SAUTEED PORK CHOPS WITH GINGER-FUJI APPLE SAUCE

I have been Ming Tsai's fan for a while. I like him at first because I think he is so cute ( ehm... ). One time I need to impress my vegetarian mother in law but I didn't have any vegetarian recipe book so I download Ming Tsai's recipe and tried it for the first time. It turned out to be very good and my mother in law loved it. Even until now I still made it. Since then I know that he is not just good looking.... :)

So when I saw his book in my library, I have got to borrow it and try it. This book is his latest book. From first glance I like the idea right away because this book show you how to make many master sauce then how to use those master sauce into many dishes.

Today I tried one of the master sauce, which is Ginger-Fuji Apple Chutney. I always love that sweet and sour taste!

GINGER-FUJI APPLE CHUTNEY

Makes 4 cups
Last 1 week, refrigerated

4 cups Fuji or other non-mealy red apples ( 8-9 apples ), peeled, cored, and cut into 1 cm dice
juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbs canola oil
2 medium onions, cut into 1 cm dice
2 Tbs peeled and minced fresh ginger
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup rice wine vinegar
1 cup apple juice

In a large, non-reactive bowl, toss the apples with the lemon juice

Heat a large, nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the onions and ginger and saute until the onions are soft, 3 to 4 minutes. add the apples and cook, stirring gently, for 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the vinegar and apple juice and cook until the liquid is reduced by three quarters, about 30 minutes. Correct th seasoning and cool before lading into a tightly sealed jar.

Note: I made one changes, I add 1/4 cup of sugar since I like it sweeter.

With this master sauce, Ming Tsai teaches you to make several dishes but this time I only made half of that Chutney recipe and I use it for the pork chop recipe. originally his pork chops recipe has a maple sweet potatoes as the side dish, but when I check my sweet potatoes in my drawer, I found out that I forgot to take them out from the plastic bag and they has fungus growing all over them !!! So I could not use them.

Instead, I just bought a spaghetti squash that I really want to try for the first time. I always wonder why they name it Spaghetti, now I know why. I found out that when you either bake it or boil it, then you cut it in half. Get a fork and start scraping the inside. They will come out stringy like noodles! How cute! So first I cut the in half, then I put them on a cookie sheet facing down. Bake it on 350 F until it is soft and you can pierce it easily with a knife. Take it out, scrape it with fork. Put them in a bowl, add a bit of butter , salt and pepper. Then I add a little of parmesan cheese, maybe about 2 Tbs. I keep it simple.

SAUTEED PORK CHOPS WITH GINGER-FUJI APPLE SAUCE

4 (1/2-inch thick) loin pork chops
salt and pepper
1 cup of all purpose flour
2 Tbs oil
1 Cup Chicken broth
1 Cup white wine
1 1/2 cups ginger-Fuji Apple Chutney
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 Tbs butter

Preheat the oven to 400F

Season the chops on both side with salt and pepper and dredge in the flour. Heat a large, heavy, ovenproof saute pan over high heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat. Add the chops and sear on one side until brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn the chops and transfer to the oven. Bake the chops until medium done, 8-10 minutes. Turn off the oven.

Transfer the chops to a heat-proof plate and allow to rest 5 minutes. Place the saute pan over high heat, add the broth and wine, and deglaze the pan, scrapping to incorporate any browned bits. Reduce the liquid by half, about 4 minutes and add the chutney and 1 tablespoon of butter. Add parsley and correct the seasoning.

Place the pork on a serving plate, then pour the sauce over and serve.

A child serving for my son ...