Wednesday Night: Pork Chops with Caramelized Alliums; Braised Cabbage

This week's Bittman column, with its recipe for Garlic Braised in Olive Oil, was one of those that made me say "oh yeah! I'm making that!". I had been planning pork chops with some kind of intensely flavored sauce anyway and this just fit right in. The thought of roasted garlic got me thinking about caramelized onions, and we had some tomatoes from CSA, so here's what I did for the sauce, this makes about four servings:

1 medium onion, sliced thinly
olive oil
10 cloves oil-braised garlic plus some of the braising oil.
4 San Marzano tomatoes [CSA], diced
2 dried cayenne peppers, sliced
salt and black pepper

Cover the bottom of a pan with olive oil, put it over medium heat, add the onion, and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is nicely caramelized, about 30 minutes.
Put a couple Tbs of the garlic braising oil in another small pan with the tomatoes and cayenne, add a bit of salt, and cook over medium-high heat, uncovered, until the tomatoes break down, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and onions, reduce the heat, and simmer for a couple more minutes. Smash the garlic cloves up a bit with the spoon as you stir.
Adjust seasonings.

For the pork, sprinkle boneless loin chops with salt, pepper, and a bit of sugar and let them sit for about 30 minutes. Then saute them in a bit of olive oil in a hot cast iron skillet for about 5 minutes per side (until nicely browned). Let them sit for five minutes before serving topped with the sauce.

For the braised cabbage:

1/2 a head of green cabbage [CSA], shredded
olive oil
8 juniper berries, lightly crushed
1 Tbs ketchup
1 Tbs cider vinegar
1/2 cup chicken stock
salt and black pepper

Heat some oil in a large pan over high heat and add the cabbage along with a good pinch of salt. Cook uncovered, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes until the cabbage starts to brown. Add the juniper berries, ketchup, vinegar, and stock, cover and reduce the heat. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the cabbage is tender. Adjust seasonings.

To go with this, Andrea made a green salad with romaine, dandelion greens, and pimento from the CSA box and a couple tomatoes from the back yard.

This was some really, really good food. The sauce was a delight, starting with the tomato flavor, blending into caramelized onion, then finishing with roasted garlic. mmmm. One potential future addition is a bit of balsamic vinegar (and maybe a pinch of sugar to rebalance things).

For dessert we did macerated strawberries [CSA], with some lightly whipped cream and, for me, a splash of grappa.