An Irish Twist

Yes, it is the last day in March and I am blogging about a meal made on March 17. I have some explaining to do, but first allow me to introduce my not-so-corned-beef-and-cabbage St. Patrick’s Day dinner:

Fennel Crusted Boneless Pork Chop with a Black Currant-Orange Pan Sauce and Braised Sweet & Sour Savoy Cabbage.

And nothing says St. Patrick’s Day like a refreshing NY Riesling. A German-style, NY wine…logical? Nope. But oh so tasty with this meal .

Hermann J. Wiemer 2008 Semi-Dry Riesling. (Personal favorite!)

The Story: On St. Patrick’s Day 2011, things got pretty wild. At work there was a sea of green around every corner, and I wound up coming home–USB-CAMERA-UPLOAD-CORD-LESS! Oh, THE HUMANITY! Clearly I did not have an thrilling green-beer & Irish cream sort of day, but how I lost my camera cord is beyond me.

I am one of those ladies with an overweight work bag that looks like it may explode at any minute. I carry a laptop, several note books, books, groceries, lunch, snacks, small children (maybe?!)…the list goes on. Sometimes I avoid cleaning it because I’m afraid as to what I might find. I searched high and low but my camera cord was nowhere to be found. My dinner pictures were saved on the internal memory and apparently Sony doesn’t just sell those cords. A week later and $3 on amazon.com my world was right again. I had made SO many other meals in the meantime that this one got put on the back burner. Long story long–let’s get cookin’!

First, start on the veggies. This was about 1/2 head of savoy cabbage (finely sliced), 1 large carrot and 1 large onion. Add onion to olive oil over a medium heat until softened. Add cabbage, carrot, salt pepper, a splash of Riesling…white wine vinegar…a heaping tsp whole grain dijon…a pat of butter. I think that was it, it has bee such a long time. Do what ever combination tastes delicious to you!

Pound a boneless pork chop to 1-inch thickness. Pat dry and season with salt and pepper.

Take a heaping TBS of fennel seeds and crush them into a powder. It would be wise to use a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. I tried using a knife to give them a rough chop and I’m still finding some of the seeds.

Give the pork a nice coating so that the whole chop is covered evenly. Heat a mild olive oil in a skillet over a medium heat. Once oil is hot, a faint smoke will come off the sides of the pan. Add your pork chop and allow the fennel to crust on. When it appears to have a golden crust, flip and allow to reach the internal temperature of about 145. Remove from pan to a platter.

I reduced the heat of the pan I cooked my pork chop in and added a little bit more oil, and a chopped shallot. When the shallot was tender (1-2 minutes) I added a heaping TBS of black currant jam and the juice of 1 orange. Allow this to reduce and become thick. (SIDE NOTE: I love black currant jam! I’ve never tried it before and it is sweet, tart and thick. Amazing in Greek Yogurt.)

The caraway-currant-orange combination was inspired by my Irish Soda Bread. I had leftover savoy from my Cabbage-Potato Soup with Bacon so I immediately thought to make a sauerkraut type side. I think I will make this again . It was yum.

Luck of the Foodie,

Nora