By The family left Saturday morning and the house returned to its winter quiet, which I do not experience as emptiness exactly but as a return to a different kind of fullness. The quiet after a family visit is textured differently from ordinary quiet — it has the impression of the voices in it still, the way a field has the impression of the deer that crossed it after they are gone. The kitchen especially holds a family visit for a day or two. I swept and wiped down and still found Finn's handprints on the lower cabinet door where he had leaned to watch Teddy.
The turkey carcass had been in the stock pot since Thursday night, simmering through the night and Friday, and by Saturday morning it had reduced to something extraordinary — a very dark, rich stock with more depth than any I make from unroasted bones. Roasted turkey stock is its own category, the Maillard flavors from the oven basting the liquid with a toastedness that no amount of stovetop browning quite replicates. I strained it and had eight quarts, which I split between the freezer and immediate use.
The immediate use was a turkey and root vegetable soup Saturday lunch — the picked carcass meat, carrot, turnip, potato, a little celery, the turkey stock, fresh thyme. The kind of soup that has no particular interest in being anything other than nourishing and direct. I ate two bowls at the kitchen table with bread and felt the Thanksgiving weekend settle into the past in a satisfying way. There is a proper arc to the holiday in this way: the preparation, the event, the aftermath. The soup is the closing note.
I wrote Teddy a note — an actual handwritten card, not a text — telling him that I had been cooking Thanksgiving for forty years in this house and that Thursday was the best turkey we had had in recent memory, and that I meant that without any qualification. I also told him the next lesson in the stock curriculum was waiting for him whenever he was ready: shellfish stock, and the consommé technique if he wanted to go further. He texted back three words: ready when you are. The kid is going to be a cook.
Teddy’s text — ready when you are — has been sitting with me since Saturday, and I find myself thinking about what the next lesson should actually look like in practice: something that uses the same instincts as stock-making, the patience to let a liquid do real work on protein, the willingness to let a single herb carry a dish. These Apple Cider and Thyme Grilled Pork Chops are the kind of recipe I’d put in front of him next — not complicated, but honest, and built on the same thyme that went into Saturday’s soup. A good cook learns to recognize when an ingredient belongs, and here it belongs completely.
Apple Cider and Thyme Grilled Pork Chops
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 16 minutes | Total Time: 26 minutes (plus 30 minutes marinating) | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in pork chops (about 1 inch thick, 8 oz each)
- 1 cup apple cider (not apple cider vinegar)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (for finishing, optional)
Instructions
- Make the marinade. In a bowl or zip-top bag, whisk together the apple cider, olive oil, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes if using. Reserve 1/4 cup of the marinade separately and set aside for basting.
- Marinate the chops. Add the pork chops to the marinade, turning to coat on all sides. Seal or cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours. Remove from the refrigerator 15 minutes before grilling to take off the chill.
- Preheat the grill. Heat a gas or charcoal grill to medium-high heat (about 400°F). Clean and lightly oil the grates.
- Grill the first side. Remove the pork chops from the marinade and let any excess drip off. Place on the grill and cook for 7–8 minutes without moving, until clear grill marks form and the chops release easily from the grates.
- Flip and baste. Flip the chops and brush the cooked side with some of the reserved marinade. Cook an additional 6–8 minutes, basting once more, until the internal temperature reads 145°F on an instant-read thermometer.
- Rest and finish. Transfer the chops to a cutting board or platter, top each with a small piece of butter if desired, and tent loosely with foil. Rest for 5 minutes before serving. The juices will settle and the chops will finish gently to a perfect blush.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 310 | Protein: 34g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 8g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 480mg