Officially the best meal I've ever made -

There were a lot of new things for me with this meal - 1) I've never cooked pork chops before 2) All three recipes were new for me! However, everything turned out amazingly good. Laramie and I decided it was officially the best meal I've ever made... And there have been some that were really good before now! The first part of the meal was an Apple Glazed Pork Chop. I used boneless center cut chops that were about 1/2" thick. One tip I learned was to make two small slits in the fat and silver skin on the outer edge so that they didn't bow as much when they were cooked. They had a wonderful flavor and the sear made for a phenomenal texture. You will need:

Glaze:

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup apple juice

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp soy sauce

pinch cayenne pepper

Pork Chops:

4 (5-7 oz) boneless center cut or loin pork chops, 1/2-3/4 inch thick, trimmed of excess fat

Table salt and ground black pepper

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1. For the glaze; combine the ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.

2. For the chops: Use a sharp knife to cut two slits, about 2 inches apart, through the outer layer of fat and silver skin of each chop (don't cut into the meat of the chop). Pat the chops dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium high heat until smoking. Add the chops to the skillet and cook until well browned; 4-6 minutes. Flip the chops and cook 1 minute longer. Transfer the chops to a platter and pour off any oil in the skillet.

3. Return the chops to the skillet, browned sided up, and add the glaze mixture; cook over medium heat until the center of the chops registers 140-145 degrees on an instant read thermometer, 5-8 minutes. Remove skillet from heat, transfer chops to a clean platter, cover loosely with foil, and let rest until the center of the chops registers 150 degrees, about 5 minutes.

4. Stir any accumulated meat juices from the plate into the glaze in the skillet and simmer, whisking constantly, until the glaze has thickened, 2-6 minutes. Return the chops to the skillet and turn to coat both sides with the glaze. Transfer the chops back to the plate, browned side up, spread the remaining glaze over the top, and serve.

Usually when I serve a meat dish, I like to have two vegetable options - this meal's were roasted broccoli and smashed potatoes. I had never had roasted broccoli before but really wanted to try it - I roast potatoes all the time and thought it would be a nice change. I think they may have actually been my favorite part of this meal. The texture was unbelievable and the florets ended up with just a very light almost flakiness to them. SO good! The potatoes were also amazing, very rich and creamy! You will need:

Roasted Broccoli

1 3/4 pounds broccoli (about 1 large bunch) ** I only used the florets in this recipe, not the stalk**

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lowest portion, place a large rimmed baking sheet on the rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Cut the broccoli at the juncture of the florets and stems. Remove the outer peel from the stalk. Cut the stalk into 2-3 inch lengths and each length into 1/2 inch thick pieces. Cut the crowns into four wedges (if 3-4 inch in diameter) or six wedges (if 4-5 inches in diameter). Place the broccoli in a large bowl; drizzle oil and toss well until evenly coated. Season with salt, sugar and pepper and toss to combine.

2. Carefully remove the baking sheet from the oven. Working quickly, transfer the broccoli to the baking sheet and spread in an even layer, placing flat sides down. Return sheet to the oven and roast until the stalks are well browned and tender and the florets are lightly browned, 9-11 minutes. Transfer to a dish and serve.

Smashed Potatoes

You will need:

2 pounds red potatoes (about 12 small), scrubbed

Table salt

1 bay leaf (I actually didn't have any bay leaves so I substituted about a tsp of dried rosemary)

4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

4 oz cream cheese, at room teperature

Ground black pepper

1. Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and add cold water to cover by 1 inch; add 1 tsp salt and the bay leaf (or rosemary). Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer gently until a paring knife can be inserted into the potatoes with no resistance (35-45 minutes). Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, then drain the potatoes. Return the potatoes to the pot, discard bay leaf, and allow potatoes to stand in the pot, uncovered, until the surfaces are dry, about 5 minutes.

2. While the potatoes are drying, whisk the melted butter and softened cream cheese in a medium bowl until smooth and fully incorporated. Add 1/4 cup of the reserved cooking water, 1/2 tsp pepper and 1/2 tsp salt. Using a rubber spatula or the back of a wooden spoon, smash the potatoes just enough to break the skins. Fold in the cream cheese-butter mixture until most of the liquid has been absorbed and chunks of potatoes remain. Add more cooking water as needed, 1 Tbsp at a time, until potatoes are slightly looser than desired (the potatoes will thicken slightly with standing). Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

So as you can see - this was quite an undertaking, but it was well worth the effort!