Without prior knowledge, I was given pork chops and parsnips for a recent dinner at home. I had a piece of brie in the fridge, along with some chives and a bottle of maple syrup. I have been inspired to utilize maple syrup in my cooking recently, thanks to the generous Ideas in Food maple syrup giveaway. (I've come up with two dishes but haven't cracked my best creation yet).
Anyhoo, I seared a pork chop to create a crust in a pan with very hot oil. I then slowly roasted it in a low oven to finish cooking. I basted the pork with maple syrup when I was about 3-4 minutes from taking it out of the oven so as not to burn or over caramelize. I wanted a subtle background type of sweetness, not a big, thick glaze on the pork. (If I had more time, I would have brined the pork first).
I was really happy with this parsnip experiment. I boiled the parsnips in large chunks in water until soft. I pureed them with salt, pepper, chopped chives, a squeeze of lemon juice, a shot of half and half, and about two tblsp worth of brie for about 1 1/2 large parsnips. Creamy, a touch sweet, these parsnips were a real treat.
After deglazing the pan from the roast pork with just a touch of stock, I spooned the juices that had mixed with maple syrup drippings over the pork and finished the dish. Serve with a side of veggies.
love the brie/parsnip combo. could you really taste the brie or was the result just creaminess?
Posted by: mike | December 02, 2005 at 01:12 PM
yes, there was a bit of an age on the brie i was using. but generally it was just as creamy but not buttery....
Posted by: joe | December 04, 2005 at 05:55 PM