What's For Dinner: Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Pork Chops

This coming Sunday marks the beginning of Daylight Savings Time, and though I am not looking forward to losing an hour of sleep (I suppose I could just go to bed earlier...), I am so looking forward to more light in the evening. Rule #1 of food blogging is using natural light for photography, and since I typically don't start cooking each evening until the sun has begun to set, I have been failing at this rule all winter long. (Many food bloggers prep all their posts over the weekend, I, ahem, am not quite that organized ... and/or I'd rather spend the weekend cross-country skiing, catching up on sleep, or running errands (aka, making the 45-minute drive south for a chai latte) -- perhaps that is why my blog isn't yet a household name? Hmmm...) All this just to say that the other night I cooked up a batch of sweet and sour pork chops in my slow cooker, and though the post-sunset photograph (above) doesn't do them any justice, the resulting pork chops were actually quite delicious. The last time I made pork chops in my slow cooker, I was pining for a more substantial sauce, and the thick sweet and sour sauce in this recipe definitely does the trick.

Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Pork Chops (printer-friendly version)
makes 4 servings

4 boneless organic pork chops
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tablespoons corn starch

1. Place the pork chops in the bottom of a 4-quart slow cooker bowl.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, honey, ginger, soy sauce, ketchup, and garlic.
3. Pour the mixture over the pork chops, covering them evenly.
4. Cook on low for 4 hours, or until the pork chops are tender and cooked through. Prior to serving, stir in the corn starch to thicken the sauce.
5. Serve over rice.

 (adapted from this recipe)

Made From Scratch: Ketchup

I love ketchup. Like, really love ketchup. I don't put it on absolutely everything, but I do put it on a lot of things. I am that girl in the diner that slathers ketchup over both my scrambled eggs and hashbrowns. I like to dip my grilled cheese sandwich in ketchup. (Don't judge! Particularly since there is typically also a serving of fries on my plate.) And don't get me started on those "fancy" restaurants that give you one tiny metal cupful of ketchup to go along with a serving of fries. I like to be able to control my ketchup-to-fry ratio, thankyouverymuch. As to ketchup preferences, I am a Heinz girl, through and through. For the most part, we buy Simply Heinz; this product lacks high fructose corn syrup and instead lists its ingredients as "tomato concentrate from red ripe tomatoes, distilled vinegar, sugar, salt, onion powder, spice, and natural flavoring." Though this ingredient list seems to vibe well with my month of unprocessed eating (aside from the nebulous "natural flavoring"), I thought I might as well try making my own ketchup from scratch. The resulting ketchup definitely doesn't taste exactly like my favorite Heinz, but I think it does make a good unprocessed substitute.

Ketchup (printer-friendly version)
makes about two pints

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 28-oz can organic tomato purée
1/2 cup raw (unbleached and unrefined) sugar
1 tablespoon organic blackstrap molasses
1/4 cup raw cider vinegar
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium stock pot over medium heat.
2. Add the chopped onions and saute until soft and lightly golden brown, about five minutes. Stir in the minced garlic and saute until fragrant -- around 30 seconds.
3. Stir in the rest of the ingredients.
4. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until thickened, about 45-60 minutes.
5. Use a hand blender to puree the ketchup until smooth. (Alternately, blend in small batches in a blender.)
6. Pour the ketchup into two quart jars and seal. Store in the fridge; ketchup should last 3-5 weeks.

(adapted from this recipe)