The week I made Pork Chops Braised in Fresh Tomato Sauce from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I wasn't particularly excited about this recipe. I love pork, and I love tomato sauce, but I wasn't too enthusiastic about braising the meat. I have done it before without great success.
I was WRONG. The pork was excellent. It was tender, and the sauce had so much flavor. I used a a recipe from Melissa Clark at the New York Times, Braised Pork with Chops with Tomatoes, Anchovies, and Rosemary. The recipe was similar to Julia Child's but more straightforward and updated.
I started by searing the two pork chops. I wish I had gotten more color on the pork chops at this stage. My pan wasn't hot enough. I removed the pork and set aside on a plate.
I sautèed a whole red onion that I halved and thinly sliced with three sprigs of fresh rosemary. I cooked these for a long time over low heat until the onion was very tender. I added some minced garlic and cooked until fragrant.
I added two pounds of fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped. I was lucky and able to get some lovely local greenhouse tomatoes, which had a surprising amount of color and flavor for this time of year. Had I not been able to find great tomatoes, I would have added some tomato paste to the onions before adding the fresh tomatoes to give the sauce a sweet tomato-y flavor. I added the anchovies at the same time as the tomatoes. The anchovies gave the sauce depth. It doesn't add a fishy taste, but rather a richness. The anchovies break down entirely in the sauce. I cooked the tomatoes on low heat until the mixture was saucy.
Once I made the sauce, I added the pork back to the pan and covered the pork with the tomato sauce. I covered the pan and put it into a 350˚ oven and cooked it until the pork registered 145˚. I then let it rest in the pan for about 5 minutes after cooking.
I served the pork and tomato sauce over creamy polenta with a spinach salad. The pork was so tender, and the sauce had so much flavor. There was quite a bit of leftover sauce. I've been eating it with garlic bread for lunch. It's delicious.
Next week I'll be making Ratatouille. There are a million recipes for Ratatouille and I have never tried one. I'm excited to see how this shakes out.
As far as quarantine goes, I am doing well. We're currently on day 26, and I have only left the house a couple of times to get groceries. I wore a mask for the first time this week when I went to the grocery store. It was surreal. It made me feel a little sad and scared, but I did it anyway. I am trying to do my part to help get this virus under control so life can resume sooner rather than later. I hope everyone is staying healthy and safe!