Ingredients
Brine
Can be made 2 to 3 days in advance.
- 1/2 gallon water
- 2 cups apple juice
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1/4 cup salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 knob ginger, peeled, sliced
- 1 orange, sliced
- 1/4 cup juniper berries
BBQ sauce
- 1 Spanish onion, diced
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 2 jalapeno peppers, minced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
Apple chimichurri
- 1 pound Fuji, Honey Crisp or Pink Lady apples, peeled and scooped with melon baller into spheres
- 1 roasted red pepper, diced
- 3 roasted tomatoes, diced
- 1/8 cup Spanish onion, small dice
- 2 cloves garlic, slivered
- 1/2 cup mint, chopped
- 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1 teaspoon sriracha
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- juice from 2 limes
- salt, pepper to taste
Method
Brine
- Bring all items to a boil, then ice cool.
- Once the brine is completely cold, submerge 4 1-inch-thick bone-in pork chops and soak in the brine 24 hours.
BBQ sauce
- Place all the ingredients with the olive oil into a heavy bottomed pot.
- Sweat over low-medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent.
- Add all of the following ingredients to the pot and mix well:
- 2 quarts catsup
- 1/4 cup mustard powder
- 2 tablespoons hot sauce (your favorite)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 cups apple cider
- 1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
- 1 cup brewed coffee
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- Simmer 1½ hours, until the sauce is uniformly deep red.
- Remove bay leaf; cool the pot on ice. Yield will be more than is needed—the sauce can be refrigerated for up to 3 weeks. It’s also excellent on any vegetable, seafood or meat that calls for BBQ sauce.
- To grill pork chops, liberally apply BBQ, caramelize and re-glaze several times. Cook the chops about 10 minutes or until desired doneness.
Apple chimichurri
- Mix all ingredients in a pot.
- Heat the mixture lightly before plating—the exterior of the apples should be hot but not mushy.
It should not come as a surprise that Wes Dier, the chef of The Local in Rhinebeck, is all about local. Apples sourced from Migliorelli Farm in Tivoli and Montgomery Place Orchards in Red Hook, play leading roles both his spicy chimichurri and potato-apple latke. “Apples and pork are a traditional pairing, but we do it jazzed up,” Dier says. The double-boned, center-cut pork chop is brined for at least 24 hours before hitting the grill, and the sticky tang of barbeque sauce pairs with the spice of jalapeno and onions in the chimichurri. Pink Lady and Fuji are his apples of choice because they’re super crisp and maintain their structural integrity throughout the cooking process. Rather than being sliced or cubed, apples for the chimichurri are rounded with a melon baller and lightly sautéed—the outside of the balls cook to be soft and sweet, while the interior remains bright and crisp, providing multiple textural and taste sensations from just one ingredient. The spicy chimichurri sauce accentuates the apple’s complexity, transforming it into a spicy and bold combination. For the latke, shredded apples and potato are formed into a circle, providing a tasty prop for the pork. Finally, a smear of sweet potato purée brings all the components together.
