Best New Comfort Foods: Apple-Brined Pork Chop

Editor’s Note: When we hunger for clever twists on the classics we grew up with, we take to these savvy restaurants, where everything old is newfangled again. Say hello to the Best New Comfort Foods.

“My menus have almost always featured a pork chop,” says Black Market chef and partner Micah Frank. “We have steaks from time to time, usually more rustic cuts like flatiron, but nothing says ‘Indiana’ like a juicy pork chop.” Frank slow-brines chops from Fischer Farms in Jasper for at least a day and a half in a solution he usually sweetens with apple juice or cider, giving the meat a great crust and char on the grill. (If only we could re-create this in our own kitchen.) The homey sides get special attention, too: luscious creamy grits, lightly sauteed fresh greens, and smoky barbecued black beans cooked until al dente. Just be careful not to let someone at your table steal your leftovers. “I saw one guy take the bone off of his friend’s plate to nibble every last bite,” says Frank. “I wanted to buy that guy a beer!”

922 Massachusetts Ave., 317-822-6757; blackmarketindy.net

This article appeared in the January 2014 issue.