Pork Chops with Apple Dijon Sauce and Arugula Salad for a Fall Flavors #SundaySupper

Pork Chops with Apple Dijon Sauce and Arugula Salad for a Fall Flavors #SundaySupper

If memory serves me correctly, the team at #SundaySupper has repeated the theme of autumnal foods from last year. I remember this because I paired chicken with a sauce that utilized grapes which are coming into season about now. The repeated theme is okay with me because I'm always up for seasonal ingredients.

Inspiration Behind the Dish

In what will most likely be my last trip to the Redmond Saturday Market this year, I noticed apples had appeared at many of the farms' stands a couple of weeks ago so I purchased a few ruby jon apples and decided to employ the classic pairing of apples and pork. To affirm, The Flavor Bible noted a flavor affinity of pork, apples and mustard. It separately noted that pork chops pair well with arugula.

Dish Details

For the pork chops, I relied upon my favorite which is taken from Tyler Florence on Food Network. For the sauce, I was inspired by a recipe I found on seattletimes.com but I had to make it over.

Ingredients

For the pork:
4 quarts water
1 cup kosher salt plus more for seasoning, divided
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup apple juice
1 teaspoon black peppercorns, crushed with the side of a knife
2 to 3 sprigs fresh thyme
4 bone-in pork rib chops, approximately 1-inch thick
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil

For the sauce:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
1 1/2 cups apple juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

For the salad:
4 ounces arugula
Juice from 1 lemon
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Brine the chops. Stir together the water, 1 cup kosher salt, sugar and apple juice until the sugar and salt has dissolved. Add the peppercorns and thyme into the brine, then the pork chops. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

2. Prepare the chops. Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Remove the chops from the brine and discard the brine. Pat the chops dry with paper towels, then season them with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat and sear the chops, two chops at a time if they don't fit, approximately 3 minutes per side. Remove them to an aluminum foil-lined sheet pan, then roast the chops in the oven until their internal temperature reaches 140° Fahrenheit, approximately 30 minutes.

3. Prepare the pan sauce. While the pork chops roast, return the same skillet to the stovetop over medium heat and add the oil. Once it starts to smoke, toss in the onions to sweat, approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the apples and brown lightly, approximately 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Deglaze the pan with the apple juice, then stir in the mustard. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Reduce until the sauce is thick enough so that when you slide your finger across a spoon dipped in the sauce, it holds its shape. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the nutter until it melts. Adjust the seasoning if necessary.

4. Prepare the salad and finish the dish. Combine the lemon juice and oil in a small bowl, then season with salt and pepper. Toss the vinaigrette with the arugula. To plate, place a pork chop in the middle off center, spoon some sauce over the chops then garnish with arugula on the side.

Final Thoughts

I must confess that the dish you see above isn't the dish I had originally conceptualized. I wanted to present it with a fourth component of a polenta cake. When I visualized the dish, I imagined the chop to rest against it with the bone raised to give the dish some height. I even had the chops frenched similar to the dish I published about a year ago. That being said, the dish was still very flavorful. The spice of the mustard balanced the sweetness of the apples nicely.

Check out A Guide to Apples plus Best Fall Recipes Ideas for #SundaySupper and this week's recipe collection:

Breakfast

• Apple-Currant Dutch Baby Pancake by The Weekend Gourmet
• Apple Swirled Pumpkin Yeast Bread by What Smells So Good?
• Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread by Party Food and Entertaining
• Giant Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tart by Pies and Plots
• Sweet Potato Buttermilk Biscuits by Tara’s Multicultural Table

Appetizers and Sides

• Butternut Squash, Cauliflower and Cabbage Soup with Lentils by Monica's Table
• Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins by Pancake Warriors
• Pumpkin Spice Roasted Sweet Potatoes by Love and Confections
• Roasted Veggie Tart by Books n’ Cooks

Main Dishes

• Acorn Squash Stuffed with Roasted Veggies & Couscous by Momma’s Meals
• Butternut Squash Lentil Curry Soup by Food Done Light
• Curry Beef Pies by Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
• Fantasy Rice by The Petit Gourmet
• King Prawns in Red Sauce – Mauritian Style Creole Sauce by Peachy Tales
• Pasta with Creamy Butternut & Bacon by Cooking Chat
• Pork Chops with Apple Dijon Sauce and Arugula Salad by Crazy Foodie Stunts
• Pork Chops with Glazed Apples and Vegetables by The Complete Savorist
• Quinoa and Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash by Feeding Big and More
• Roasted Tomato Soup with Bacon/Tomato Grilled Cheese Sandwich by A Gouda Life
• Salt Roasted Salmon over Roasted Butternut & Yam Soup by Lifestyle Food Artistry
• Sheet Pan Roasted Chicken, Delicata Squash and Olives by Foodie Tots
• Sweet Potato French Bean Lentil Salad by Food Lust People Love
• Sweet Potato Alfredo Sauce by Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Thai Curry Pumpkin Soup by Eating in Instead
• Whole Roasted Chicken with Vegetables by Life Tastes Good

Desserts and Cocktails

• Apfelkuchen by Curious Cuisiniere
• Applesauce Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Swirls by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Apple Gingersnap Refrigerator Dessert by Recipes Food and Cooking
• Autumn Bellini by An Appealing Plan
• Autumn Spice Cookies by Desserts Required
• Caramel Apple Napoleons by The Crumby Cupcake
• Caramel Apple Pie Bundles by The Freshman Cook
• Caramel Apple Streusel Muffins by The Redhead Baker
• Caramel Apple Swirl Cheesecake No-Churn Ice Cream by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Cheesecake Swirl Pumpkin Muffins by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Chestnut and Pear Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream by Caroline’s Cooking
• Dark Chocolate-Espresso Pumpkin Tiramisu by Brunch with Joy
• Dutch Apple Pie by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Pumpkin Cheesecake with Butterscotch Drizzle by Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch
• Pumpkin Chocolate Bread Pudding with Salted Caramel Sauce by Grumpy’s Honeybunch
• Pumpkin Crisp by Cosmopolitan Cornbread
• Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting by Fantastical Sharing of Recipes
• Pumpkin Pecan Bundt Cake by Flour On My Face
• Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter Cookies by Palatable Pastime
• Roasted Maple Pears by Amee’s Savory Dish
• Spiced Pear Cake by Simply Healthy Family
• Spiced Pumpkin Bread by Renee’s Kitchen Adventures
• Sweet Apple Skillet Cake by Nosh My Way

Plus, A Guide to Apples plus Best Fall Recipes Ideas for #SundaySupper

Join the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board.

Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It's easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.

Recipe Redux: Evolution of an Amateur Food Photographer

Normally, the space where these words occupy in the body of my posts has a picture of the dish I have chosen to publish. Obviously, that format will not be followed today but I have a good reason.

I have several dishes to present.

Today, I will be discussing food photography; more specifically, my food photography. It's no secret that I've always felt deficient in this area when I compare myself to my peers. It's not all bad, however my favorite pictures I shot happened, for the most part, by dumb luck.

It's subjective, but I believe the best picture on my website is the one taken of the Watermelon Gazpacho Shooters for Chef Fabio Viviani but this picture was taken by a professional photographer:

In fact, my favorite picture I took for the website up until now was inspired by the picture above. My Strawberries with Red Wine Reduction and Whipped Cream dessert was taken at Lake Elizabeth in Fremont, California:

Another favorite of mine is the Pesto Glazed Chicken with Herbed Spaghetti dish but I had help. I was just replicating Chef Curtis Stone's presentation:

A third picture that has been popular among my readers is the Chicken with Mushroom Demi-Glace that was published almost two years ago. If I remember correctly, I didn't execute the sauce properly so it wasn't one of my better tasting dishes which is ironic since the picture was one of my best:

There have been other dishes where I have been satisfied with the plate presentation, but not the quality of the picture. They include:

Chocolate Espresso Gelato

Thick Pork Chops with Spiced Apples and Raisins

Summer Panzanella

Pan Seared Scallops with Lemon-Basil Beurre Blanc, Pancetta, Apple and Fennel

Olive Oil Cake with Strawberry-Red Moscato Sorbet and Moscato Zabaglione

Coffee and Molasses Brined Pork Chop with Roasted Corn Salsa and Watercress Salad

Pan-Seared Duck Breast with Red Wine Reduction and Roasted Winter Vegetables

In most of these pictures above, the main issues I continually had were with lighting and background. The gelato pic and even the pesto glazed chicken was taken at my kitchen table. The chicken with demi-glace, pork chops with apples, panzanella and scallops were taken on an end table in the family room where I put the plate on placemats. I used this area because it was closest to the best light source I had at the time which was a table lamp. The base is partially visible in the chicken with demi-glace. Taking advantage of the natural light available to me, I started shooting outside for a couple of months last year using a card table which is where the picture of the olive oil cake was taken, however at the time I didn't understand how to diffuse light and this picture in particular is overexposed. In fact, the zabaglione is barely visible. The pork chops with corn salsa and the duck breast dishes were taken at my current residence but in two different places: the pork was taken on my kitchen counter and the duck was taken on a wooden TV dinner table.

Last month, I took a leap forward when I purchased a mobile photo studio. I have published a couple of dishes that were shot using it but I wanted to know what some previously published food might have looked like with the tools available to me today so I went back and reshot some dishes:

Coq an Vin.

February 2012

August 2015

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs:

March 2013

August 2015

Unfortunately, the sauce started to separate a little in the updated picture.

Ravioli di Ricotta con Burro Bruno e Salvia :

December 2013

August 2015

I added a little spinach to the ricotta filling in the updated dish.

I published two versions of Steak au Poivre. The first post was published in January 2014:

I updated the dish a couple of months later in April 2014:

Updated picture as of August 2015:

and finally, Broccoli with Beef:

April 2015

August 2015

In this case, I specifically chose a dish that was originally published earlier this year because I wanted to contrast a recent dish. It's easier to notice differences between pictures taken years apart but will the differences be more subtle with versions taken only months apart? In the earlier version, I plated an individual portion in a bowl with a serving of white rice. In the updated picture, I presented the dish family style similar to a fine Chinese restaurant.

Final Thoughts

I must note here that the updated steak au poivre picture has become my new favorite. It concerned me at first because the white plate against a white background created a lot of negative space but I was told by a few trusted advisors that it makes the food on the plate pop. I have since used it as the wallpaper of the lock screen on my phone.

I hope to continue to improve my presentation in the future.

Expectations from the 2015 International Food Bloggers Conference #IFBC

Left to right: Bobbi of Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen, Me, Kim of Cravings of a Lunatic and Kiss My Smoke, Joan of Chocolate Chocolate and More

The picture above was taken last September on the Friday afternoon of the 2014 International Food Bloggers Conference by Alice of A Mama, Baby & Shar-pei in the Kitchen. I had just moved to the Pacific Northwest a couple of weeks earlier and was just getting settled into my new residence which is the reason I wasn't able to attend, but Mrs. Stuntman and I compromised and I was able to meet some out-of-town friends for lunch that flew in for the event.

This year, it's a different story.

I will be attending the 2015 International Food Bloggers Conference organized by Foodista and Zephyr Adventures so I thought I'd review some of my expectations for the weekend, using my experience at #FWCon as a guide.

1. Probably the biggest difference from the standpoint of travel is that I'll be able to sleep in my own bed while I attend. No airports with flights or hotel rooms for me. In fact, I think it would be safe to say that a few of my neighbors commute into the area of the hotel every weekday.

2. I've asked around and some of the feedback I got was that the host city is part of the attraction which is something I hadn't considered. It's almost an embarrassment of riches considering I moved from one of the best areas in the country for food to another best area for food so I have almost taken it for granted. Unfortunately, I have a habit of taking for granted things that are near to me. For example, I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 30 years but I don't remember visiting Alcatraz. (Maybe as a kid? I can't remember.) I guess there is a certain irony because, it's not like there's no tourist attractions in Orlando.

3. I'm looking forward to the keynote address by New York Times food writer Kim Severson, but it will also be interesting to compare the content of the sessions here with #FWCon. Will the same information be shared?

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, what I look forward to the most is the networking opportunities the conference provides. Looking at the list of attendees of this year's conference, I'll know only a handful of people going in but I do have a background in sales and plan to employ those skills to expand my blogging network.