Pan-Fried Glazed Pork Chops with a side of Red Kale and Summer Squash

Nicky and I are getting a weekly farm share. And it's full of green leafy things. Spinach, Kale, Cabbage, Greens, Romaine, Buttered lettuce etc. Giant herbivore staples that usually end up in a salad. And i'm sick of salads. This is a good recipe for the greens without the use of a salad. Plus, there's pork chops involved.

The glazed pork chops are from Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. With slight changes.

Glazed Pork Chops
Pork Chop (I used boneless, thicker chops. about 3/4 inch)
Fresh Sage (2 sprigs per chop)
Olive Oil
S/P
Apricot Jam (or maple syrup, honey, apple sauce, mango chutney)

Slice along the fatty edges of your pork chop in 1/4 inch increments. It helps make them more delicious. Cover the chops in olive oil and salt and pepper. Coat sprigs of sage in olive oil.

To cook them i used my cast iron skillet. I can get it much hotter than my non-stick skillet. If you have one, i'd suggest using it. I turned my stove up to about 7/8 and got the pan pretty hot. You're going to cook each chop for about 8-10 minutes. Flipping every minute. You'll get a lot of smoke. Just watch the color, you'll want to keep the pan as hot as possible so they're seared on the outside. But if it's getting black too quickly turn down heat.

Throw in the sage. It takes maybe 30 seconds for them to crisp up. By the time I got the tongs out of the drawer they were ready. Pull them out and set them aside.

For the next part, get ready to move quickly. Once you put the glaze on the heat you're going to get smoke. You want to get the color to a golden brown. As close as you can get to burning the glaze without actually burning it. Probably take about a minute and a half. Put one tablespoon of jam on each pork chop. Let it melt down a little (20 seconds) and get ready for more smoke. Flip it jam side down. Then keep flipping until it's covered and both sides are a golden brown.

Garnish with the crisped sage (worth it).


Sautéed Red Kale and Summer Squash
1 head of red kale
2 -3 summer squash
basil
ground ginger
1/4 of a lemon
fresh sage
vermouth
olive oil
garlic scape (we get these from our farm share , sub. a clove of garlic for this)
s/p

Put Kale in boiling pot of salted water. Cover. Let cook for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, cut your squash into slices. Sprinkle basil over the top, and very lightly sprinkle ginger over the top of the squash. Once your kale is done boiling, drain it.

Heat olive oil in pan. Add kale, squash, fresh sage, garlic to pan. Pepper (don't salt) to taste. Cook until the squash starts to soften about 2-3 minutes. Add a splash of vermouth. Stir until the vermouth is cooked off. Squeeze lemon over the top (careful with the seeds). Salt to taste.


Serve both of them together with a little apple sauce on the side and eat like an omniovre.