Authors: Leslie Karst
Tags: #FIC022000 Fiction / Mystery & Detective / General
Dying for a Taste (26 page)
Seared Pork Chops With Apricot Brandy Sauce (Gauguin)
(serves 4)
This is a classic
à la minute
hot line dish, where a piece of meat is seared and then the pan it was cooked in is deglazed with liquid to dissolve all those luscious caramelized bits left behind. Once you’ve done all your prep work (chopping, coating meat with spices), it only takes about fifteen minutes to fry the chops and make the sauce.
Ingredients
6 oz. dried apricots, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
½ cup brandy
1 teaspoon dried cumin
1 teaspoon dried ginger
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
4 thick-cut pork chops, excess fat around edges removed
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large red onion, sliced (about 2 cups)
¼ cup beef or chicken stock
4 tablespoons butter
Directions
Place the sliced apricots in a bowl and pour the brandy over to let them soak. The longer they soak the better—two hours minimum, but first thing in the morning or even overnight would be best.
Mix the cumin, ginger, black pepper, and salt together in a small bowl and then coat the chops on each side with this dry marinade.
Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat and then add the oil. Once the oil is shimmering, place the pork chops gently in the pan. (Do not crowd the chops; cook them in separate pans or in two batches if necessary.) Fry until golden brown and then turn. Continue cooking until the chops are done to your liking (Gauguin serves them still a little pink in the center). Remove chops to a large plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
Dump the sliced onions into the pork chop skillet and sauté over medium heat in the oil left in the pan, stirring occasionally so they don’t burn. When the onions start to brown, add the apricots (saving the brandy they’ve been soaking in for later) and continue to cook until the apricots start to brown.
Add the brandy and chicken stock to the pan and continue to cook for another two minutes.
Add the butter and stir into the sauce once melted.
Plate up the chops and spoon the onions, apricots, and sauce on top.
This book would not exist without the generosity of numerous people who took the time to share their expertise with me, including Cathy Kriege (bookkeeping and running a restaurant); Elena Capella (Sunday gravy and Italian families); my many culinary arts instructors at Cabrillo College; Kristen Leber (funeral homes); Kathy Franke (probate law); Enda Brennan, Greg Coben, and Nancy de la Peña (criminal law); and Rick Martinez, Joe Hernandez, Daniel Forbus, and David Pawlak of the Santa Cruz Police Department.
In addition, I am grateful to all those who have helped me with the craft of writing, including the leadership and members of Sisters in Crime and the Guppies; Ramona DeFelice Long (Necessary Parts class); Kristen Weber (editing); and my terrific beta readers: Toni Goodyear, Julie Graham, Kenneth Karst, Smiley Karst, Cathy Kriege, Sandra Long, Nancy Lundblad, Susan Mann, Robin McDuff, Tina Poles, Shirley Tessler, and Julie Villaire.
And, finally,
grazie mille
to my agent, Erin Niumata, for believing in me and taking a chance on an unknown writer; to my editors at Crooked Lane Books, Matt Martz, Nike Power, and Sarah Poppe; and to Robin McDuff, for way too many things to list here.
