Category: fall

Some things naturally pair well together.

Salt and pepper.

Photography by Fer Troulik 

Netflix and a cozy throw.

Lennon and McCartney.

Commons Wikimedia

Brown Sugar Creole Baked Pork Chops with Apples.

Baked pork chops paired with green apples, brown sugar onions, and sliced sweet potatoes dusted with ground cloves and fresh orange deliver the taste of fall.

Brown Sugar Creole Baked Pork Chops with Apples

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

6-8 thin, boneless pork chops

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon Creole seasoning

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon thyme

1 ½ tablespoon chopped parsley

3 Granny Smith or Golden Delicious apples – peeled, cored and sliced

3/4 cup hot water

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (190 degrees C).  Heat olive oil in large skillet. Brown pork chops on both sides in oil.

Add chopped parsley and sliced apples to skillet.

Cook until apples are slightly tender and parsley darkens.

Place pork chops on baking sheet and top with apple slices.

In a small mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, Creole seasoning, nutmeg, thyme and hot water.

Pour over pork chops.

Bake in preheated oven for 45-55 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chops has reached 145 degrees F (63 degrees C).

Sweet potatoes grown in South Louisiana bring the taste of home to plate and table.

My mother-in-law always said sweet potatoes taste best after the first frost, but cravings won out over first frost patience.

Wash and cut six (6) medium sweet potatoes into thirds.  Place potatoes on baking sheet.

Sprinkle with ground cloves and drizzle olive oil over sweet potatoes.  Slice an orange in half and squeeze juice from one orange half over potatoes.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes or until tender.

Cloves and oranges = fall aromatherapy.

A new addition to my taste of fall side dish rotation is brown sugar onions.

Easy.

Delicious.

Did I mention easy?

Peel and slice 3 large onions.  Place onions in medium saucepan.  Add 1/3 cup brown sugar and ¾ cup water, stirring to combine.  Bring to a boil.

Reduce to medium and cover with lid.

Cook until onions are tender.

Sweet, savory, and spicy blend, mix, and marinate together to produce a fall dish full of seasonal flavors, comfort, and tradition fit for a crisp fall day or evening meal.

 

Ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and ground cloves sprinkled over peeled and chopped apples kick up the fall flavor in this recipe for spiced apples.

It most certainly is beginning to look, smell and taste a lot like fall and yes, even the holidays.

Earlier and earlier we see holiday articles and postings in our inboxes and social pages, and who can blame those of us who find fall and holiday decorating, cooking and baking news so shareworthy.

October through December is the most wonderful and delicious time of the year.

flickr

Into every unseasonably warm fall day some rain must fall for the cold front to move through that’s bringing highs in the low 60s and lows in the low 40s.

Hanging out in the kitchen cooking is oddly relaxing and a great way to spend a rainy day afternoon.

The Home for the Holidays season is right around the corner (can you believe it?), and the sweet and savory recipes to holiday impress by aren’t going to develop themselves.

Do you know what a bowl of softening apples is called?

Recipe inspiration.

Our local grocery store sells bags of day old produce for $1.00.

My mother, the produce whisperer, hit the market at the precise moment the produce manager was putting out the marked down bags.

She got the price pick of the day, and the deal dished this recipe for spiced apples.

I washed and peeled six apples of assorted variety and color, searched the spice inventory and refrigerator for what’s on hand ingredients, and proceeded to recipe develop.

This recipe is really a no-brainer based on the natural connection between the fruits, flavors and spices we associate with the taste of fall.

Here’s what I came up with.

Spiced Apples

Ingredients

6 apples, peeled and chopped

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cloves

¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 generous Tablespoon fig preserves

2 generous Tablespoons orange marmalade

1 Tablespoon molasses

2 Tablespoons butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 300°.  Lightly butter baking dish and set aside.  Wash, peel and chop six medium size apples.

Place apples in baking dish.  Squeeze the lemon juice over the apples.  Sprinkle ground cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg over apples.

Add the brown sugar and stir gently to coat apples.

Stir in 1 generous Tablespoon fig preserves and 2 generous Tablespoons orange marmalade.  Spread apples in single layer in baking dish.

Lightly drizzle molasses over apples.  Cut butter into small pieces and place on top of the apple mixture.  Bake uncovered at 300° for 45 minutes.

Spiced apples pair deliciously with pork tenderloin or spiral ham.

Spiced apples scrumptiously complement a slice or two of toasted pecan-pumpkin bread.

Pecan-Pumpkin Bread Recipe from Southern Living

Spiced apples lend the perfect taste of fall to a scoop of vanilla ice cream drizzled with honey.

Hungry yet?