The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern_ Knockout Dishes With Down-Home Flavor - Matt Lee [58]
PORK LOIN CHOPS WITH MUSHROOM CHUTNEY
serves 4 • TIME: 25 minutes
Pork chops were a mainstay of Lee family school-night cooking when we were growing up, and although our parents rarely seasoned them with anything more than salt and black pepper, we’d suck the bones clean. We’re still ravenous for pork chops, and this quick mushroom chutney, sweetened with prunes and spiked with ginger, somehow encourages us to take the chop route more frequently.
Consider making this mushroom chutney for your favorite cut of pork; it enhances anything—even bacon!—with its earthy, wintry personality.
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sifted all-purpose flour
4 bone-in pork loin chops (each 1¼ inches thick; about 2½ pounds total)
1 tablespoon canola, peanut, or vegetable oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger
1 medium yellow onion, chopped (about ¾ cup)
6 ounces pitted prunes, quartered (about 1¼ cups)
6 ounces button mushrooms, quartered (about 3 cups)
6 ounces shiitake or cremini mushrooms, woody stems trimmed, cut into eighths (about 2 cups)
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 Heat the oven to 425°F.
2 In a small bowl, mix 1 teaspoon of the salt, the black pepper, and the flour together. Sprinkle half of the mixture over one side of each pork chop.
3 Pour the oil into a 12-inch cast-iron skillet or ovenproof sauté pan and heat it over high heat until the first wisp of smoke rises. Tilt the skillet gently in a circular motion so the oil coats the bottom thinly and evenly. Put the chops, seasoned side down, in the hot skillet (take care not to crowd them in the pan; sear them in batches of two, if necessary) and sprinkle the remaining half of the seasoning mixture on the sides facing up. Sear the pork chops until they are a rich golden brown, turning them when the first side is done, about 3 minutes per side.
4 Turn the chops so the first side faces down again, and transfer the skillet to the oven. Bake for 2 minutes for rare, 4 minutes for medium-rare, and 6 minutes for well-done. Remove the skillet from the oven, transfer the chops to a large plate or platter, and tent them with aluminum foil.
5 Add the butter, ginger, onion, prunes, button and shiitake mushrooms, and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt to the skillet, and place it over medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon, scraping any caramelized pork bits off the bottom, and sauté, stirring, until the onion softens slightly and the surface of the mushrooms has begun to sweat a bit, about 3 minutes. Add the brown sugar, vinegar, and ½ cup water, and continue to cook over low heat until the vegetables have achieved an even degree of softness and the liquid in the pan is syrupy, about 6 minutes.
6 Divide the pork chops among 4 warm dinner plates, and spoon the mushroom chutney liberally over and around the chops.
SMOKED TROUT
serves 4 • TIME: 15 minutes
The delicate, earthy flavor of America’s finest freshwater swimmer takes to smoke exceptionally well. Fragrant smoked trout makes some fantastic light midweek meals: serve it as a sandwich spread (blend with just enough cream cheese to bind), or offer it up as a whole warm fillet, fresh from the smoker, alongside a heap of greens and a cup of soup. Trout is elegant enough for company and readily available year-round, since it is often farm-raised (the vast majority of American trout are raised in Idaho and North Carolina, and the vast majority of these are rainbow trout). It’s a sustainable seafood choice.
If you don’t have a household smoker (which resembles an aluminum roasting pan with a tight-fitting lid), a roasting pan covered with foil works well. This recipe calls for a brisk, hot smoking for 10 minutes on top of the stove, which is effective and speedy but requires a little more vigilance (hot