for 2 minutes more, or until apples are cooked through but still firm. Remove apples from pan and keep warm.
  3. Add 1 tablespoon butter to pan and swirl to melt. Dust pork chops with flour, and place in pan and brown gently for about 4 minutes per side. Adjust heat if necessary to keep pork from cooking too quickly. Remove chops and keep warm on a platter in a low oven. Discard remaining butter.
  4. Add ½ cup cider to pan, raise heat to high and cook down to a syrup. Add mustard and chicken broth, and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Add potato starch and stir with a wire whisk as the sauce thickens. Stir in crème fraîche. Season to taste with remaining spiced salt. Add 2 tablespoons cider and the Calvados, if using. Cook for 1 minute more.
  5. Spoon sauce over the chops, then spoon the apples around the platter. Sprinkle with chives and parsley.
Brown Sugar Delicata Squash
Sara Welch
www.dinneratthezoo.com
 
Servings: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
 
Ingredients
2-3 lbs. delicata squash (about 2 average sized squash)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon or more to taste
Cooking spray
 
INSTRUCTIONS 
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Halve the delicata squash lengthwise and remove the seeds. Cut the halves into 3/4-inch-thick slices.
  2. Line a sheet pan with foil and coat with cooking spray.
  3. In a small bowl mix together the olive oil, maple syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Pour the olive oil mixture over the squash and toss to coat.
  5. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until squash is tender and starting to brown. Serve immediately.