October 11, 2012 A Sauteed Meal Smoked Pork chops and Squash

October 11, 2012 A Sauteed Meal  Smoked Pork chops and Squash

I worked until about 7:00 p.m. with Josefo Martinez and Davida Simon on a case and then we all wanted to watch the Vice Presidential debate, so we wanted to have a simple meal.

While we were working Suzette was baking a large about a ten to fifteen pound squash that had a pale beige brown skin and a bright orange flesh and peeled and cut up three of four apples we had picked in Taos last weekend and stewed them in a pan with some of the PPI crabapple/mint compote and syrup to create a lovely apple/crab apple compote.  While the debate was going I cubed the squash and got out the three pork cutlets and opened a bottle of La Granja Spanish tempranillo and Granacha blend. 

As soon as about three or four cups of the squash was cubed, Suzette started sautéing the squash in a large skillet with nutmeg, and brown sugar and salt and pepper.  After a few minutes, we tasted it and it did not have much flavor so we added ½ cup of kale leaves and three sprigs of parsley.   After a few more minutes I added three slices of fresh green ginger root to give it a bit more zip.

I sautéed the pork cutlets until most of the moisture in them evaporated in about ten minutes then Suzette added some Spanish olive oil and turned up the heat to make them take on a bit of color and crunchiness.  

After the debate we served the sautèed pork cutlets and squash sautèe garnished with a pile of the stewed apples and we sipped Spanish red wine.  A very comfortable meal for a cool Fall evening.

Bon Appètit