Old Style Comfort Food

On Day 2 of this fall menu experiment, we had a meal that was almost something my mother would have made.

Coke & Red Wine Pork Chops
1+ lbs. boneless pork loin chops
1/4 cup coca cola
1/2 cup red wine (leave this out next time!)
salt & pepper

Marinate chops in coke and red wine. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes and broil on each side for 2 minutes at the end.

I wish I hadn't added the red wine and had just used the coke. The red wine is good with pork, but I think it tastes better with a fruity complement like a jam of some type mix in with it. I thought the wine overpowered the coke in a way I hadn't intended. This is what I get for not wanting to waste a drop of anything. I could have just poured the wine out...

Baked Apples
5 gala apples, washed & cored
In each apple:
1 pat of butter (about 1/2 Tbsp)
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Bake at 350 for an hour or more. (They can't really cook too long.)

The baked apples were an addition to the fall menu per the request of A, so she was excited to have these last night. I think apples and pork complement each other well, so we'll probably have a similar combo sometime in the near future.

We had the above dishes with English peas and mashed potatoes. (My mother liked to serve pork chops with sweet potatoes, which I would have done, if I hadn't used my two remaining sweet potatoes for yesterday's soup!)