THE LADY OF SHALLOTS

I have wanted to use a recipe from Barbara Lynch's Stir cookbook, almost as much as I've wanted to go to her restaurant, No. 9 Park . Most of the recipes aren't weeknight-type meals, but this one looked like something I could handle. I bought some great pork chops from Stillman's at the Turkey Farm at the Somerville Winter Farmers Market , along with some apples as well. I'm actually not a big fan of apples with pork chops, usually, but the caramelization did the trick here! Mmm....caramelized apples... Due to copyright, I won't give the amounts, but the ingredients are as follows: Pork Chops with Caramelized Apples, Celery, and Spiced Walnuts grapeseed or canola oil (I used grapeseed) pork chops, about 1 1/2 in thick salt and pepper Honeycrisp or Granny Smith apple (I used the latter) sugar (for caramelizing) unsalted butter (for caramelizing) chopped fresh thyme celery stalks, sliced very thinly on the diagonal whole parsley leaves (1/4 cup...quite a lot--...

I've been enjoying the "A Month of Easy Dinners" issue of Real Simple (October 2009). I hope to try all of them, but some of them may have to wait until next Fall. This week, however, I managed to make the " Ravioli with Apples and Walnuts " and " Meatballs with Sautéed chard ". RAVIOLI WITH APPLES AND WALNUTS Modifications: I added some andouille chicken sausage we had in the fridge. Rating: 3.5/5 stars Notes: very good in concept and I liked the apples with the spicy sausage. I did find the dish to be too dry, however, and think I will toss it all in some truffle oil next time. Nice balance of flavors. MEATBALLS WITH SAUTÉED CHARD Modifications: none (served with whole-wheat couscous instead of suggested baguette) Rating: 4/5 stars Notes: really loved these meatballs--would make easy appetizers for a party, too. The combination of pine nuts, currants, cinnamon and pork gave them a Mediterranean taste and the moisture from the chard kept them fro...