Showing posts with label pork chops. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pork chops. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Summertime and the Livin' is Easy
I'm not a huge fan of summer weather, but I am a huge fan of summer food. I love the simplicity of fresh produce and easy dishes. Yesterday, the family and I had a delicious meal of pork chops dressed only with salt, pepper, and a little sage, fresh New Jersey corn, vidalia onion drizzled with a little olive oil, and potatoes all cooked on the grill. Super simple, but oh so yummy. That's what I love so much about summer. Clean flavors, uncomplicated cooking, and the freshest ingredients you can find. To me that says summer even more than the heat and the beach, both of which I could do without. But fresh fruit and vegetables, that I could never say no to. What's everyone's favorite summer food?
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Improv Night
I think I'm on retainer as live-in chef at my cousins' place now. It was my turn to cook last night. I decided to challenge myself and try not to follow a specific recipe. Here were the rules I set for myself:
1. A recipe can only be used for inspiration (i.e. cooking tips, suggested seasonings) but can't be followed exactly.
2. Don't use a flavor combination that's already been tried this week.
3. Make a dessert to follow the meal.
The result was pork chops on a bed of caramelized onions and mushrooms. I needed a little help figuring out how to cook the chops so they didn't dry out. I turned to foodnetwork.com for ideas and went with the following technique: sear the chops on each side for two minutes or until brown on both sides and finish in a 475 degree oven for 8-12 minutes ( my chops were smaller than most so they cooked in about 8 minutes).
For the onions, I used my imagination and did some shopping in the pantry. I found sherry, rosemary, garlic, and canned mushrooms and decided to see what I could do with those. The result was vidalia onion and mushrooms sauteed in sherry with garlic and rosemary. Yum.
For dessert, I didn't want to bake, I just wanted to dress up something simple a little bit. The result, chocolate raspberry pudding with toasted, slivered almonds. Instant pudding plus raspberry extract equals the easiest special dessert you'll ever make.
In the end, I think it turned out pretty well. Dawn and Howie seemed to share that opinion. Dawn keeps making jokes about "keeping" me. I think I'm ok with that...for now anyway.
1. A recipe can only be used for inspiration (i.e. cooking tips, suggested seasonings) but can't be followed exactly.
2. Don't use a flavor combination that's already been tried this week.
3. Make a dessert to follow the meal.
The result was pork chops on a bed of caramelized onions and mushrooms. I needed a little help figuring out how to cook the chops so they didn't dry out. I turned to foodnetwork.com for ideas and went with the following technique: sear the chops on each side for two minutes or until brown on both sides and finish in a 475 degree oven for 8-12 minutes ( my chops were smaller than most so they cooked in about 8 minutes).
For the onions, I used my imagination and did some shopping in the pantry. I found sherry, rosemary, garlic, and canned mushrooms and decided to see what I could do with those. The result was vidalia onion and mushrooms sauteed in sherry with garlic and rosemary. Yum.
For dessert, I didn't want to bake, I just wanted to dress up something simple a little bit. The result, chocolate raspberry pudding with toasted, slivered almonds. Instant pudding plus raspberry extract equals the easiest special dessert you'll ever make.
In the end, I think it turned out pretty well. Dawn and Howie seemed to share that opinion. Dawn keeps making jokes about "keeping" me. I think I'm ok with that...for now anyway.
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