fall is for apples

Apples are a bit of a miracle fruit, with their crisp white flesh and their ability to store for long periods, but they are never better than they are in the fall.  And I especially enjoy them in savory dishes.  Which for me, usually means pork, because pork and apples are quite fond of hanging out together.  Last night, that meant that some bone-in pork chops were destined to meet up with some apple/sage dressing.  The dressing couldn't be easier.  For four pork chops, you start with one large apple, cored and cut into chunks, half a large onion, and a couple of stalks of celery, with the leaves on, if they are still there .  Fairly firm, sweet/tart apples are the best choice to include in a dressing.  Some good choices are Duchess, Cortland , McIntosh, Jazz, or even Granny Smith.

mise en place for the dressing -- chopped fresh sage, 

celery, onion, apple, and toasted bread

I had fresh sage in the garden, but if you don't have fresh sage, dried will do nicely.  The onion, apple, and celery need to be chopped.  A food processor will make quick work of that.

everything can just be cut into chunks and tossed in--

after a few pulses, you'll have a nice base of veggies

for your dressing

That mixture gets sauteed in  a couple tablespoons of butter, until it gives up a good bit of its moisture, and begins to color, just a bit.

veggie goodness

For the bread element of the dressing, I prefer a fairly hardy white bread, such as a boule, or french or italian loaf.  For four pork chops, use about three cups of cubed bread.  I toast the slices lightly, and leave the crusts on, because I like the slightly hardier texture of the crust -- if you don't, simply trim off the crusts before cubing the bread.  After the veggies are sauteed, the cubed, toasted bread can be stirred in, as well as a couple of tablespoons of fresh sage (or about half that much dried sage), and salt and pepper to taste.  Once the mixture has cooled, add an egg to bind, and moisten with chicken broth if it seems a little dry.  I like, at this point, to toss in a handful of chopped, toasted pecan pieces, but that is certainly optional.

cut a pocket in fat, bone-in chops, or sandwich the dressing

between two thinner chops

Once the chops are stuffed, brown them lightly on top of the stove, and slide them into a 350 oven for about twenty minutes to finish cooking.  The stuffing should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees.  A quick pan sauce can be made with the drippings by adding a bit of chicken broth, maybe a bit of wine, and reducing by half, then stirring in a last minute tablespoon of butter, off the heat.

apple/sage stuffed chop with a side of sauteed veggies

Don't feel like going to all the trouble of making a dressing and stuffing the chops?  Then just slice up your apples and an onion, and saute them in the pan, right along with the pork chops.  set aside the meat and apple mixture, and make a pan sauce by reducing chicken broth.  A dollop of brandy and a spoonful of sour cream make a wonderful last minute addition for a very special sauce for a wonderful fall dish.

Here comes that mandolin again.  Last night, to accompany the chops, I used a mandolin to slice thin ribbons of zucchini, onion, and sweet red pepper.

the mandolin  makes particularly pretty ribbons 

of vegetable

Sauteed together in a knob of butter, with salt, pepper, lemon zest, and lemon juice, the fine ribbons of vegetables make a very pretty side dish.