I’ve spent a lot of time in the past year grappling with the future of this blog. As do all bloggers, writers, or people who show up to do anything consistently day after day. I’ve gone from certain I want to make this blog my full time business to certain I want to quit entirely (the range of the uncertainty effectively negating either option as the best one). Hearing about other people’s “should I or shouldn’t I” blog crises always bores me, so I’ll keep this short and sweet. Here’s how I feel today: I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished here. I still feel the urge to write and create. I tried the blogging-as-a-business thing (the podcasts, the SEO otpimization, etc., etc.) and it mostly left me frustrated. My job challenges and fulfills me and right now that, not blogging, is my career. So I will keep coming here, keep cooking, keep writing, but I’m not going to worry so much about stats and schedules. I want this to be a place that inspires and fulfills me, not a chore to stress over.

Now that that’s out of the way – hi! I’ve been gone because Trevor and I got married! Then we went on an incredible honeymoon and spent three weeks in Croatia, Slovenia, and Prague. It was awesome. I took a lot of pictures, I drank a lot of wine and beer and mead, I walked a bajillion steps every day, and I spent so much time with Trevor everyday that I think I’m going to go through withdrawal. I’m happy to be home though, not least because it’s fall. An exceptionally warm, lovely fall at that.

With wedding planning off my plate I’m just starting to find room in my mind for cooking and creativity. The day we got back from our honeymoon we did a deep clean of the fridge, freezer, and pantry which was also strangely inspiring. I feel like I have a clean slate in the kitchen now. That, combined with the beautiful fall produce, inspired these Pan-Fried Pork Chops with Roasted Apples and Pears. It was the first real home-cooked dinner we’ve had in months.

This recipe is pretty easy, doable on a weeknight, and hearty without being heavy.  The pork chops are simply dredged in seasoned flour and pan-fried. The fruit – chopped and tossed with rosemary, olive oil, a hint of brown sugar, and cider vinegar. While the fruit is roasting and the chops are resting, you make a quick pan sauce using calvados to tie everything together. The roasted fruit was my favorite part of this, with it’s balance of sweet and savory flavors. It would also go well with other mains, particularly sausages or grilled chicken, so it seems likely I’ll make it again while fall fruits are still at their peak.

P.S. Don’t worry! When we get our wedding pictures back I’ll share some here. I’ll most likely do a few honeymoon posts as well, because, you know, Slovenian venison goulash seems like a thing you might like.

Pan-Fried Pork Chops with Roasted Apples, Pears, and Brandy Cream Sauce

An easy fall dinner of pan-fried pork chops, roasted apples, pears, and red onions, and a quick  brandy pan sauce. 

Inspired by Diana Henry’s Roast Figs Sugar Snow and Hilary Davis’ French Comfort Food.

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door
• Yield: 4

Ingredients

• 2 red onions, peeled and cut into wedges
• 2 Bartlett pears, cut into quarters and cored
• 2 McIntosh apples, cored and cut into thick slices
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 2 sprigs rosemary leaves, finely chopped
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• 2 TBS brown sugar
• 1 TBS apple cider vinegar
• Four 8-oz pork chops
• 1/4 cup plus 2 TBS flour
• 2 TBS butter
• 4 leaves sage
• 1/2 cup dry hard cider
• 1/4 cup calvados / apple brandy
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

Instructions

1. For the fruit: Preheat the oven to 375F. Arrange the onion wedges, pear slices, and apples slices on a rimmed baking sheet. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, chopped rosemary leaves, sea salt (to taste), black pepper, brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar until combined. Drizzle the olive oil mixture on top of the fruit and onions. Use a spatula to flip everything over once to coat with the oil. Place in the oven and roast until the fruit is soft, about 20 minutes.
2. For the pork chops: Place 1/4 cup of the flour on a large plate and spread into a thin layer. Season with sea salt and black pepper to taste. Pat the pork chops dry with a paper towel and then dredge in the seasoned flour so that they are lightly coated with flour on both sides. Melt the butter in a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium-high heat. When the butter starts to foam and sizzle, add the sage leaves and fry for 60 seconds. Add the floured pork chops to the pan, spacing them out evenly so they aren’t touching one another (you may need to do this in batches if your pan is small). Fry the pork chops until golden brown on one side, then flip and fry on the other side. This should take about 5 minutes per side. Use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of your pork chops – they should be 145F at the thickest portion. If they have not yet reached this temperature, cook 1 minute longer then check again. As soon as they reach 145F remove them to a paper-towel lined plate and let rest for 5 minutes.
3. For the pan sauce: Return the pan you used to cook the pork chops to the heat. Add 2 TBS of flour to the juices left in the pan and quickly stir until thickened, about 60 seconds. Add the hard cider to the pan and let simmer, then use a wooden spatula or spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan until it is clean, stirring the sauce as you scrape. Add the apple brandy to the pan, stir to incorporate into the sauce, and cook for 2-3 minutes, then remove from the heat. Stir in the heavy cream and season the sauce to taste.
4. To serve: Place a pork chop on each plate along with several pieces of roasted fruit. Spoon some of the pan sauce over the pork and serve immediately.

The post Back // Pan-Fried Pork Chops with Roasted Apples, Pears, and Brandy Cream Sauce appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Christmas always took an agonizingly long time to arrive when I was little.  I started flipping through the giant JC Penny’s toy catalog and circling the 625 items I wanted in October.  We had to wait for what seemed like ages to decorate the tree once December finally arrived.  And as soon as school got out the rest of the month was dedicated to absorbing Christmas – eating cookies, decorating gingerbread, doing the advent calendar, and watching A Muppet Christmas Carol (available on Amazon Instant?? My night just got so much better…) as many times as possible.  Then, of course, Christmas Eve itself was the longest night ever, and I rarely fell asleep within an hour of going to bed.  Now that I’m not so little though, Christmas seems to sneak up on me all of a sudden – I’m barely getting in the spirit when the day has come and gone.  It’s easy to get so caught up in your life – and the shopping, and parties, and rushing around that seem to epitomize Christmas now – that you forget to just enjoy the Christmas spirit.  And to think about what Christmas actually means – whatever that may signify for you.

Luckily, we all still have at least another 48 hours to soak up as much Christmasyness as possible, and I plan on doing just that.  And you know what’s helping the most?  The eggnog.  Sweet, rich, creamy, and just a little spicy, one sip of this eggnog and I feel a little bit more relaxed, a little bit less anxious, and a little bit more ready to enjoy the next two days for what they are.  Fifteen more sips and you can just imagine how good I feel. :-)  Really though, it’s extremely easy to whip up, and I even made a half batch just for Trevor and myself to enjoy on the spot.  If you have a little bit more time on your hands, chop up some apples, oranges, and pomegranates and throw a batch of this Christmas sangria in the fridge as well.  Turn on some Christmas music, plug in the tree, put out a plate of cookies, and pour yourself a glass of your drink of choice.  Christmas is here – enjoy it!

P.S. Recipe for the Chocolate Mint Thumbprint cookies pictured can be found here!

Christmas Sangria

Adapted from Lucid Food: Cooking for an Eco-Conscious Life.  Serves 6.

• 1 bottle (750mL) red wine
• 2 c. apple cider
• 3/4 c. brandy
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 sweet, crisp apples, chopped into 1 inch cubes
• seeds of 1 large pomegranate
• 1 orange, sliced

Homemade Eggnog

Adapted from Food Network.  Serves 4.

• 4 eggs, separated
• 1/3 c. sugar, plus 1 TBS
• Pinch cream of tartar
• 2 c. whole milk
• 1 c. heavy cream
• 3-4 oz. bourbon or brandy
• 1 tsp nutmeg

1. In a medium bowl or stand mixer, whisk egg whites until foamy.  Sprinkle cream of tartar over, and continue whisking/beating until they form soft peaks.  While still whisking, sprinkle 1 TBS of sugar over them and beat until egg whites are stiff.
2. In a large bowl (preferably with a spout) or pitcher, whisk egg yolks and 1/3 c. sugar until pale yellow and creamy.  Whisk in milk, heavy cream, and booze until incorporated, then gently fold in egg whites until the consistency is even.  Divide between four glasses and top with nutmeg.  Drink right away.

*NOTE: This recipe contains raw egg yolks.  If you are uncomfortable eating raw egg yolks, heat the milk and cream over low heat until just beginning to simmer, then pour over the egg yolk and sugar mixture, whisking yolks rapidly to prevent scrambling, to temper the yolks.  Chill the mixture before continuing.

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Did you know sugarplums are a real thing?  That they’re more than just a name for a delightful fairy in The Nutcracker?  That you can make and eat and admire them and that they really are worthy of visions dancing in your head?  That they might actually be both the most Christmasy and the healthiest treat I’ve made for the holidays?  Yeah, me neither, at least until a week ago when I picked up a copy of Gourmet Gifts by Dinah Corley, and flipped to a page with tiny sparkly plum-resembling treats titled sugarplums.  And man am I glad to stand corrected, because these things are good.  But let’s back up a little.

Last weekend I went to my very first Boston Brunchers’ brunch.  The Boston Brunchers are a lovely group of food bloggers/writers/enthusiasts that get together once or twice a month to network and share blogging stories and, well, brunch.  Last weekend’s event was hosted by Harvard Common Press – a huge thanks to them for hosting and feeding us! – an independent publisher specializing in cookbooks and parenting books.  While there we ate brunch treats from several of their cookbooks (all delicious – especially the strata and the cranberry coffee cake), chatted each other up, and heard a presentation from the publishers themselves on the process of going from blog to cookbook.  The presentation was filled with new information for me, and convinced me to finally jump on the twitter bandwagon, something I’ve been avoiding for ages.  (Feel free to follow me @Kitchen_Door: I’ll be posting updates on great recipes I don’t have time to blog about, the upcoming gingerbread extravaganza, my beginner gardening attempts, learning to make homemade cheese, and more.  Rest assured that I’m highly opposed to constant communication as I think it can drive people insane, so I promise to use it in moderation.)  After the presentation, they announced that the cookbooks decorating the tables were a freebie for us bloggers – which was a bit like announcing to a candy store full of children that everything was free and then handing them paper bags.  Mild adult chaos.  Anyway, I snagged a copy of Gourmet Gifts, because it seemed seasonally appropriate and it had a pretty cover… and I usually judge books by their covers. Not kidding.

I’m cheating a little bit in posting this review as December’s cookbook of the month, since I’ve only made the sugarplums, and my self-imposed rule is to make at least three recipes from a book before allowing it into the ranks of the cookbook of the month club.  However, I really wanted to share these sugarplums before Christmas, because they’re just so pretty and delicious and … Christmasy!  With that noted, I’ll just give a preliminary review of the book, with updates to come as I explore it a bit more thoroughly.  So far I think the most valuable parts of this book for me are the decoration and delivery ideas – with every recipe comes detailed instructions for how to wrap and present that gift, and the ideas are really quite creative.  I bookmarked several pages just for photography and styling ideas – painting a cutting board with chalkboard paint and using it as a labeled cheeseboard?  Genius!  The recipes also seem very solid.  A few ideas are slightly worn out in the food blog world – spiced nuts, macarons, etc. – but most are novel and intriguing.  High on my list are the kumquat-cognac punch (if only it didn’t have a 6 week infusing time! Next year…), the rose petal vinegar, and the cute little cakes baked into eggshells.  There are ideas for all seasons, and many recipes for portable dishes that might be a great contribution to the next party you attend.  All in all I’m glad I grabbed it, and I’m looking forward to trying out a few more recipes.

And now it’s time to bring it back to the sugarplums, the first trial recipe from this book, which was a huge success.  The gist of the recipe is this: blend dried apricots, dates, figs, pistachios, Christmas spices, apricot jam and brandy to a sticky, chewy paste.  Let sit.  Shape into adorable little plums and roll in sanding sugar.  Pop into your mouth and be really, really surprised by how much you like them.  And how completely they taste of Christmas.  Easy and quick, these are definitely worth giving a try before the big day – especially since your guests will be impressed by how pretty they look on a platter.  Just be sure that your food processor is ready for a workout – I think this may have been the last straw for my little Ninja processor.

FTC disclaimer: I received a copy of Gourmet Gifts for free but was not asked to write this review, nor was I compensated for doing so.  All opinions are my own and reflect my honest impressions of the book.

Pistachio Sugarplums

Recipe adapted slightly from Gourmet Gifts by Dinah Corley.  Makes about 30 pieces.

• 2 c. pitted dates, chopped
• 1 c. shelled pistachio nuts
• 1/2 c. dried apricots, chopped
• 1/2 c. dried figs, chopped
• 3 TBS brandy
• 2 TBS apricot jam
• 1/4 tsp orange oil, or 1 TBS dried orange peel
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp ground mace
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 30 whole cloves (for the stems!)
• 3/4 c. large crystal sugar (sanding or turbinado sugar)

1. Place all ingredients except whole cloves and sanding sugar in food processor and rapidly pulse until mixture is evenly ground and forms a sticky paste.  If your food processor is too small to do all this at once, process the dried fruit and nuts in batches, then add them all back in (each ingredient should shrink in volume as it is processed) with the remaining ingredients until they are evenly mixed and blended.  Knead the dough/paste for 2-3 minutes then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 2-3 hours or overnight.
2. Pull off tablespoon sized balls from the refrigerated dough and roll into small oval shapes between your hands (to resemble plums).  Roll in sanding sugar, then stick a whole clove into the end to make a stem.  Lay the sugarplums out on a baking sheet and allow to firm up in a cool, dry place overnight.  Store in single layers in airtight containers at room temperature.

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