Deer and Pork Chops

Yesterday Renee called me from home, all excited to tell me

that she had just been in our garden shed and ran smack into

a momma deer and her very very young Bambi behind the shed

While she was overcome with cuteness etc. my heart sank

I knew why they were on the edge of the yard.

All my rose bushes are plump with buds, ready to explode.

perfect eating.

When I arrived home late yesterday afternoon

 I went out back, almost woozy, to the gardens

Yup.

  They clean'd h'er Cap

 - island speak for, they ate almost every single bud on all the bushes -

Okay. time to recover. Yikes.

I'll cook!

I had just been in Blue Hill and wandered around the Coop to see what they had

I saw a jar of Bubbie's Sauerkraut and it just seemed like a good idea

Turns out it really was

I had defrosted pork chops the night before and came up with this

old school concoction of Pork chops, potatoes and sauerkraut

and brightened it up with a lot of fresh herbs and liberal amounts of paprika

Plus I had the chance to use this cool enamel coated, iron, skillet, baking dish thing, I had

found at a yard sale last year.  

Delicious!  I have posted the recipe below.

And yes, I admit that my heart is still a little sad,

Talk about learning how to let go of expectation...

But my front yard is still ready to pop with roses

And, lets be serious,

 if the Bambi invasion is the worst thing

to happen to me this year - I am pretty gosh darn fortunate!

OLD SCHOOL PORK CHOPS

2 thick cut pork chops

4 medium new red potatoes, sliced super thin

(I do this on my fabulous Microplane Box Grater, if you

don't have one - you should get one - but until

then use a very sharp knife or a mandolin)

A mellow oil, I used sunflower

Kosher salt

Paprika

Fresh cracked black pepper

5 sprigs of fresh herbs, I used winter savory and thyme

1 cup of a good fresh tasting sauerkraut - Bubbie's is wonderful

@1/4 cup of milk of some sort - I used my almond milk

Spread a bit of oil in a small baking pan

Toss the potato slices with oil and kosher salt and spread out in the bottom of the pan

Lay your sprigs of herbs on the potatoes

Season with cracked black pepper

Spread your sauerkraut over this layer, and then lay your pork chops on the sauerkraut

Season the chops liberally with salt and paprika

Drizzle a bit more oil over it all and then

I poured about 1/4 cup of almond milk in the pan

just to make sure nothing dried out

Bake in a 400 degree oven, un-covered, until potatoes are tender,

and pork chops are golden brown and temping at 150 degrees

This took about 25 minutes in my oven

Let stand for 10 minutes to let the juices run and then

Enjoy!

Have a deer free day everyone

Kyra