Fennel Crusted Pork Chops with Potatoes and Shallots

Don't we always want fast, easy, and fresh recipes to spice up our weekday meals? Especially, recipes to warm us as it seems to be an endless Winter here in Chicago. This recipe caught my eye in Bon Appétit's (BA) Winter survival issue.  With easy prep and cleanup, this delicious pork dish makes for a winning weeknight dinner.

I sent my husband, Steve, out  to our local butcher, Chop Shop or The Butcher & Larder, for Slagel Family Farm's Berkshire pork chops.  As a home cook and restaurant goer, I always try to eat produce and meat from local farmers. Slagel Family Farm is the ultimate quality meat farmer in Illinois. It happens that all my favorite restaurants in that city get their meat from them, so I know the quality is always A+.  It's very important to me to eat and cook sustainably.

BA's tip:  Cutting the vegetables into similarly sized pieces helps them cook at the same rate, so this entire dish-sauce included-can be done in one pan.

recipe adapted from Bon Appétit 

ingredients

1 1/2 Tbsp fennel seeds
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely grated
1 tsp. hot smoked Spanish parka
3 Tbsp vegetable oil, divided
2  1"-inch bone-in pork loin chops
1 lb of small organic Yukon Gold potatoes, quartered
2 large shallots, cut into quarters (BA recommends cutting with some root attached)
1/2 fresh organic flat leaf parsley leaves
2 tsp red wine vinegar
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
Olive oil

preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Toast the fennel seeds in a small dry skillet over medium heat, tossing often, unit fragrant, about 4 minutes. Set aside and let cool.

Combine fennel seeds, garlic, paprika, and 2 Tbsp oil in a small bowl.  Season pork with salt and pepper. Rub the pork with marinade on both sides. Place the pork in a resealable plastic bag and let it side for at least 30 minutes.  I recommend at room temperature it you are planning on cooking it immediately.

As the pork is marinating, toss potatoes with salt, pepper, and olive oil and place in a large cast iron skillet and place them in the preheated oven. Be sure to toss them once every 10 minutes. While the potatoes are roasting, I recommend chopping the shallots and measuring out the rest of your ingredients. After the potatoes have been been in the oven for 30 minutes or until fork tender. Remove and set aside.

Heat remaining 1 Tbsp of oil in a LARGE ovenproof cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Cook the pork chops until golden brown on one side,about 2 minutes; and turn. Add the potatoes and shallots to the skillet; season with salt and pepper and toss to coast in pan drippings. Cook, tossing the potatoes and shallot occasionally until the pork is golden brown on second side, about 2 minutes. If you don't have a large enough skillet to fit both chops, potatoes, and shallots, you may need to use two skillets, one for each chop.

Transfer to oven and roast until the potatoes are tender and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chops registers 135 degrees, about 7-10 minutes. Remove skillet from oven and mix in parsley and vinegar. Let the pork chops rest for 5 minutes in skillet. The pan juices will make the pork irresistibly moist and delicious.

Transfer the chops to a cutting board, cut meat from the bones and slice against the grain. Serve with potatoes, shallots, and any pan juices.  Enjoy!