Ed & Zelda’s Pork Chop Express

I play a war game called GoodGame Empire and have made some great friends there. Two of the best of the best of GGE are Ed and Zelda from the Dragon Rampant alliance. I recently changed alliances, leaving them behind when I moved. I will miss them a lot, they are good people and we will just have to IM each oner and stay in touch. Anyway, Ed loves nothing so much as a pork chop and talks about them the way poets talk about clouds. If there ever is an Ode to the Pork Chop, it’s author must be Ed. Zelda loves kale, something we bonded over . So my last night in the alliance I cooked up a meal in their honor.

I fried the pork chop in a bit of olive oil, turning it once. My mom always said repeated flipping of your chops or steaks will dry them out and so my main focus in cooking a chop is getting a good sear, flipping it over to sear the other side and then turning the heat down a bit to let it cook through enough.  I like them medium rare which reminds me to suggest you read The Complex Origins of Food Safety Rules — Yes, You Are Overcooking Your Food from Scientific American.

The kale was easy. I took two slices of bacon and cut into small pieces and friend them with 1/2 of a small yellow onion. I cleaned three pieces of kale, cutting them off the stem and chopping them up. I added 2 TBSP of the Wild Plum Sauce I made (the recipe just before this one) when the kale was nearly done, covered for about a minute and served with the chop. I added a bit of Wild Plum Sauce on top of the pork chop, too. Delish.

The wild plum sauce is sour enough – like a vinaigrette that it complemented the kale beautifully. As to the pork chop, I could never do it the justice in words that Ed can.

 

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Wild Plum Sauce

This is just a recipe for the Wild Plum Sauce. My best friend made the stir fry that I served over the rice with the sauce and a pork chop.

She brought over 2 quarts of wild plums and suggested I come up with a good sauce. I love a challenge and started to work.

I put 1 TBSP of olive oil in a sauce pan and heated to medium. I chopped on medium yellow onion and sautéed them with 2 inches of minced ginger and about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of grated nutmeg. I let the onions cook until tender. Meanwhile I removed the pits from the plums. When the onions were tender, I added the plums and 1/4 cup of white vinegar. I let simmer until the plums broke down into a sauce. I used a potato masher to help it break down some more. Removing from the heat, I squeezed the juice of two fresh limes, added a bit of salt and pepper to taste. Then I added some sriracha to taste. I suppose about two tsps or so. Mileage may vary. If you like it hotter, add more.  After it cooled, I pureed to a nice, smooth sauce.

This is sweet, sour and spicy – perfect for meat, for fried wontons and anything that likes a sweet-sour flavor.  It’s good with veggies on rice and just about anything.