It’s Easter dinner time and although we’re just two of us I wanted to make a special meal for this springtime holiday. Thanks to my mom we had Easter napkins, decorations, and candy so all that was left was an Easter meal. I found beautiful looking asparagus, a lovely cut of butterflied boneless pork chop and a sweet potato from a local farm yesterday at the market so I knew our dinner would have to include those items. I decided to make my very favorite potato dish that I usually have for Thanksgiving, Williams-Sonoma Two-Potato Gratin, but with only one extra large sweet potato (so really it was a one-potato gratin). Since it was for just two people I halved the recipe and made it in an 8″ metal round sprayed with a good coating of cooking spray.

I looked through a half-dozen cookbooks for a new boneless pork chop recipe and came across a great sounding one in Joanne Weir’s Wine Country Cooking cookbook that I had bought and had her sign a couple years ago when I took a fabulous cooking class from her at Draeger’s in San Mateo. My mom and I have attended two of Joanne Weir’s cooking classes and she is makes it all look so effortless and everything comes from fresh, seasonal ingredients. I’m determined to attend one of her week-long cooking and food-appreciation classes in Tuscany, Provence, or Morocco someday.

Well as you may remember I don’t enjoy mushrooms very much so I left out the morels. I was a little nervous this would ruin the intended taste of the dish but the sauce came out really savory and the pork chop was tender and zesty. Since I skipped the mushrooms out of the recipe, this took a lot less time, about 30 minutes. I popped in the potato gratin and got to work on the main pork chop and asparagus dish and before long dinner was ready. Here’s my very springtime worthy meal of pork chops, asparagus, and potato gratin: #joanneweir

©EverydayCookingAdventures 2013

Pork Chops with Asparagus and Morels

• 2 center-cut pork chops (each about 6 oz. & 1″ thick), trimmed of excess fat
• kosher salt
• 1/4 cup boiling water
• 2 tablespoons dried morel mushrooms or other dried wild mushrooms
• 1/4 pound asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into 1 1/2″ lengths
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/3 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 lb. fresh morel mushrooms or other fresh wild mushrooms halved
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, plus sprigs for garnish

Directions:
1. Wash the pork chops and place in a big bowl. Completely submerge the pork chops in salted water of 1 tbsp kosher salt per 1 cup of water. Let sit in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Remove from the refrigerator, drain, and pat dry.

2. In a small bowl, combine the 1/4 cup boiling water and the dried morels. Let cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes. Line a strainer with cheesecloth and drain the mushrooms. Chop the mushrooms and reserve the mushrooms and their liquid separately.

3. Bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the asparagus and cook until tender, yet crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain and reserve on a separate plate.

4. In a skillet large enough to hold the chops in a single layer without crowding, warm 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the pork chops and cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Turn them over and season with salt and pepper. Decrease the heat to medium-low and continue to cook, uncovered, turning occasionally, until golden and firm to the touch, 8 to 9 minutes longer. Remove from the pan and keep warm on a platter covered with aluminium foil.

5. Pour the chicken stock into the saucepan used for the asparagus and boil rapidly over high heat to reduce by half. Set aside.

6. In the skillet used to cook the pork chops, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the fresh and dried morels and cook until the fresh mushrooms are tender, 3-4 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the pan and reserve with the pork. Increase the heat to high, add the stock, chopped thyme, and mushroom liquid and reduce until it thickens slightly, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the reserved asparagus and warm for 1 minute.

7. To serve, place the pork chops on plates and divide the sauce, asparagus, and mushrooms over the top. Garnish with the thyme sprigs and serve.

Recommended to drink: Rioja