Simple and Fancy

Seared Pork Chops
with Mashed Potatoes
and a Rosemary-Shallot Pan Sauce.

Unlike the previous times I've made this...last night, the pan sauce was started by deglazing with some Maker's Mark. Yum!

Partial Fail/Partial Win

Looks tasty. It was easy. Great, fresh ingredients. What went wrong?

I over-cooked the pork chops on the grill. They were like leather. But the flavor was still good, even if they were dry and tough. They were brined in a salt-water/orange juice solution, then seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin and coriander. Maybe the acid in the OJ toughened them up???

The corn was fresh from the market, as were the peppers. The corn was roasted on the grill...great! The peppers and some shallots were sauted in butter, the corn was added to heat thru. A final whiz of lime juice was added at the end. The lime and this type of pepper didn't play well together...and combined with the corn, the flavor was off and strange.

Oh well...no biggie...mistakes happen...moving on....

Tastes like more

Last night's dinner took it's inspiration from a recipe in the fantastic, behemoth, 1080 Recipes. There were a few extra steps I didn't want to take and some ingredient changes. This was very tasty and I was ready for plenty more when I was done!!!

Pork Chops with Mustard, Wine & Orange Juice

strange I know!

I used very thinly sliced pork chops, no more than a quarter of an inch. Season with a pinch or two of salt and fresh black pepper, then spread a light layer of Dijon mustard over the chops.

Saute the chops in a pan with one tablespoon of olive oil, over high heat. Because the chops are so thin, this takes just a few moments, as long as your pan is hot enough.

Remove the chops to a plate. Toss two finely chopped shallots into the pan and cook for one minute. They will be very aromatic and start to become translucent. Deglaze the pan with a quarter cup of dry white wine. Scrap up any bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan, that will include some tasty pork chop flavor and mustard! Add a quarter cup of orange juice. Drop heat to medium and simmer until the sauce begins to reduce and thicken. About two minutes. Stir in some chopped parsley.

I served the chops with some potatoes. Drizzle with the sauce and enjoy. Dinner took about 10-15 minutes and was very good. I will make this again.

Sorta Curry

I've been avoiding the grocery store again. If I am not in the mood to be there, it's my own personal H-E-L-L. Get me out!!!!

But I have to say, I'm starting to run out of stuff to make and will soon find ourselves eating pasta with butter & salt (Mmmm) if I don't go soon.

So last night I figured we were going to have fried eggs, toast and bacon. But I really wasn't in the mood for eggs. And I didn't think I wanted to make dinner. But after foraging through the freezer I had a protein in hand and the beginning thoughts of something else.

I had a package of pork chops frozen solid. Knowing I wouldn't be able to thaw them complete to fry them up, I decided on a braise. But what flavors? Why not something new? We recently had a visit to Penzey's in Rockville, where I picked up a small jar of Balti Seasoning. A wild, highly spiced, but not spicy, curry blend. And it worked Good!

Balti Spiced Braised Pork with Potatoes

Sear your chops (seasoned with salt & pepper) in a deep pan or dutch oven with olive oil. When browned, but not cooked through, remove to a plate and quickly saute one cup of shallots.

When the shallots are translucent, add 1 TB of the Balti seasoning and 1 TB of tomato paste. Stir for one minute.

Add about two cups of chicken broth, stirring and scraping up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add the chops into the seasoned broth.

Add three chopped potatoes. They should be mostly submerged in the liquid. Bring to a simmer, cover and place in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes. Remove the cover and cook for another 15 minutes.

Pierce the potatoes with a fork or knife to make sure they are tender. Scoop out to a plate, leaving the liquid in the pot. Bring the sauce to a boil and allow to reduce by a third. Swirl in one TB of butter, optional.

Spoon some of the enriched sauce over the chops and potatoes.

This was delicious. The pork played very well with the sweet, fragrant spices of the Balti seasoning. The potatoes were light, tender and a perfect complement to the sauce. All very good. I'll make this again and probably throw some more veg in there, when I have them from the store.

Get Your Mojo On

The other night before my computer fried out, I made a recipe I created awhile back...Pork Chops with Rum Mojo Couscous. This second time out...still very tasty!

This time I added red peppers to the green.

Also, this time around, I brined the pork chops in a salt/brown sugar solution. Really good!!! For about two cups of water, I used 1 TB of salt and 1 TB of brown sugar. The chops hung out in the salty/sweet pool over night.

Saute onions and peppers until just about tender. Add rum and simmer for a minute to finish cooking the peppers and to reduce down.

Add cooked couscous, stir and serve with the cooked chops.

That's Rum Mojo Couscous in a nutshell. Give it a shot.

Two from One, Part 2

Here is installment two of our latest Two from One adventure. With this installment, our previous adventure was Pineapple Fried Rice with Five Spice Pork.

This time, to start, we had our side; ginger and soy glazed carrots.

Carrots simmering until tender, in water, with grated ginger. Next time I'm going to just slice the ginger. You'll see in the next photo, the grated ginger soaks up the soy sauce and you end up with little clumps of black soy sauce soaked ginger clinging to the carrots. It's kind of unappetizing. With the sliced ginger, I can scoop it out after it gives it's flavor to the carrots.

When the carrots are tender and the water has evaporated, I added one teaspoon of soy sauce and one teaspoon of honey. Keep warm until you are ready to serve.

I cooked pork chops, seasoned with Chinese Five Spice seasoning. They were thin cut chops, so they cooked quickly. When done, I added 2 finely diced shallots to the pan. Deglaze with some sherry, when evaporated add some chicken broth and simmer to reduce to a sauce. Remove from the heat and stir in one teaspoon of butter to enrich the pan sauce. Serve over the pork chops.

Dinner. Chinese Five Spice Pork Chops with Ginger Soy Glazed Carrots and Jasmine Rice. Very tasty. If you haven't used the Chinese Five Spice before, give it a shot. You have warm cinnamon and clove, plus hints of spicy peppers. It's a lovely spice blend and works well with pork!

Two from One, Part 1

Last week I did a Two from One post involving steak, peppers and onions: Steak Tacos and Quesadillas. Here is our second installment of Two from One, Part 1. This time's adventure involved thin-cut pork chops seasoned with Asian 5 Spice.

Let's begin...

Our main veg for the evening; diced carrots.

Add some onions and the 5 Spice Pork.

Viola, Pineapple Fried Rice with Asian 5 Spice Pork.

In short order we'll have the part 2 of this Two from One adventure.

Mango-Ginger

my sick came back today...i made it to work for half a day...then had to come home...blah.

i did manage to make dinner...this is key...it tells you how easy this dinner is!

Mango-Ginger Glazed Pork Chops
w/Sauteed Carrots and Peppers on Couscous

The Mango-Ginger portion of tonight's dinner was the remnants of the jar of Martha's Mango-Ginger Jam we picked up at the Community Market (go this weekend for some great holiday treats!!!).

I had some extra ginger in the fridge, so I grated it up and stirred about 1 TB of ginger into 1/4 cup of jam. Add a pinch or two of salt.

Season the pork chops with salt and pepper and sear in a pan with olive oil until lightly browned. Place on a broiler pan or baking sheet and spoon over the jam, place under the broiler until the chops shiny and glazed with the bubbling jam. About 5 minutes under my broiler, but all broilers are different.

For the veggie/couscous: make your couscous per the package, set aside. In the same pan you seared the chops, add 1 small shallot, diced. Stir and saute until just translucent and beautifully fragrant. Add two carrots, chopped. Add 3 tablespoons of water and cover. This will steam and cook the carrots thru, about 2 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of additional grated ginger. Stir. Add 1 green bell pepper, chopped. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until the veg are all tender. If you have additional Mango-Ginger jam, add 1 TB to sauce the veg and sweeten the deal. Serve over the cooked couscous with the chops.

Spaghetti Squash

This is a photo-less post.
Until my camera is fixed or replaced,
please bear with me.

Last night's dinner was a yummy success.

Yesterday I went to a farm stand near work to see what they might have in terms of pumpkins. Nothing. Big fat zero. Well, that's a slight lie. They had some, but they were too giant, too marred and pitted, or just down right rotten. And you all know this right, the carving pumpkins are not ideal for cooking. They have had the flavor breed out of them, are tough and fiberous. So, no pumpkins.

But, they did have spaghetti squash and white sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes I'm going to use on Friday night. I purchased two spaghetti squash, one for last night and another for later.

I also had some very lean pork chops. So...

Pork Chops with Spaghetti Squash and Tomatoes

Start prepping your squash. Cut off the bottom and top, discard those parts. Then, prop the squash up on its bottom and cut from the top to the bottom, giving you two large halves. Scoop out the seeds and discard. The seeds and fiberous inards of the squash are easily removed, they almost peel away in one large piece.

Drizzle a little olive oil on the inside of the squash and season liberally with salt and pepper. Place cut-side down on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and roast in the oven for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.

When roasting is complete, allow the squash to cool for a minute before taking a fork and scraping the spaghetti strands out of the fruit. Yes, fruit! Reserve the cooked spaghetti squash for use in a few minutes.

Season the pork chops with salt and pepper and other flavors you prefer. I've been using an old peppermill to grind fennel seeds and dried rosemary into a great seasoning for pork. It's equal parts of each and I used probably 1/2 tsp for four small chops.

Saute in one teaspoon of olive oil until they are golden brown and just cooked thru, about 8 minutes total--this depends on the thickness of your chops. When done, place on a warm plate.

In the same pan pour in one teaspoon of olive oil and when hot, toss in 2-3 finely chopped garlic cloves. Almost immediately (when you smell the garlic cooking), pour in 1/4 cup of dry white wine. Add 1/2 cup of diced tomatoes (I used canned tomatoes that I drained). Season with 1/2 teaspoon each of dried oregano and dried basil. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in any accumulated juices from the pork chops. Stir and simmer until most of the wine has evaporated. Carefully fold in the reserved spaghetti squash, heat thru. Serve with pork chops.

This was delicious and fairly fast; outside of the roasting of the squash. It was also pretty healthy. The pork chops were very lean and with the exception of about 2 additional teaspoons of olive oil, no fat. Lots of good fiber, lycopene, beta-carotene and other vitamins. And filling!!!

Happy Meal

Start with the recipe for Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops!


Get your 'crust' ready. Bread crumbs. Parmesan. Some herbs if you like. Salt & Pepper.


The perfect side dish for this recipe is creamy mashed potatoes. But to really make it perfect, make some crispy shallots and crispy garlic to sprinkle on top of the taters. A side benefit. When you are making them crispy in the oil, they flavor the oil a little bit, so you have flavored oil for the chops!


Coat your jobs and then fry for about 4-6 minutes per side over medium-heat. Don't let the heat get to hot of you can burn the chops before they are cooked through.


Serve. OMG. So good. I love this dinner...I ate like an elephant and had seconds...I really didn't need seconds.


And another photo...why not?!!!!

Pork Chops and Apple Sauce--no more!

*First--hate Blogger for messing me up sometimes. I hit the enter key to try to space something and whoops...post published! Not what I wanted. Grrrr.



Anyway!!!

Last night was a busy night with the homemade jelly. So at the very end I took some pork chops and reserved blueberries and made a delicious, very fast dinner.

Season pork chops with salt & pepper and saute in olive oil until browned and just cooked through, depending on the size of the chops, about 5 minutes. These chops were seasoned with a Whiskey Rub by Vanns Spices. Very tasty, but with this sauce, the rub took over the lead flavor profile.

Toss in some onions and saute until they start to brown. Add 1 TB chopped fresh thyme. Pour in 1 cup of chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Add 1 cup fresh blueberries. Simmer for 5 minutes.

The berries will burst and flavor the sauce; which will reduce down. Add 1 TB of butter to enrich the sauce.

Spoon sauce over the chops. Enjoy!

Grill Fail

Well...another night of attempting the grill. Another night of the grill not working out. I gingerly placed my charcoal in the kettle. Added the starter, lit it up. Whoosh. Flames! Start seeing gray ash on the charcoal. Then it stopped. The hot area--about three coals, kept burning...the rest stopped. So I started them again...repeat. Then it stopped again...Repeat...

Three attempts to get the charcoal hot. Fail. In all that time...the three coals that were going...burned out...done. Over.

So I moved inside to fry up the chops and make a quick corn saute for dinner. Tasty. The chops were flavored with 2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp coriander, 1 tsp salt and heavy pinches of cayenne pepper, black pepper and onion and garlic powders. This was rubbed into olive oil coated chops. Cooked for a few minutes per side. Remove to a plate. The frozen corn was tossed into the same pan with a TB of butter. Saute for 2-3 minutes until cooked through. Squeeze a lime onto the corn and sprinkle some salt. Done.

I've decided not to try grilling again until I get a charcoal chimney starter. I'm hoping this will solve the problem I've had with the charcoal not being hot enough for some things and not getting hot at all for others....and I had three meals planned this week for the grill!

Grillin' again

We had guests last night and there was great weather...after the varying rain showers and humidity moved out! So..there was going to be grilling.

I have a lot to learn, but I think I might know what I'm doing. We had pork chops and asparagus. Both on the grill. The chops were salt and peppered and sprinkled with rosemary. The asparagus was seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon when it was done.

The downside last night...I started the grill, planning on giving it 30 minutes to reach maximum heat...but I waited too long and I think the heat was waning when I finally got to cooking dinner...the chops were thin cut (I do hate that my grocery stores don't sell thick cut chops) and cooked very quickly...but they lacked color...so we had pale grey chops with no color...so I had to keep the chops on the grill longer, past their needed time...but they got a little color.

So, the flavor was good, but the texture of the chops was way less than ideal. It's all a learning experience. And yes I was a bad tree hugger and used paper plates.

You surprised...? More bacon!

Dinner...Start with sauteed pork chops!
Make a smothering accompaniment. Onions, Apples, Cider. Stir in crispy bacon bits at the end.

Top the pork chops!

And my new range...it's nice...but I have to watch so I don't hit my head on the hood. And the actual space is a little smaller, than I had, but so far I haven't had much of a problem.

* Start by cutting four bacon slices into small pieces. Fry until crispy. Pour off the fat and reserve. Put two tablespoons of fat back into pan and saute pork chops until browned and delicious.

*Add one medium yellow onion, sliced. Saute for a minute until they begin to become transluscent and start to carmelize. Season with salt and pepper.

*Add 1/2 an apple, cut into slices or small diced. Saute just until they become tart.

*Add 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, a few dashes of Worchestshire sauce and 1 tsp of grainy mustard. Stir to incorporate. Add 1/4 cup hard cider. Simmer until reduced.

*Stir the bacon bits into the onions and apples. Spoon on top of the pork chops. Delish.

First Supper

Well, the first meal. And by meal I mean not from a box, not from the freezer and not from drive-thru! But nothing to fancy. We had sauted pork chops with a rosemary sauce and fried potatoes. I couldn't find my boullion, so I used some beer for the base of the sauce. It worked. But there was a slight bitterness when the beer reduced down. While we were eating I realized I could have used a bottle of hard cider instead of beer and I suspect things would have been better.

Outside of that, we bought more stuff today. We have to stop! But we wanted to finish the bed room...at least as far as we can now. We're going brown/blue for the color of the bedroom! It looks good.

On the Fried Hard Drive front, the hard drive is dead. Done. Over. Finished. Kaput! I have to buy a new one and rebuild. There's a chance we might be able to save some things--keep your fingers cross...there is so much photography gone! Word to the wise...back up your data...somehow...I've not done that and I might be s-c-r-e-w-e-d!

Smokin' Flavor

Not the best photo, but you get the idea...slow, tangy, smoky, tender, juicy, satisfying.


Beer & Chipotle Braised Pork Chops
4 pork chops, trimmed of excess fat
2 TB olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp each of dried cumin, coriander, oregano
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup dark/amber beer
1 chipotle pepper, finely diced
1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
salt & pepper

Place a medium fry pan over high heat. When hot, add the olive oil. Season the chops with salt and pepper. Gently place in the fry pan, careful not to splash hot oil. Allow to sit for a few quick minutes until the chops develop some color and crust. Flip. Repeat until the second side is browned. Remove to a plate.

Add the onions and stir to pick up the left over oil and they start to become translucent, two or three minutes. Add the herbs and spices, allow to toast for a minute, stirring frequently. Pour the beer, stir to pick up all the bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the tomato sauce and finely diced chipotle pepper. Stir to incorporate. Place the pork chops back in the pan, nestle them down into the sauce, cover and simmer over the lowest heat for 45 minutes to an hour for tender, fall apart chops. Check every 15-20 minutes, move the chops around so they or the sauce don't burn.

I served with rice and steamed corn; a good dinner.

Braised and Grilled

Tonight we had braised pork chops and grilled potatoes. Delish.

I started with the thick cut chops. Seared those in the pan on each side. When each side had a nice crust on them, I removed the chops to a plate and added one large onion which had been diced. Giving them a minute to start to release their juices, I then added a few garlic cloves that were minced a a handful of chopped rosemary. I let this cook for a minute when I added 1/2 a cup of beer. This reduced for a minute and I added 1 cup of beef broth. With this simmering over low heat I added the chops back, covered and let sit for 40 minutes, flipping the chops 1/2 way through.

During the last 15 minutes, I took a large russet potato and sliced it into 1/4 inch slices. Each side was drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. I placed these on the hot grill pan and let them go for about 4 minutes, then rotated them a 1/4 turn, so they could get nice grill markings, they went another 4 minutes. Flip and repeat.

By this time the chops were done. I removed them from the braising liquid placed on a plate. I strained out all the solids from the braising liquid and then returned the liquid to the pan and brought to a boil. The sauce reduced for about 5 minutes. I added 1 TB of butter and stirred until melted and incorporated.

Plate up the chops and the taters. Spoon sauce over the chops and potatoes. Garnish with rosemary and serve!



Easy and tasty! The pork was dry and I knew that was happening as I couldn't get the temperature low enough on the stove; what should have been a bare simmer was much more than that. To remedy this, in the future, I will bring the chops and braising liquid to a simmer, cover and place in a 375 oven for an hour. This will slow cook the chops, allowing the braising liquid to penetrate into the meat, making it tender and juicy.

Caprese by way of Pasta

Upon returning from vacation I noticed that the basil plant was going nuts and needed to be trimmed up. I wanted to fall back on my favorite basil use, especially during the summer-pesto. But I wanted to bring a little more to the party than my usually pesto takes...i.e. pasta and pesto, that's it, done, yum, over.

Now, what I ultimately did wasn't that much different from pasta and pesto, but I think it was a fun little play on the Italian fav, caprese salad...tomatoes, mozzarella and basil.


Caprese Pasta Salad
1 cup, uncooked orzo--cook to al dente, allow to cool
1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4-6 heaping tablespoons of pesto--freshly made if you can!
8 oz ball of fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
3 medium, vine ripened tomatoes, peeled, seeded and cutinto 1/4 inch cubes
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the orzo to al dente. Drain. Drizzle with the olive oil, stir to coat. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Stir in the pesto--add more or less if you like. When the pasta is coated, fold in the mozzarella and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature or cool.

Very simple and super refreshing! And yes it's pasta and pesto, but it's a fun variation of caprese salad!


I served the pasta salad with a balsamic glazed pork loin chop. The balsamic sometimes shows up on the caprese salad, so I felt it would be a perfect accompaniment. I started by reducing a 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar in a shallow pan, by 1/2. I don't have the best balsamic, so I added about 1/4 tsp of sugar to help cut the manufactured acidic taste the vinegar had. The reduction was pretty nice and super thick when allowed to cool. I seasoned the chops with salt and pepper and a little olive oil. As they took on a quick sear on the grill pan I brushed them with the glaze, turning them to get a little more heat and allowing the glaze to carmelize slightly. Not bad. I had intended to put the chops in a brine before grilling, but I forgot. They were a little dry, but overall had good flavor.

Rosemary Chops

Tonight was one of my favorite dinners using pork chops. And so simple.

Take your pork chops and season with salt and pepper. Toss into a hot pan coated with olive oil. Cook for a few minutes on each side, until cooked through. Remove to a warm plate. Add a drizzle of olive oil if the pan is 'dry.' When sizzling add one or two chopped shallots and saute for a moment. Add about 3/4 cup of stock or broth; beef is preferred. Deglaze the pan. Scrape up the bits on the bottom of the pan. Allow the broth to reduce. Add some fresh chopped rosemary, about 2 tsp. As the sauce continues to reduce add a pat of butter and incorporate into the sauce. Spoon over your finished chops. Serve with potatoes, rice and veg. Tonight was mashed potatoes with melted, stringy mozarella cheese! Plus glazed carrots with fresh oregano. You can find another very similiar version of this recipe here, using red wine with the broth.

I guess the focus of this photo is on the taters, but it was all so good!

Well that was good

Surprisingly easy and super fast! Took the chops out, very little drizzle of olive oil, salt & pepper, threw them on the HOT grill pan. Some Sylvia's BBQ Sauce, flip, sauce, flip, sauce, flip. The extra flipping, not necessary normally, but I wanted to try to get the sauce to carmelize a wee bit.


Since the grill pan was rip roaring hot, I took some asparagus, tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper and onto the grill. When it just finishes cooking, squeeze on some fresh lemon juice. Serve and enjoy. Little secret...I don't like vegetables...oh wait, you knew that. But this way of cooking the asparagus could probably get the most picky child to enjoy it. Yum lemon and grill! In total, dinner took maybe 10 minutes.

Last week I hit up Whole Foods and the Sommelatrix for some wine! I walked away with several bottles of vino and a four pack of sparklers! FUN. Everyone should have a can of sparkling wine with dinner.