Pork chops with roasted fennel.
I basically already kind of patted these dry
because it's so important to...
Yes. As you know, I'm sure,
makes sure that there isn't any moisture in your pork chop
so they get a really good sear.
I already put on my cast iron pan.
I absolutely love that.
I'm gonna sear them for
I would say about eight minutes total,
four minutes on each side. Yup.
And what I love so much,
I'm just waiting for this to get a little hotter.
What I love so much is that,
I've pre-cut my fennel, I have my shallots.
Everything's gonna go in the pan at once
and get that beautiful caramelization.
And, you know, speaking of fennel,
I feel like people get a little nervous about fennel,
'cause it has that like, anise kind of flavor.
But when you kind of get it all caramelized,
it gets sweet and it completely changes the flavor profile.
Sweet and delicious with shallots and onions.
It's a perfect partner.
Oh my God.
It's so good, it's so good.
Okay, so I am gonna put these guys in the pan
and then literally, I'm just gonna like,
scatter everything around it.
So easy, right?
And then I'm gonna throw some thyme
because I love that herbaceous flavor in there all at once.
And then I think that one thing that people,
I think that people do is they wanna like,
fuss and move around those pork chops.
And I think you just need to let them sit there.
Yes! Get them to a golden sear.
And then I'm gonna flip them after four minutes.
and made these guys in advance for you.
I mean, look at that-- Gorgeous!
Beautiful caramelization. Just...
Gorgeous!
And then what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna put these chops,
and I'm gonna put our veg right on this platter.
So I also love about this recipe,
I actually couldn't find watercress.
I originally developed it with watercress,
but this is arugula,
and you could use absolutely any green
that you have on hand.
Yeah. When you make the recipe,
it becomes yours.
Exactly.
I'm gonna take this pan right now
that I just took my chops from,
and I'm going to build our sauce.
So I'm gonna do some apple cider vinegar.
I'm gonna do two tablespoons of whole grain mustard,
which I just love.
And then I also like that tangy mixed with something sweet.
So I have two teaspoons of honey right here.
Yum.
I know, it's so delicious.
Then I'm gonna put about a cup of water.
Beautiful.
Yeah.
What is-- And just simmer that.
It's so clever and easy
and things that people have in the pantry.
And I love the choice of the grainy mustard
because you get texture with it.
Exactly.
I, you know, that's one thing about my cooking
is that I really love to
create beauty and texture.
That brings me to my salad,
which I'm gonna make right now
because the salad is what's gonna bring color and vibrancy.
I have these beautiful radishes that give that hint of pink.
I have that bright salad, that spiciness.
And I also have some fennel right here
that I've used a mandolin. Yum!
When fennel is raw, it's a digestive.
A digestif.
Exactly.
But I also love that duality
of using it-- Crunch, yes!
Kind of more roasted and caramelized,
but also using it crisp and crunchy
because texture is so important.
Yum.
So here we go.
This is like, the simplest salad,
just like, bright yumminess.
I'm gonna just put a little bit
of that apple cider vinegar over there.
I like it.
I'm gonna get some olive oil.
Yum. So simple.
And I'm gonna do some flaky sea salt.
Toss that together.
And then I think that at this point,
my sauce is perfectly reduced and thickening up.
Let's see.
Oh my gosh, I wish you guys can smell this right now.
I know!
I, oh my gosh!
I wish I could go there now.
(Rachael laughs)
All right, I'm gonna go take this
and I'm gonna drizzle some of our sauce.
Can you guys see that right there?
How gorgeous. Oh yeah.
Perfectly, perfectly.
All right. Gorgeous.
We've got this sauce.
All right.
Look at that.
How yum? Done!
Great! (Rachael claps)
Beautiful, easy-- And then, add a little...
Gorgeous meal.
And so elegant and really,
really attractive to bring to the table.
(chimes ringin%g)