Yesterday we were guests at the Devil's Gulch Ranch open house, where our children had spent a feral and wonderous week as summer campers back in July. We grabbed the opportunity to get a glimpse into the life of a local, family-owned farm. Pigs lolled under live oaks, sheep wandered around in a stream and gave true meaning to the term free ranging. After swimming our hearts out their reservoir we made sure to purchase some meat before heading home. Sausages and bacon were frozen, so are in the freezer for another day. The pork chops were fresh and were grilled this evening. As an omnivore who believes deeply in leaving a light footprint and supporting the work of small farms that produce high quality and humane food, tonights dinner was the purest of pleasures. The pork chops needed no flavoring or marinading, they were perfect with just a little salt and olive oil as they went on to the grill. The meat was succulent, flavorful, fresh, lean (with all important fatty bits too!), tender and fragrant. Yes, farmers market meat may cost more to buy, but my answer to that is - eat less meat and eat better when you do, it is worth it.
In case you are inspired to cook your own - our favorite accompaniment to a pork chop is "hot apple sauce". I cooked a batch for our freezer today (using Gravenstein apples and Serrano chillis from our garden) so the recipe is pretty fresh in my mind and goes something like this:
2 tbsp butter
1/2 red onion
2-4 serrano peppers (or more/ less depending how fiery they are/ you want it)
4-6 apples (preferably tart)
apple juice
finely chop and saute onion and peppers in butter for 10 minutes or so, don't let them brown too much. Add the apples (peeled, cored, chopped), adding a little apple juice to the bottom of the pan to prevent the apples from sticking while they soften. Add a sprinkling of ginger if you wish as well as salt and pepper to taste. Cook until mushy. Freezes well.
In case you are inspired to cook your own - our favorite accompaniment to a pork chop is "hot apple sauce". I cooked a batch for our freezer today (using Gravenstein apples and Serrano chillis from our garden) so the recipe is pretty fresh in my mind and goes something like this:
1/2 red onion
2-4 serrano peppers (or more/ less depending how fiery they are/ you want it)
4-6 apples (preferably tart)
apple juice
finely chop and saute onion and peppers in butter for 10 minutes or so, don't let them brown too much. Add the apples (peeled, cored, chopped), adding a little apple juice to the bottom of the pan to prevent the apples from sticking while they soften. Add a sprinkling of ginger if you wish as well as salt and pepper to taste. Cook until mushy. Freezes well.
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