A beautifully elegant meal that had a surprisingly small prep time. With a little planning, I was able to put this meal together during a weeknight, with only an hour in the kitchen. If you can start with a marinade one day before, you’re on the brink of culinary greatness. All three main items here (carrots, baby spinach, pork chops) cook very quickly, so the action all happens in about 30 minutes. Put on some great music, focus your mind, and the multi-tasking will be theraputic. Lose yourself in the process!
In this article, I’m going to break from convention and not just outline the main course here, but the entire meal as pictured.
You’ll Need:
Ingredients
Bone in Pork Chops (3-4)
8 Whole Carrots, Peeled
1 Bunch of Baby Spinach
Canola and Olive Oil
Chives
Parsley
Orange Juice
Soy Sauce
4 Garlic Cloves
Brown Sugar
Butter, Heavy Cream
Gear
2 Sauce Pots
Blender
Oven Safe Frying Pan (Carbon Steel)
Squeeze Bottle (Optional)
The Marinade
– 2 Garlic Cloves
– 4 T Olive Oil
– 1/2 C Orange Juice
– 1 T Soy Sauce
– Salt and Ground Peppercorn
– 1/2 T Parsley
Directions
- Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees
- Add two Tablespoons of Canola to your Fry Pan, and two Tablespoons to of Olive Oil to the other two sauce pots.
- Chop carrots into small slices and wash baby spinach, set aside.
- Heat sauce pot for carrots, and add. Stir to coat for 3 – 4 minutes. Add 1 C of orange juice and bring to boil. Add 1 C water and bring to simmer for 20 minutes, until carrots are soft.
- Remove chops from marinade and dry with paper towels.
- Bring fry pan with oil to nearly smoking (around 400 degrees). Add chops in a single layer and brown (about 3 minutes) before flipping and browning the opposite side. Do not move chops around, but allow a sear to occur.
- Move chops to 350 Degree over and turn oven OFF.
- Remove carrots to blender, with 1/2 C of liquid. Add half a stick of butter cut into slices, salt and pepper, and pulse blend untill smooth. Add heavy cream, to create a consistency that you desire.
- Heat sauce pot for spinach (oil already in there!) and add 2 crush garlic cloves. Careful not to burn the garlic here. Once aromatic, add the baby spinach. Stir and combine. Cover pot and reduce to low.
- Move fry pan back to stove top and set chops aside momentarily. Add 1/4 C White Wine and deglaze.
- Add chops back to fry pan and add 1/4 C butter, and 1/4 C of reserved marinade. Tilt pan, and using large spoon, coat the Chops and you reduce liquid.
- Plate with chops, baby spinach, and carrot purree. Carrot puree can be arranged as you see fit. Sprinkle chives around plate for presentation.
