Tuesday : Porkchops with herb butter

On our hike last weekend we gathered some more Bärlauch. Andrea suggested using it in a compound butter, so that's what we did last night.

I made the butter by finely chopping some Bärlauch and parsley and mixing them into the butter, rolling it into plastic wrap, and putting it back in the fridge to firm up.

The porkchops were really simple: I seasoned them and then seared them in. While the chops were resting I deglazed the pan with a bit of vermouth, which I then reduced to almost nothing. Just before serving I poured the liquid from around the chops into the pan with the vermouth and reduced that down to a syrup (there was maybe 2tsp total left). I served by spreading the pan sauce on the plate, topping with the chop, then topping that with a pat of the compound butter.

As vegetable sides we had: chard leaves that I chopped and cooked in olive oil with diced dried apricots and pine nuts; sliced fennel cooked in olive oil until slightly caramelized and then splashed with a bit of ponzu (we had neither lemon juice nor orange juice in the house).

We also had some rice and a green salad. And it was an excellent meal.