Do you know those nights where you’re not really sure what to make for dinner, so you just sort of throw together things you find in your fridge and cupboards?  That’s pretty much where this meal came from.  Next time I’ll make up a better story about how it was actually delivered to me on a silver platter by a band of angels singing the song that never ends, but alas, that’s never happened.  Yet.

So we had two lovely little pork chops we picked up on sale yesterday at the store.  We had a small bag of potatoes, some serrano peppers and a pound of tomatillos left over from the farm share.  And on the deck, a growing bounty of fresh basil, thyme and parsley.  Well hey, that sounds like dinner.

If you’ve never eaten tomatillos (or even heard of them, as I find many haven’t), you don’t know what you’re missing.  They’re fantastic.  They look like little green tomatoes, and are indeed related to tomatoes.  They’re covered in green papery husks and when you peel the husk off, you’ll find that they’re actually pretty sticky (although the stickiness washes off under water).  They have a tart, fresh flavor and when roasted, make an excellent salsa.

Herby the Love Potato

1 pound small waxy potatoes, cut into quarter inch rounds
1/4 c. fresh parsley
1/4 c. fresh thyme
1/2 c. fresh basil
3 tbsp
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
chicken stock

Place potatoes in a medium sauce pan and add in enough chicken stock to cover them.  Simmer until fork tender, about 10-15 minutes.
Place herbs and 2 tbsp olive oil in a food chopper or processor and chop into a rough paste.
Drain potatoes.  Mix in herb mixture, salt and pepper and 1 tbsp olive oil.

Porky’s Revenge
Serves 2

2 boneless pork chops
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 pound tomatillos, husked and washed
1 serrano pepper
1 small sweet onion, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic
chicken stock

Place tomatillos, serrano, onion and garlic in a small pan, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in the oven at 400F for 15 minutes.  Cool.
Heat a bit of olive oil medium skillet over medium high heat.  Sprinkle pork chops on both sides with salt and pepper.  Place in the pan; if they immediately begin to sizzle, the temperature is right.  Cover and let brown on one side for about 5 minutes; flip and continue cooking til well-browned on both sides.  Add enough chicken stock to the pan to come up at least a quarter of the way up the meat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Pull out of the pan and set aside to rest.

Place tomatillos, pepper, onion and garlic in a blender; blend into a chunky sauce.  Pour in juices from the pork chop pan and mix thoroughly.

Thinly slice the pork chops, plate and drizzle with the tomatillo salsa.