Scrumptious Dinner Menu

Apples, Pork, Kale and Potatoes

Scrumptious Pork Chops with Apples
Warm Bacon Potato Salad
Beet and Kale Salad with Apple Cider Dressing
Apple Cider Ginger Spritzer
Apple Crisp
​Click on each title above to print recipe card.

You may remember back in the 70’s when a back to earth movement connected farm raised food to handmade pottery. Pottery was an acceptable alternative to Pyrex, Enamel and Corning Ware and was a booming business from the 70’s to the late 80’s. They say history repeats itself every 50 years, at least that’s what potters are hoping, as a farm-to-table movement sweeps across America. This year I plan to share menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Enjoy recipes, and tips for cooking and serving in Thomas Pottery.

Thomas Pottery is made with stoneware clay which should put your mind at ease because, it’s designed to be used in the kitchen. Stoneware clay is fired to be durable, resist thermal shock and withstand the dishwasher. This makes baking and cleanup a cinch.

Here is a perfect menu full of comfort food for chilly weather. I put together this menu using minimal ingredients so when you buy a bag of apples you'll use all of them for this meal. Below is the shopping or pantry checklist you'll use for this menu.

Let's Get Cooking!

I'm always quick to turn on the burner before I even get the ingredients out of the refrigerator.  Cooking is much more enjoyable if I do a little before-hand preparation.  So, get all the ingredients together to prepare this meal.  Start with preparing the apples.  Peel, core and slice all of them.  I love using my Old Fashion Apple Peeler it does the job all at once, I collect all the peelings in a large bowl for composting. Take out what you need for the apple crisp, place the rest in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and fill with water.  Set these aside.  Now work on the Apple Crisp recipe and get it assembled and ready to bake with the pork.  Make the Ginger Syrup.  Make the Apple Cider Dressing.  Cook the bacon for the Warm Bacon Potato Salad.

The Ginger Syrup is a nice addition to the Apple Cider Spritzer, the Apple Cider Salad Dressing and can be used in tea and other sauces. Make the syrup and dressing ahead of time and store in one of these Lakeside Measure and Store Glass Containers. You’ll find these containers to come in handy and are dishwasher safe with metal lids that won’t crack overtime like plastic.

---

Preheat the oven 475 degrees
Start the Warm Bacon Potato Salad. I use an OXO Vegetable Peeler. The bright green color makes it super easy to find in my utensil drawer. Place cut potatoes in a pile on a Granite Ware Baking Sheet, sprinkle with salt and pepper, drizzle with oil, toss then spread in one layer. Plan to serve in our Large Oval Pottery Baking and Serving Bowl. These potatoes are bursting with flavor plus easy to make. I took a short cut, once my bacon and onions where cooked, I simply removed the grease from my 8” Cast Iron Skillet then added the vinegar and mustard, gave it a stir then transferred the roasted potatoes to the serving dish and poured the bacon dressing from the skillet over the potatoes. Cover lightly with foil until ready to serve. If you need to reheat the potatoes before serving, you can place them in the oven for a few minutes. This oval stoneware baking and serving bowl will be perfectly fine to place in an oven that is 350 degrees. I reheated mine for about 7-10 min. just to make sure they were nice and warm for my guests.
​

Turn down the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the onion for the Pork Chops, start by peeling then cut onion in half lengthwise, then slice in long 1/4" pieces.  Heat oil in skillet, I use a 12” Cast Iron Skillet to brown the pork chops, following the recipe directions.  You'll remove the browned chops from the skillet to cook the onion and apples.  Once ready, this skillet goes right in the oven to bake. This pork will be tender and juicy and is absolutely delicious.  You can serve these pork chops with rice on another occasion. 

Once you have the pork and apple crisp in the oven baking, you can make the salad.

The Baby Kale and Beet Salad goes together fast especially since most of the chopping and slicing is finished.  I use my Cuisinart Mandoline Slicer for salads but find it intimidating, so I use a Cuisinart Cut- resistant glove to protect my hand.  I find it easier to leave the tops on the beets, giving you a handle to use while you peel and slice.  The beets add a nice sweetness to this salad, but you can substitute with carrots, fennel or even celery. Use our Large Round Serving Bowl for the Baby Kale and Beet Salad and our Tri-Foot Sauce Boat for the Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing.​

Once the pork is finished, transfer to our Oval Serving Platter with Handles. You’ll find the Apple Crisp baked in the Round Low Baking Dish with handles is easy to remove from the oven and easy to carry,  Best of all, it's table ready.  Use our individual small bakers to serve this delicious Apple Crisp to your guests. Top with vanilla ice cream!

This is a wonderful and satisfying meal and the first time I’ve experienced drinking a beverage that complimented the meal so perfectly.  The Apple Ginger Spritzer was a refreshing treat all the way to the dessert.  You can cook this menu in it's entirety, or pair individual recipes with other dishes.

Thomas Pottery Bakeware and Serving Pieces

Large Mixing Bowl
Small Mixing Bowl
Large Round Serving Bowl
Large Low Baker with Handles
Large Oval Baking and Serving Bowl
Oval Serving Platter with Handles
Tri-Foot Sauce Boat
Individual Small Bakers
Large Pitcher and Tumblers

Cooking Tools *see disclosure below

Cuisinart Mandoline Slicer
Cuisinart Cut Resistant Glove
OXO Good Grips Peeler Set of 3
12” - 8” Cast Iron Skillets
Lakeside Collection Measure Bottle
Apple Corer Peeler
Granite Ware Baking Sheet

Shopping & Pantry Checklist

1 Bag small red potatoes 2lbs ~ 7 potatoes
1 Bag small Granny Smith apples ~ 10 apples
2 large red onion
1 - 6” piece of fresh ginger
1 bunch small beets (1-3)
1 bag kale or kale mix ~ 4 cups

1 half gallon apple cider
1 bottle seltzer or ginger ale
Garlic ~ one head
Olive oil 1/4 c
Vegetable Oil 4 T.
Grainy mustard 1 T~like Guldlens
Bay leaf 2
Salt & pepper

1 package bone in pork chops 4-6
All purpose flour ~ 1 c.
Old fashioned oats ~ 1 c.
Brown sugar ~ 1/3 c.
Sugar ~ 1 1/3 c.
Cinnamon ~ 2 t.
Butter ~ 1 stick
Slivered almonds 1/4 c

A special thank you to my sister, Wanda and husband Scott for testing my recipes, editing my text and being my sounding board.

*Disclosure:
Please note that some of this site's links are affiliate links, Bobbie Thomas is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by providing links to amazon.com. At NO ADDITIONAL COST TO YOU, I will earn a small commission, if you purchase them using these links. Please know these are products I use and recommend to my customers.