Hallelujah! Summer is Over, Let’s Move On
Everyone loves summer. We just can’t get enough of the fresh bounty of food that fills the markets. Fresh corn, melons, beans, berries and, of course, tomatoes. I know people who cry when they pick or eat their last summer tomato. Every gardener knows the exact day that it happens.
It’s the middle of October here in the valley, and my tomatoes, although small in size, are still blessing me with their fruit. But I’m ready to move on to see what fall has to offer.
I adore having four seasons. With each new one I like to see what is new in the market and try to cook so we are eating food that is in season. I make it a practice to only eat strawberries in June and July, fresh corn and watermelon in July and August and fresh tomatoes during the hottest months. Fortunately for me, bananas seem to taste good year round.
Fall gives us stews, soups, winter squashes and all things apple and pumpkin. It’s a cozy time where the food tends to be more substantial and can be eaten in a sweater or hoodie outside or in front of an indoor fire.
Today, I want to share two of our new favorite fall recipes. One is vegetarian and one is for those who eat meat. Both are so good we have been eating them on repeat. Both can be prepped quickly although the vegetarian dish cooks for up to five hours.
What else have you got to do?
One for the omnivores
For the omnivores, here is a recipe for Skillet Pork Chops and Apples With Miso Caramel. It is a New York Times Cooking recipe written by Ali Slagle. Ali is a recipe developer and regular contributor to NYT Cooking who specializes in low-effort, high-reward recipes. She is also the author of the cookbook “I Dream of Dinner (so You Don’t Have To)1.”
The recipe has been reviewed by over 3,000 people who gave it five stars. Ali describes the dish this way:
“ …a delicious game of free association: miso caramel, caramel apples, apples and pork chops. You’ll often see miso caramel added to desserts for an umami oomph, but it can also form a glossy and complex sauce suited for proteins, much like Vietnamese caramel.
Start by searing pepper-crusted pork chops, then brown the apples in the rendered fat. (Be sure to choose an apple that’s more tart than sweet to balance the caramel’s sweetness.) Instead of making a finicky caramel, just pour all the elements over the apples and simmer until thickened. This nontraditional caramel uses brown sugar for toastiness, and water instead of heavy cream, so the savoriness of miso and pork and the sweetness of the caramel and apples shine through.”
I just had red miso and it was wonderful. Also, the recipe says it feeds three, but it only has two pork chops – and I’m not sharing. You won’t want to either once you taste this.
I’m thinking about trying to adapt this with tofu or seitan. Let me know if you do.
Skillet Pork Chops and Apples with Miso Caramel
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1.5 tbsp white miso
- 2 each bone-in pork chops 1- to 1 1/2 inch thick, patted very dry
- 1 salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp neutral oil grapeseed or canola
- 2 small Granny Smith or other tart-crisp apples cored, then sliced 1/4 inch thick, could substitute 1 large apple
Instructions
- In a liquid measuring cup or small bowl, combine 3 tablespoons water with the brown sugar, vinegar and miso; stir with a fork until smooth. Season the pork chops all over with salt, then the pepper. (Don’t skimp on the pepper; it’s an important element to balance the caramel.)
- Heat a large skillet over medium. Add the oil and the pork chops to the skillet. Cook, flipping every 2 minutes, until browned on the outside and the internal temperature in the thickest part is around 135 degrees, 10 to 15 minutes depending on thickness of pork chops. If your chops have a fat cap, using tongs, stack both chops on top of each other, then grab both chops together and hold upright to sear the fat caps until crisp, about 1 minute. Transfer to a plate to rest for 5 minutes. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat.
- Add the apples to the skillet in a single layer and heat over medium.(Snack on any that don’t fit.) Cook without touching until browned underneath, 2 to 4 minutes. If the pan is smoking at any point, reduce heat. Pour in the brown sugar mixture and cook, scraping up browned bits and stirring, until thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, 1 to 3 minutes. (Keep your eye on the sauce toward the end so it doesn’t burn.)
- Turn off the heat, add the pork chops and their juices back to the skillet and turn to coat in the caramel. Serve the pork chops with a spoonful of the apples and caramel.
Notes
One for the vegetarians
My second recipe is for Confit Tomato and Chickpea Stew. I was not familiar with Confit as a cooking technique. If it’s new for you as well, Wikipedia describes it like this:
“… any type of food that is cooked slowly over a long period as a method of preservation. Confit, as a cooking term, describes the process of cooking food in fat, whether it be grease or oil, at a lower temperature compared to deep frying. While deep frying typically takes place at temperatures of 160–230 °C, confit preparations are done at a much lower temperature, such as an oil temperature of around 90 °C, or sometimes even cooler. The term is usually used in modern cuisine to mean long, slow cooking in fat at low temperatures, many having no element of preservation, such as in dishes like confit potatoes.”
That last sentence describes this dish perfectly. This recipe was created by Rosie Kellett. Rosie describes herself as “…a food writer, chef and supper club host, living and working in East London. Her debut cookbook “In for Dinner”2 was published in May 2025 on Square Peg Books (Vintage Books, PRH). I found her on Substack on her newsletter titled The Late Plate.
Rosie says “[t}he prep takes less than 20 mins and then you just let her stew in her literal juices in the oven for anywhere between 2-5 hours. Prep this in the morning and you’ll be thanking yourself by dinner.”
As you look at the ingredients list, you’ll see spices by the tablespoon. That is no typo. The spices give this dish its amazing flavor. And please, don’t be put off by the amount of olive oil. Remember this dish serves six.
We’ll admit we were a bit apprehensive as we sat down to eat this dish for the first time. The unusual combination of familiar ingredients left us wondering what we’d be tasting. But after the first bite, we were all in. Wow!
I plan to make this again for our family gathering over the Thanksgiving holiday week because it is just so good.
Confit Tomato and Chickpea Stew
Ingredients
The Stew
- 700 grams chickpeas with their bean juice (or two tins of chickpeas)
- 500 grams fresh tomato, peeled (can be any kind, use 1 regular can of tinned tomatoes when they are out of season)
- 2 each white onions roughly chopped
- 1 ea thumb size piece of ginger julienned
- 6 cloves peeled garlic
- 1 cube vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp coriander
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 2 tsp salt & pepper
- 200 ml olive oil about 14 Tablespoons
Tahini Dressing
- 100 grams tahini about 7 Tablespoons
- 1 juice of one lime
- 50 ml soy sauce 1-1/2 Tablespoons
- olive oil enough to thin it to the desired consistency
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 150c (alternatively you can do this in a slow cooker!)
- Put all the stew ingredients in an oven proof pan with a tight fitting lid (or the slow cooker) the olive oil should just cover the rest of the ingredients, if it doesn’t, add a little more – this is what confits the chickpeas.
- Give it a good stir and cook in the oven for at least two hours, but anywhere up to five, stir again before serving.
- When you are ready to eat whisk together the tahini, soy and lime and then gradually add the oil. If the dressing splits add a drop of boiling water and whisk again, the should bring it back together.
- Serve the stew over cous cous or rice, drizzle with the dressing and top with some fresh coriander – I like to add chilli oil too!
Try these recipes and enjoy them
I hope you enjoy these two dishes as much as we did. Let me know what you thing and please reach out if you have any questions.
Until next time, bon appetit!
Mary
The Cook
What’s your favorite fall food? Leave your recommendations (and maybe a recipe!) in the comments below or via the Contact Us form.
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- Also from bookshop.org. ↩︎
