I’d love to. Can you set this up for me? 
(And, ditto what Little Plastic Ninja said. It’s one thing to be an amazing chef. It’s another to be a succesful teacher. It’s like comparing apples and elephants.)
Seconded!
I love Chow Chow Relish and have always wanted to come up with a recipe that uses it. So, here it is.
By the way, Chow Chow is a sweet, mustardy, cabbage and green tomato relish. You can usually find it at the grocery store with all of the specialty jarred goods near the pickles and relishes. Stubb’s Barbecue Foods makes a really good Chow Chow, If you can get ahold of some.
Chow Chow Pork Chops
2 Thick Cut Pork Chops
5 slices of Bacon (diced/chopped)
1 jar of Chow Chow (Cabbage and Green Tomato Relish)
2 apples (Peeled, cored, and sliced)
4 medium onions (Peeled and sliced)
1 small head of cabbage (cored and rough shredded/sliced)
2 bay leaves
2 or 3 Bottles of Dark Beer (your choice)
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon of Brown Sugar
Salt and Pepper
Salt and Pepper the chops generously. Render the bacon in a large Dutch Oven (or similar) over Medium heat on the stovetop. Sear the chops in the bacon and drippings about 3 or 4 minutes per side, or until a golden brown. Remove the chops to a plate.
Add the onions and brown sugar to the bacon and drippings. Sweat the onions slowly until they caramelize and turn a deep, sweet, brown. Add the apples and sautee for a few minutes longer.
Deglaze the pan with the beer. Add the entire jar of chow chow, the worcestershire, cabbage, and bay leaves. Turn the stove to high and bring to a simmer. Nestle the pork chops back into the Pan and cover. Put into a 325F oven and braise for two and a half hours.
You are right…I am wrong, Sorry…I won’t forget my meds again!
tsfr
Not to hijack the thread or anything, but I notice pork chop recipes often include some form of apple. Why is apple so complimentary to pork chops?
Well, pork and apples are compatible only because we enjoy the two tastes together and it just so happens they are good together. Many Meats are compatible with sweet fruits or fruit based sauces because their natural sugars and flavors either compliment or enhance the natural sweetness of the meat.
The apple and pork pairing is a tradition because of seasonal and geographic reasons. In most European traditions (and places where apples are grown) apples are harvested in the Autumn and usually coincides with the fall pork slaughter. Using the ingredients on hand is what people did before refrigeration. So, you had some choice pork cuts and a gazillion apples… what to do? I know, pork and apples! A naturalized combination. The Hawaiians didn’t have apples but they had pork and lots of pineapple, so you get another naturalized pork and fruit combination dependant on geography.
In a nutshell. Pork and Apples is a Western Fall Harvest dish.
Well this isn’t sophisticated, but Stainz and I really enjoy it.
Sear (in a frying pan) your pork chops on all sides.
Take a casserole dish, spray with Pam. Put a couple cans of Cream of Mushroom soup, and a half cup of milk into the casserole dish. Chuck-in a chopped onion if you’re feeling frisky. Mix soup and milk together, add pork-chops.
Cook in oven at 350 for anywhere from 1-2 hours, flipping the chops every 20-30 minutes.
Simple, yet very tasty. The mushroom gravy goes well on potatoes and rice as well.
MtM
Many people do anyway, but I’ve never been into sweet fruits mixed with my main dishes.
I believe you. It seems popular enough to mix fruit with meat.
I didn’t realize pigs were traditionally slaughtered in the fall, but it makes sense. As for apples being picked in the fall, aren’t other fruits also picked towards fall? Grapes, for instance? Cherries?
What about cows & chickens & goats? We don’t traditionally pair those with any particular fruit, do we?
Well, here in the New World we do traditionally pair cranberry sauce with turkey I guess, although I don’t know how long we’ve been doing that. Seems this pork/apple combo has been going on since before the colonists.
Cherries are harvested in summer as with the majority of grapes.
Due to the smaller body mass of chickens, there was not a traditional seasonal advantage to their slaughter. It was typically more on demand (at least until the popularity of home freezers increased) as in “Go out and catch us a chicken to have for dinner.”
I grew up on a farm and we raised all the above for food, but relied on professionals for butchering the beef. Sides of Beef need to hang for a few days (in refrigeration) prior to being processed. Not sure what process they used prior to that. Ice houses?
Beef and peaches, Beef and Peppers. Spicy and sweet.
Chicken and grapes, chicken and oranges or lemons. Sour and sweet.
Goat and pepper (capsicum), goat and olives. Spicy and bitter, salty
Pork and cherries, Pork and apples, pork and citrus, pork and pepper … all of the above. For some reason it is a versatile meatus.