We are back from our Mexico adventure – and I promise that my next post will contain some pics and details of the note worthy food that we ate there. The best part about our return is that we came home to a freezer full of pig – who doesn’t want that?!! One of our rock star trainer’s at Norcal S&C and my good friend, Katie D., comes from a family who raises their own hogs (all natural – raised just the way us paleo eaters want to eat pig!!) and I was lucky enough to be able to get in on the last slaughter and now we are stocked up with piggy goodness. I am so happy…
So, here is a recipe for the pork chops we made tonight – a recipe that my oldest son helped me come up with. They were fancy and fun but easy and so so good.
Apple Shallot Pork Chops
4 big pork chops
1 apple
2 shallots
1/4 cup white wine
5 tbsp coconut oil
Cinnamon and sea salt to taste
Slivered toasted almonds
Slice the apple as thinly as possible and then cut the slices in half. Thinly slice the shallots. Heat 4 tbsp of the coconut oil over medium heat and add the apples and shallots. Saute for 5 minutes or until the apples are tender but still a little crisp. Remove the apples and shallots from the pan and add the last tbsp of coconut oil. Generously sprinkle cinnamon on both sides of the pork chops and lightly sprinkle on sea salt if desired. Rub the cinnamon and salt into the pork chops and place the chops in the hot oiled pan. Sear on each side for 2 minutes. If you have a gas stove, turn the flame up to high and add a 1/4 cup of white wine. Now, don’t be scared, tilt your pan towards the flame and let the wine catch on fire – sometimes you can’t flambe with wine, it depends on the alcohol content, but it worked for me this time – so give it a shot! Either way, make sure you bring the wine to a boil to cook off the alcohol. After adding the wine, add the apple and shallot mixture back to the pan, cover and cook over medium heat for 6-8 minutes depending on the thickness of your pork chops, it might need more or less time. Make sure you serve the pork chops with plenty of the apple and shallot mixture and add a sprinkle of slivered toasted almonds on top.
Enjoy!
In that last pic I see what looks to be one of those bagged broccoli slaw thingies, presumably with a paleo-ish sauce?
Hey Dave! Yes, I should have posted the recipe for that too! I made a spicey paleo cole slaw with bagged broccoli slaw from trader joes. The dressing is olive oil, lemon juice, about 1 tbsp of mayo, red pepper flakes, and Trader Joe’s 21 seasoning blend. I also made mashed cauliflower. Just steam your cauliflower until it’s really soft and mash up with a little bit of organic butter or organic ghee (clarified butter) and a bit of sea salt if you like.
Oh thank god you are back I was running out of stuff to make for Colin! This is next on the menu.
You’re too cute Natalie!! You guys will have to come over for dinner some time soon and we can cook together! : )
I just finished my chops. Awesome! Thanks Sarah!
Glad you liked them Joe! : )
I’m interested to learn what you do with the ham hocks…. 🙂
Sarah that sounds awesome! I know Colin would love to as well
Great to see you back! The tbsp of mayo for the slaw…was that pre-made or a jar? I ask because when I want to make a recipe like this I hate to have to make a whole thing of the homemade mayo.
I just used Trader Joe’s mayo for this because I used so little of it, I was feeling the same way as you about having to make my own batch…
Glad to hear it!
BTW: Which one,they have some many:)
Hey Tracey! I buy the “Real” Trader Joe’s mayo. But I don’t use it all that often because it’s made with canola oil and I’m not a big fan of the stuff, but in a pinch, a tbsp here or there works…
Made this for my husband and me last night–it was so delicious! Thank you so much for the wonderful idea. It was quick, too. I did it after I made some chicken stirfry for lunches for the next couple days.
holy pork! this is amazing. great rainy, chilly day dinner. had it with some roasted beets and carrots, and have a bunch of pork leftover that I can take with me to work for breakfast. SO good!
Awesome bix, so glad you liked it!!
I tried this tonight and it came out great! I even tried the fancy flambe trick with some two buck chuck (chardonnay) and much to my delight, it worked! This is definitely a keeper. Thank you!
Flambe is fun!! Awesome Renee!
I made some lazy modifications and it turned out great. I even added a bit of tequila and cloves.
My recipe below, turned out well. Looking forward to trying a less-lazy interpretation of Sarah’s recipe!
http://paleolithical.blogspot.com/2011/03/apple-cinnamon-pork-chops-paleo-and.html
Wow Rusty, love the addition of tequila and cloves; sounds like a party!! Yum!!
Just made this this week after getting sucked in to wanting to try everything in your cookbook! They were to DIE for and will definitely be a repeat offender in our home. Thank you for sharing your passion and insight into making paleo simple and easy for those busy gals (and guys).
At 35 years old… for the first time in my life, I made pork chops that were not tough, dry and terrible! I used this recipe from your book as my guide. I didn’t have everything called for so I just made it up as I sent along. But the basics were the same. I didn’t have any shallots or white wine. I did have some red wine vinegar so I just used a little less of that and followed the rest of the recipe as written. It was oh so delicious. My husband loved me before but after last nights meal of pork chops, I think he loves me just a little more now. 🙂 This was a huge hit and will definitely go on our favorites list. Thank you again for yet another hit in the household. 🙂
So great to hear Dawn! Thank you!!
Sarah. what if I don’t have white wine? any substitute? thanks!!
Here’s a cool link with a lot of suggestions for subs for white wine (and any other alcohol if you are cooking with it for that matter!!) White wine is the last on the last. I personally would use chicken stock diluted with just a little bit of apple cider vinegar. Enjoy!! http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blalcohol6.htm
I only just this week discovered Fried Apples ‘n’ Onions as a traditional country side dish. What fun to find it as a yummy way to cook pork chops! And sans the brown sugar, as the country recipe called for….We’ll be having this for dinner tonight!
As an aside, I’m just returning to Paleo. I’ve fallen off the wagon for awhile and have discovered that there really is something to this thing. I’ve been feeling terrible. Pain and fatigue have been much increased (I have fibromyalgia) as well as tummy issues. I felt great when I was being diligent about Paleo over the summer. So it’s time to get back down to business. Thanks for the great recipes!!
I’ve been doing Paleo on and off since September 2011. I always come back to your recipes and just recently picked up your Everyday Paleo book. I made the pork chops the other night for dinner and they turned out great. Thanks for the website and all the great recipes.