Alright, before you tell me that I misspelled Chops and Apricots, I know. And if you are one of those closet Brady Bunch fans who lived in Boston in the 70's and watched re-runs on Channel 56 (gotta love the old UHF stations sans remote control), I know that in the episode Peter was saying Apple Sauce, not Apricots. I too am a closet (now out) Brady Bunch fan who watched far too many hours of re-runs on Channel 56. Not that I want to deviate too far from the point of this blog, but can I briefly discuss how awesome the UHF stations in Boston were in 70's and early 80's? You had Channel 38, home of the Bruins, Red Sox and lots of Andy Griffith. Channel 56 had the aforementioned Brady Bunch and the Celtics. And we cannot forget the short but wonderful life of V66, Boston's flash in the pan rival to cable's MTV. It was phenomenal, an all-music-video format dedicated to raising awareness to Boston's music scene. The Del Fuegos ("Don't Run Wild") and New Man (can't remember their big hit) are two local favorites to whom V66 gave a nice boost. OK. I live in Chicago, and have now for 21 years, and I'm writing about a Boston TV station that hasn't existed since 1986, in a space dedicated to Meat. Most readers aren't from Boston, probably aren't old enough to remember 1986 and couldn't care less about the Brady Bunch or New Man. I digress. I must move on.
I have never cooked with Butterfly Pork Chops before other than simply grilling them. Insert new recipe. I put a rub of curry, salt and pepper on the chops and left them in the fridge for a few hours. Took them out, and got them to room temperature (a new trick I learned that is now a staple in all my cooking now, but just an hour is all you need), and pan-seared them with olive oil for a minute or two on each side, then for 3 minutes per side while covered. Got them to an internal temperature of roughly 150 degrees, and took them out and let them rest under loosely covered foil. Into the pan goes 1/2 cup of diced onion along with turmeric, salt, ginger and a touch of cinnamon. Once the onions were softened and coated in the seasonings, I added chicken broth, sugar, salt and pepper and sliced dried apricots. Let the sauce simmer for about 5 minutes until it turns a bit syrupy, and pour it over the pork chops. I rested the chops on a small bed of couscous, with the sweet, middle eastern sauce poured over it. It was amazing. The other day, I wrote about the enigma of cooking good Indian food. This wasn't Indian, but I used several of the same seasonings, and this enigma was undoubtedly solved.
Regarding my quest to cook the Paulina display case, I encountered a minor hiccup in that they are closed this week for their annual winter break. These Pork Chops were bought and cooked on Saturday (I really want to keep my pace of 5 per month), along with a Skirt Steak currently in the freezer, which I have sized up for Orange Beef Thursday night. Those guys are great. For a good month leading up to their break, they let you know about it. Saturday at Paulina was like the day before a forecast blizzard, carnivores lined up to make sure they had enough meat to last during Paulina's winter break. Thanks to them and their strong communications, I am well fed, and well prepared.
6 down, 51 to go!
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