Fennel Crusted Pork Chop

This months issue of Bon Appetit is really appealing to my taste-buds! I’ve done the Chicken & Dumplings, the Peanut Butter-Sriracha Toast (which I tried out of pure curiosity and it was actually delicious), and now this pork chop. Not to mention a number of other recipes that have piqued my interest. In my efforts to reduce the amount of meat I keep in my freezer, I will be on a steady diet of pork chops and chicken until it’s all gone! 

Last night after thawing out a pork chop, I realized I had some fennel in the fridge, along with a butternut squash puree that I thought would all go perfectly together. Recalling the Fennel Crusted Pork Chop recipe from Bon Appetit, I gave it a go with a few alterations!

Fennel Crusted Pork Chop

BS' in the Kitchen (Via Bon Appetit)

This well rounded pork dish has toasted, smokey flavours, balanced with sweet butternut squash and acidity from the fennel slaw.

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Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Dinner

Servings 1

Ingredients

  

• 1 tbsp fennel seeds
• 2 cloves garlic finely minced
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Pork chop
• Salt & pepper
• 4 small yellow potatoes quartered
• 1 large shallot quartered
• 1 green onion chopped
• Fresh Fennel Anise
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 small butternut squash
• Chilli powder to taste

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• In a large pan, toast your fennel seed on medium heat until just browned and fragrant about 4 minutes.
• In a mortar & pestle (or spice grinder), grind toasted fennel seed, add paprika, minced garlic, and 1 tbsp of vegetable oil. Process or grind together briefly.
• In a seal-able bag, add pork chop and marinade. Allow to sit for at least 30 minutes.
• While pork chop is marinating, thinly shave a handful of fennel and toss with about a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and a pinch of salt, allowing it to "pickle" while the rest of the meal is prepared.
• Although I used leftover puree, if you wish to make your own, halve a butternut squash and roast in the oven at 400°F for 20-30 minutes until soft enough to easily pierce with a fork.
• As you won't need all the squash puree, you can serve it alongside the pork, and puree a portion of the squash for plating.
• To puree, spoon squash into food processor, or use an immersion blender and puree until smooth. Adding salt & chilli powder to taste.
• While squash is cooking, add a tablespoon of vegetable oil to your pan on medium-high heat. Once heated add your potato and shallots, adding salt & pepper to taste.
• After the potatoes have cooked for about 7 minutes, add your pork chop to the same pan.
• Cook pork chop until browned on each side and reaches an internal temperature of 145°F. Rest 5-10 minutes.
• If potatoes aren't quite done cooking, continue cooking them while the pork rests, add chopped fresh green onion to potatoes right before removing from the pan.
• On a plate, add a spoonful or two of squash puree, dragging the bottom of your spoon through it to create a swoop. Place pork chop next to puree, your potatoes next to the pork chop, and after draining any excess vinegar from the fennel, place it on top of the pork chop.

As always, Bon Appetit never disappoints, and with the addition of butternut squash and fresh fennel, this was a very tasty meal! Maybe a little too much work for someone just cooking for themselves, but it could make a wonderful date night meal (cough cough valentines day), or family meal. Of course, you could just do the pork chop and potatoes, making it a pretty simple meal!

Enjoy,

Bob