Refreshed and Recharged: Baked Pork Chops with Piquant Sauce

Things got the better of me. I remembered reading an article some time ago about the struggles of women in their thirties. At that age, demands from family, career, health and social life are overwhelming. To add on, there is that need to create self identity and life purpose. Well, I admit I was torn and did not know how to manage. 

I must say it is through the people around me who showed me that I have stopped doing what I love most. That is to share my passion of food with others. Though I was still cooking and messing around in the kitchen, I haven't been trying out new recipes and sharing my experience with others. To refresh my food journey, I took a step back and asked myself what does food means to me and what am I advocating. Tough questions. Today, I think I know where I am heading to. 

As food technologies get more advanced, we do not realise that we are eating food that our body are not designed to break down. Because processed food is cheap and easy to prepare, we access them easily without any idea what goes into them. I think it is time that we be more informed of what we eat, stop consuming processed food and appreciate the goodness of real food. There is so much nutrients from fresh foods which we deserve. 

I hope I can share with you cooking real food with easy-to-follow and tested recipes. In this blog, I invite you to join me.  

Here's a simple recipe to start. If you have 30 minutes to prepare a quick, healthy dinner to impress your friends or family, here's the answer. You may ask for a lean cut of Pork chops from your butcher. What I like about this recipe is that the sauce is simple to make and goes very well with the pork chops. In addition, it keeps the kitchen clean. 

Baked Pork Chops with Piquant Sauce 
Ingredients

• 4 Pork Chops, about 250g each 
• 5 sprigs of Thyme 
• 3 sprigs of Rosemary
• 4 cloves of Garlic
• Sea salt and Pepper
• Olive Oil

Sauce

• 1 large Yellow Onion, peel and diced
• 1 Red Pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 Red Chili, seeded and diced
• 200g Cremini Mushrooms,  thinly sliced
• 1 can (398g) Chopped Tomatoes
• Sea salt and Pepper
• 1 tsp Caster Sugar
• Olive Oil

Steps:

1. Heat the oven (fan assisted) to 210 degree Celsius. 
2. Lined the pork chops on a lightly oiled a baking tray. 
3. Sprinkle thyme, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper over the pork chops. 
4. Bake for 20 minutes.  
5. While baking the pork chops, prepare the sauce. 
6. In a heated pan, add 3 tbsp of olive oil. Add in onions, red peppers, chili and mushrooms. Stir over high heat for about 3 minutes.
7. Add in tomatoes and 1/3 cup of water. 
8. Add in seasoning and simmer for 10 minutes at low heat. 
9. The sauce would have thickened. Adjust seasoning to your preference. 
10. Remove pork chops from oven and let it rest for 5 minutes. 
11. You may add the pan juices to the sauce and simmer for another 3 minutes. 
12. Plate the pork chops with sauce to serve. 

This recipe is adapted from Gordon Ramsay's Fast Food. This book is given by my hubby as our anniversary gift while we were in the states recently. The pictures taken here are also taken by him. Thank you!!