Ancho Spiced Pork Chops with Sauteed Brussels Sprouts and Mashed Sweet Potatoes

In the 9 days and nights that I had to fend for myself while Derek was out of town, I had seafood once, and meat once (turkey lunch meat...does that even count?). The rest was vegetarian. After 9 days, I was craving some real meat. For our first time back in the kitchen together - Derek was thinking fish...I had other ideas.

The fabulous Air Wick cinnamon-apple room freshener at my apartment inspired me to cook fall-flavors - comforting and hearty. A classic combination is pork and apples so some variation of this was what I set my sights on. Through normal creative banter, Derek and I came up with the final menu plan - Ancho Spiced Pork Chops with Sauteed Brussels Sprouts and Mashed Sweet Potatoes. My only task was the sweet potatoes, I guess I got off pretty easy.

Ancho Spiced Pork Chops

Ancho chili spice blend (ancho chili pepper, cinnamon, cumin, brown sugar, salt, pepper, cayenne, etc.)
Fresh pork chops (Derek chose Korobuta, I went for simple bone-in free range - much cheaper)

Liberally coat pork chops with spice blend. Let sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Heat EVOO in a pan over medium-high heat. Add the pork chops and brown each side, about 2 minutes per side. Place in a preheated oven at 375 and finish cooking until the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees.

Let pork sit for a few minutes before serving.

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts

2 pieces bacon
18 brussels sprouts (I didn't weigh them but I remember that's how many there were!)
1 shallot, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
EVOO
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 apple, peeled and diced
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper

In a saute pan over low heat, add the bacon and render the fat (slow cooking) - cook until the bacon is crisp and the fat has been rendered. Remove the bacon and set aside.

Reserve about 1 T. bacon fat and discard the rest. Add 1 tsp. oil and heat over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic. Cook until the shallots are softened and translucent. Mix in the cinnamon and cayenne pepper. Meanwhile, prepare the brussels sprouts by cleaning and trimming the ends, removing any leaves that fall or look worn (this shouldn't be the case, but just in case they aren't perfect looking!). Cut into halves and add to the shallots. Add enough chicken broth to cover the bottom of the pan. Saute for about 7-8 minutes. Add the apple and apple cider vinegar. Cook for another 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove from heat and top with crumbled bacon.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

2 small to medium (individual serving size) sweet potatoes
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. whole milk
1 T. butter
1 T. brown sugar
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
salt and pepper

Peel and chop the sweet potatoes into about 1 in pieces (for quicker cook time). Bring sweet potatoes to boil in a pot of salted water. Boil until tender, about 15-20 minutes depending on size of sweet potato pieces. Drain, and return to pot.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring milk, butter, and brown sugar to a simmer, stirring to combine; remove from heat. Add to drained sweet potatoes, add cinnamon and cayenne and mash just until smooth; season with salt and pepper.

While consuming this brilliant meal, I commented that I would be very happy to receive it in a restaurant. Sure, I'd probably never order it due to the sheer simplicity of the meal, but everything was very well executed. The pork was very juicy and tender (note - this not common of typical pork preparation). I think we can attribute the flavor and tenderness of the pork to the sheer quality of it. Derek's Korobuta pork cost about $10 for the single chop. Mind you, this is the "kobe beef" of pork - and you can tell when you taste it. The best way to describe the taste is that of a tender pork roast, full of rich, pork flavor. My pork chop, a natural, free-range what-not from the same butcher, came in at around $3 total. Though I knew the Korobuta would probably be superior to my meat selection, you can't argue the price difference. I was extremely surprised when I cut into my chop and came into contact with an extremely tender and juicy piece of meat. Sure, the flavor may not have been quite as rich as the Korobuta, but if you didn't try a bite of the Korobuta, you'd never know there was anything better out there. It was awesome.

As for the brussels sprouts, Derek is making them again in the same week for Thanksgiving. Yep! That's right, they're Thanksgiving worthy. I was originally thinking of doing roasted brussels sprouts for Thanksgiving but with the Turkey and dressing already taking up space in the oven, a stovetop preparation is perfect. And they were delicious. Honestly.

To round out the meal, my mashed sweet potatoes added not only a beautiful color to the plate, but offered a nice balance between sweet and savory. I didn't want dessert sweet potatoes and many preparations call for - butter, sugar, marshmallows, pecans, butter, sugar, butter, sugar....sugar...so I kept this dish simple with accents of sweetness (brown sugar and cinnamon) and spice (cayenne and black pepper) that served to highlight the natural flavor of the sweet potato - I couldn't get enough of them.

For this meal, I licked my plate clean.