I’ve gone a little apple crazy this week—the first nip of fall tends to do that to a girl. Braeburns, Jonathans, Golden Delicious…pounds and pounds of them are sitting on my kitchen counters, filling the air with their flowery, autumnal perfume. Ahhh, apples.

It hit me last week during a trip northward to Mendocino County. Though the weather was blistering, the apple and pear orchards of Anderson Valley were brimming with bright fruit, overflowing into farm stands set up on the side of the road. Tripping over lazy cats and even lazier folks working the stands—withered by the heat and, perhaps the fact that it was a slow Tuesday, we were on country time. Bully for me…all the more opportunity to blithely peruse the produce without a hard sell. No matter, I bought everything anyway.

In the heat of the moment, I ended up with something like 10 pounds of apples. I’ve never been one to worry about consequences in the flush of a purchase—especially one involving food. But even as I drove home along twisting, curving, nausea-making roads, apples rolling under the seats and across the trunk with each turn, visions of tarte tatin, apple crisp, applesauce and apple turnovers were dancing in my head.

A little less obvious was linking apples to my pig project. But years of watching the Brady bunch suddenly came in handy. Pork chops and….apple…sauce? Caught without a food mill for squashing the little buggers, I found the next best thing for using up pounds of apples and pairing them with the pork chops sitting forlornly in my fridge: apple chutney. Eat your heart out, Alice.

Apple Chutney

(adapted from Ming Tsai’s Ginger Apple Chutney

Four (or so) cups of tart apples, (Fuji is good), peeled, cored and chopped into small -pieces.
2 small onions, cut similarly
2 Tablespoons peeled and minced fresh ginger
Juice of one lemon
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup apple juice

Cut the apples into small, pieces (about 1/4-inch), add the lemon juice and toss. Set aside.

Place a small amount of canola oil in a pan and saute' onions and ginger until just soft. Add apples and let them soften with the onions and ginger for several more minutes until soft. Add vinegar and apple juice and simmer for 10 minutes or so until the liquid has reduced.

Pork Chops

The key to good, moist chops is to brine them. Place the chops in heavily salted water for several hours in the fridge (a good gauge for saltiness is that it should remind you of ocean water). Rinse just before cooking. Dredge in flour, salt and pepper, then sear on one side for about 3 minutes. Flip, then place the pan (it needs to be oven safe) in the oven at about 375 for about 5-8 more minutes. Remove and let rest for several more minutes (about 5). Add the chutney and pair with sweet potato puree.

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