Pork | onedadskitchen

Back from Dublin for Some Home Cooked Pork Loin

After spending a wonderful week in Dublin last week, it’s time to get back to the real world of work, school and chores around here. That means back to cooking dinner, and yesterday I decided to make some pork loin. I had gotten the recipe from a Williams-Sonoma link I posted here on the blog a while back but I hadn’t had the chance to cook it yet. Last night I gave it a shot, and I can tell you it turned out great and the lentil salad was out of this world.

Roasted Loin with Lentil Salad

1 cup lentils

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 bay leaf

6 cups chicken stock

Salt and ground pepper

1 pork tenderloin, about 1 pound, trimmed of excess fat

1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

4 sprigs fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

In a saucepan, combine the lentils, half of the garlic, bay leaf and stock. Season well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer the lentils until tender, about 45 minutes. Let the lentils cool in stock.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Season the pork well with salt and pepper. In a ovenproof saute pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sear the pork, turning occasionally, until well browned, 6 to 8 minutes total. Add the remaining garlic and rosemary. Place the pork in the oven and roast until the juices run clear when the pork is pierced with a knife, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, drain the lentils and put them in a bowl. Add 1/4 cup olive oil, mustard, vinegar, onion and parsley. Season and toss to combine. Spread on a serving platter. Slice pork thinly, arrange on lentils and serve.

The lentils tasted great. The combination of the mustard, red onion and red wine vinegar add just the right tang and bite to the lentil salad. We also had enough left over that we can use it as a side dish again later this week with one of our other meals. I also served this with some brown rice and steamed green beans.

For the rest of this week, I plan to post some recipes of things we ate while in Ireland. I will also give some of my observations about the food and pubs and the style of cooking that we observed while we there. It was a great experience on many levels for me, with the food aspect being just one of them. You can check my other blog at The Office of Iguana Flats this week for some of my more personal outlooks on the trip.

I also have some recipes planned for this week that we’ll be using in the coming days that I hope to get up on the blog soon as well. Check back and see what we had in Ireland and what I’ll be making in the coming days. Fall is coming, so we are planning lots of soups, stews, and slow cooker meals. I also recently subscribed to Cook’s Illustrated and got a few great recipes from there this month that I plan to cook soon. Boy, we have a lot to cover! Until next time, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on October 1, 2012 in Cooking, Cooking Websites, Dinner, Pork, Salad, Side Dishes

Tags: brown rice, cook's illustrated, lentil salad, pork loin, pork tenderloin, the office of iguana flats, williams-sonoma

Recipe Roundup: Pork Loin, 4 Ways

18 Sep

Recipe Roundup: Pork Loin, 4 Ways.

I love to make a nice pork loin for dinner. As a matter of fact, I have one that I am going to cook later on this week and just may try out one of these recipes to go with it. There’s nothing like it with a nice little crust on it and some good veggies to round out a meal. Williams-Sonoma gives these four different recipes to try things out with the pork. Check it out and let me know which one you would like to try!

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Posted by MikeG on September 18, 2012 in Cooking, Cooking Websites, Pork

Tags: pork loin, pork loin recipes, williams-sonoma

Back in the Swing With Baked Pork Chops

12 Sep

Wow, it’s been a while since I have had the time to put up an actual recipe that I made for dinner! I hope to have some more to play around the blogs again, it’s just been kind of brutal the way life has a way of intruding upon things sometimes. Anyway, I do have quite a backlog of things that I have cooked recently that I hope to get up here on the blog. I am also on a diet now, so that means trying to cut back on frying and fatty things while still trying to make dinners that appeal to all of us. Tonight was a simple baked pork chops recipe from America’s Test Kitchen. I wanted to bake the pork chops instead of sauteing them tonight, and this recipe looked pretty good and better for us than the usual method.

Crunchy Baked Pork Chops

Salt

4 center-cut boneless pork chops

4 slices of white bread, torn into pieces

1 minced shallot

3 medium garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Pepper

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

1/4 cup all-purpose flour plus 6 tablespoons

3 large egg whites

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Dissolve 1/4 cup of salt in 1 quart of water in a medium container or gallon-sized zip-lock bag. Submerge the pork chops, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Rinse the chops under cold water and dry thoroughly with paper towels.

Pulse the bread in a food processor until coarsely ground. Transfer the crumbs to a rimmed baking sheet and add shallot, garlic, oil, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Toss until crumbs are evenly coated with the oil. Bake until deep golden brown and dry, about 15 minutes, stirring twice during baking time. (Don’t turn off the oven).

Cool to room temperature. Toss the crumbs with the Parmesan, thyme and parsley.

Place 1/4 cup of flour in a pie plate. In a second pie plate, whisk the egg whites and mustard until combined; add the remaining 6 tablespoons of flour and whisk until almost smooth, with pea-sized lumps remaining.

Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Spray a wire rack with nonstick cooking spray and place in a rimmed baking sheet. Season the pork chops with pepper. Dredge 1 pork chop in the flour; shake off the excess. Using tongs, coat with the egg mixture; let excess drip off. Coat all sides of the pork chop with the bread crumb mixture, pressing gently so the a thick layer of bread crumbs adheres to the chop. Transfer the breaded chop to the wire rack. Repeat with the remaining 3 chops.

Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the chops registers 150 degrees, about 17 to 25 minutes. Let rest on the rack for 5 minutes before serving.

I made some brown rice, using the recipe I linked to from the Our Best Bites blog, and some steamed spinach. The pork chops were great. Nice and moist inside and the coating was really crunchy and stayed adhered to the chops.It was much better than using Shake n’ Bake or even my own coating with an egg wash on the meat. The mixture of the flour, mustard and egg whites really made a big difference.

I have lots of recipes that have been accumulating for a few weeks with the dinners I have made, so I’ll be posting them when I get a chance. Some of them include Coq au Vin in the slow cooker, Alton Brown’s meatloaf recipe, corn and tomato salsa, a roasted corn and tomato soup, mu shu pork and even a recipe from Sean for sausage bread. I hope to start getting some of them up in the next day or two. Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on September 12, 2012 in Cooking, Dinner, Pork, Rice

Tags: americas test kitchen, baked pork chops, brown rice, crunchy pork chops, pork chops, spinach

Quick and Tasty Chicken, Sausage and Peppers

23 Aug

While I have a few minutes of a break for lunch before starting up work again, I thought I would just pop in and give the recipe I made for dinner last night. I had seen this recipe on Food Network’s website and it sounded perfect for a weeknight meal when you need something quick and easy. I altered it slightly, changing up the kinds of peppers used in the recipe, but other than that I stayed pretty true.

Chicken, Sausage and Peppers

2 tablespoons butter

3/4 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage, cut into chunks

3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 small onion, chopped

2-3 peppers of various colors, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1/2 cup dry white wine

3/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley

Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the sausage and cook until golden, about 2 minutes. Season the chicken with salt and pepper., then toss the chicken with the flour in a bowl to coat; add the chicken to the skillet and cook until golden brown but not cooked through, about 3 minutes.

Add the onion, peppers,garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and pepper to taste and cook for 3 minutes. Add the wine, scraping up any browned bits; bring to a boil and cook until slightly reduced, about 1 minute. Add the broth and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook until the sausage and chicken are cooked through, about 5 minutes.

Transfer the chicken, sausage and vegetables to a platter with a slotted spoon. Increase the heat to high and stir the parsley into the skillet.; boil until it is reduced by one-third, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Pour the sauce over the chicken mixture.

I served the meal with some white rice to round things out. For the peppers, I had bought a variety of colored peppers at the farmers market – red, orange, yellow, purple and white – so I used them all to make it more colorful. I would use whatever type of peppers you like best; if you want ones that will add some heat, get them and use them here and then use hot Italian sausage in the recipe.

That’s it for today. I have a doctor’s appointment this evening so I don’t think there ill be an organized meal tonight. Check back tomorrow and see what I’ve got. until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on August 23, 2012 in Cooking, Dinner, Pork, Poultry, Vegetarian

Tags: chicken sausage and peppers, food network, italian sausage, peppers

Preparing Pulled Pork Indoors

29 Jul

I love pulled pork. There’s nothing quite like the taste of pork slow cooked and then covered in a barbecue sauce. I have made pulled pork before and posted the recipe here, but that recipe is for outdoor cooking. The weather here has been so hit and miss this week with rain that I decided to make one completely indoors and without the slow cooker being involved. This recipe, from America’s Test Kitchen, makes a great rub for the pork so you get great barks and the sauce is perfect.

Indoor Pulled Pork with Sweet and Tangy Barbecue Sauce

Pork

1 cup plus 2 teaspoons table salt

1/2 cup plus two tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons liquid smoke

1 boneless pork butt (about 5 pounds), cut in half horizontally

1/4 cup yellow mustard

2 tablespoons ground black pepper

2 tablespoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Barbecue Sauce

1 1/2 cups ketchup

1/4 cup light or mild molasses

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon hot sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

For the pork: Dissolve 1 cup of salt, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 3 tablespoons of liquid smoke in 4 quarts of cold water in a large container. Submerge the pork in the brine, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

While the pork brines, combine mustard and the remaining 2 teaspoons of liquid smoke in a small bowl; set aside. Combine the black pepper, paprika, the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, remaining two teaspoons of salt and cayenne pepper in a second small bowl; set aside. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees.

Remove the pork from the brine and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Rub the mustard mixture over the entire surface of each piece of pork. Sprinkle the entire surface of each piece with the spice mixture. Place the pork on a wire rack set inside a foil lined rimmed baking sheet. Place a piece of parchment paper over the pork, then cover with a sheet of aluminum foil, sealing the edges to prevent moisture from escaping. Roast the pork for 3 hours.

Remove the pork from the oven; remove and discard the foil and parchment paper. Carefully pour off the liquid in the bottom of the baking sheet into a fat separator and reserve it for the sauce. Return the pork to the oven and cook, uncovered, until well browned, tender and the internal temperature registers 200 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer the pork to a serving dish, tent loosely with foil, and allow it to rest for 20 minutes.

While the pork rests, pour 1/2 cup of the defatted cooking liquid from the fat separator into a medium bowl. Whisk in all the sauce ingredients.

Using 2 forks, shred the pork into bite size pieces. Toss with 1 cup of the sauce and season with salt and pepper. Serve, passing the remaining sauce separately.

If you can’t find smoked paprika, sweet paprika will work just fine here. Using the parchment paper will help prevent the mustard from eating holes in the foil (it is acidic). I served the pork on plain hamburger buns with some pickle chips and sliced red onion. You could always use any store-bought barbecue sauce for the sauce if you prefer or don’t want to go through the work of making your own. The leftovers, of course are great for sandwiches the next day or even for pulled pork nachos (which are very tasty, by the way).

There are several side dishes you could do with this meal. Cole slaw, of course, is a great addition. You could also add some baked beans to the side as well. I came across a recipe this morning by Guy Fieri for mashed root vegetables that Michelle and I both liked, so I went with that one.

Creamy Mashed Root Vegetables

5 cups milk

2 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons salt, plus more for seasoning

4 sprigs fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

2 pounds turnips

2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes

3 tablespoons butter, cut into cubes

Freshly ground black pepper

Set a large pot over high heat and add the milk, cream, salt, thyme and bay leaves. Peel and cut the turnips into 1-inch chunks. Add the turnips to the pot and cover partially with a lid. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the turnips for 30 minutes.

Cut the potatoes into 1-inch chunks. After the turnips have cooked for 30 minutes (turnips take a lot longer to cook than potatoes), add the potatoes and continue to simmer until all the vegetables are very tender, about 20 more minutes. Discard the bay leaves and thyme. Drain the potatoes and turnips, reserving 2 cups of cooking liquid, and then mash. Add the cooking liquid and the butter. Mix well and season with salt and pepper.

You can play with this recipe a bit and add or subtract things as you wish. You could use other root vegetables, like carrots, parsnips or sweet potatoes, instead of or with the turnips or potatoes. I like the idea of cooking with the milk and cream to add some texture to the vegetables and they mix really well when you are mashing.

Some good eating for today, and I did get a few things to make for this week, like some chicken (a whole one and some boneless breasts), a skirt steak (it was a really good sale on these this week) and some ground beef, so we’ll see what I make this week. Sean starts his cooking class this week so I think he’ll be helping in the kitchen with some things, so we’ll see what we can come up with. Check back to see what we cook. Enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on July 29, 2012 in Cooking, Dinner, Pork, Potatoes, Sauce, Vegetables

Tags: creamy mashed root vegetables, indoor pulled pork, pulled pork, sweet and tangy barbecue sauce

My Sous Chef Takes Over For the Night

28 Jun

I had planned on chicken all week for dinners, but I had also taken out some pork chops to make for dinner one night. I thought tonight would be a good night to do that and I thought it would be an even better night to have Sean take over in the kitchen. He is planning on taking a cooking class later on this summer so I figured tonight would be a good night for him to do some of the cooking while I just supervised. He chose this recipe of skillet barbecued pork chops as his first test. You don’t have to do the brining of the pork chops if you don’t have time to do it, but it does help to add to the meal by making the pork chops more moist.

Skillet-Barbecued Pork Chops

1/2 cup salt

4 bone-in rib loin pork chops, 3/4 to 1 inch thick, trimmed of excess fat

4 teaspoons vegetable oil

For the spice rub:

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

For the sauce:

1/2 cup ketchup

3 tablespoons light or mild molasses

2 tablespoons grated onion

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

Dissolve the salt in 2 quarts of cold water in a large bowl or container. Submerge the chops in the brine, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

For the spice rub, combine all the spices in a small bowl. Measure 2 teaspoons of the mixture into a medium bowl and set aside for the sauce. Transfer the remaining spice rub to a large plate. For the sauce, whisk the ingredients in the bowl with the reserved spice mixture until thoroughly combined; set aside.

Remove the chops from the brine, rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Use a sharp knife to cut 2 slits, about 2 inches apart, through the outer layer of fat and silver skin of each chop (don’t cut into the meat of the chops). Coat both sides of the chops with the spice rub, pressing gently so the rub adheres. Shake off the excess rub.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until just smoking. Place the chops in the skillet in a pinwheel pattern, with the ribs pointing toward the center, and cook until browned and charred in spots, 5 to 8 minutes. Flip the chops and continue to cook until the second side is browned and the center of the chops registers 130 degrees on an instant read thermometer, 4 to 8 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and transfer the chops to a plate. Lightly brush the top of each chop with 2 teaspoons of the sauce.

Wipe the pan out with paper towels and return it to medium heat. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon of oil and heat until just smoking. Add the chops to the pan, sauce side down, and cook without moving them until the sauce has caramelized and charred in spots, about 1 minute. While cooking, lightly brush the top of each chop with 2 more teaspoons of sauce. Flip the chops and cook until the second side is charred and caramelized and the center of the chops registers 140 to 145 degrees on an instant read thermometer, 1 to 2 minutes.

Transfer the chops back to the plate, cover loosely with foil, and let rest until the center of the chops registers 150 degrees on an instant read thermometer, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, add the remaining sauce to the pan and cook over medium heat, scraping up any browned bits, until thickened and it measures 2/3 cup, about 3 minutes. Brush each chop with 1 tablespoon of the sauce and serve, passing the remaining sauce separately.

Sean handled most of the prep and the actual cooking pretty well. The only thing I really did was take the chops out of the pan. He also made some oven roasted potatoes, corn on the cob and skillet cornbread to go along with the meal. Again, he did most of the work himself, including the chopping of the potatoes, mixing everything for the sauce, the rub and the cornbread. All I handled was the hot cast iron skillet for the cornbread. I have to say I was quite proud of how well he did with everything. Now if I could just get him to clean his room, all would be wonderful!

That’s it for tonight. It might be back to chicken tomorrow night, or maybe some burgers, i haven’t quite decided yet. We’ll see what I feel like doing. Enjoy the rest of your evening and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on June 28, 2012 in Breads, Cooking, Dinner, Pork, Sauce, Spices

Tags: barbecued pork chops, pork chops, skillet barbecued pork chops, skillet cornbread

A Father’s Day Feast for Brunch

17 Jun

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. We decided to do a brunch for Father’s Days and have everyone over here for it. We made quite a bit of food, and of course I didn’t think about taking pictures of everything until after people had already started eating, so I apologize in advance for the pictures. We put out quite a buffet spread and I’ll share some the recipes here today. We made corned beef hash and home fries, both of which I have posted recipes on before. We also made pancakes, which I have posted on before and scrambled eggs. We did make a few things that I haven’t posted recipes on before, which I will share over the next few days. We made a Sausage Gravy with Biscuits, A Cheese and Onion Quiche, Crabcakes, Steamed Mussels, a Blueberry Coffee Cake, Banana Bread and a Fruit Salad. For today, I’ll tackle the Sausage Gravy and the quiche.

Sausage Gravy

8 ounces pork sausage

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/3 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 package refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (you can certainly make your own, but we were pinched for space and time and opted for Pillsbury.)

Preheat the oven 350 degrees. Place biscuits on a cookie sheet and bake for 14 to 17 minutes until golden brown. Cook the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink. Remove the sausage and drain on a paper towel-lined plate, reserving 1 tablespoon of the drippings in the skillet. Whisk the flour into the hot drippings until smooth; cook, whisking constantly, for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk, and cook, whisking constantly, for 5 to 7 minutes or until thickened. Stir in the sausage, salt and pepper. Serve over warm biscuits.

The quiche was just as easy, although we did cheat a little and used a pre-made refrigerated crust for the shell.

Cheese and Onion Quiche

1 pre-made pie crust (you can certainly make your own if you like)

4 tablespoons butter

6 cups thinly sliced onion

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

6 eggs at room temperature

2 cups cheddar cheese

2 cups cream, half-and-half or milk, heated gently until warm

Heat the oven to 425 degrees and set the rack in the middle. Prebake the chilled crust until the crust begins to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and let cool on a rack while you prepare the filling. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Put the butter in a large skillet over medium heat; when the butter melts. add the onion and some salt and pepper. Turn the heat up to medium-high and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is very soft and lightly browned, at least 20 minutes; adjust the heat so it doesn’t brown or crisp up, but just cook it until the onion practically melts. Add the thyme and stir, turn off the heat and cool slightly. Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl and then add the onion mixture.

Put the semi-cooked shell on a baking sheet and pour in the egg mixture. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until almost firm (it should still jiggle just a little in the middle) and lightly browned on top; reduce the oven heat if the edges of the shell are darkening too quickly. Cool on a wire rack; serve warm or at room temperature.

There are many more things you could add to the quiche to suit your tastes. You could add some bacon, mushrooms, or any variety of vegetables that you might like, such as broccoli, asparagus, peppers, tomatoes, spinach, really nearly anything you want. Make sure the vegetables are parboiled and cooled before you add them to the eggs and don’t overcrowd it by adding too many things.

That’s all I have time to talk about today. Tomorrow I will go over some more recipes from the menu – the crabcakes and the mussels. Check back tomorrow for those recipes. Until then, enjoy your Father’s Day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on June 17, 2012 in Breakfast, Cooking, Eggs, Gravy, Pork

Tags: breakfast, cheese and onion quiche, father's day brunch, father's day meal, sausage gravy, sausage gravy with biscuits, warm biscuits

It’s a Pork Chop Thursday!

31 May

This is another quick and easy recipe, perfect for a weeknight dinner when you don’t have a lot of time. it is Pork Chops Agrodolce with a Herbed Bean Salad. If you want to make the whole meal really quick, you can make the bean salad a day ahead, or skip the bean salad all together and go with rice or noodles as a side dish and have a vegetable (I made green beans). This recipe is a nice mix of sweet and sour flavors with the honey and the balsamic vinegar for the glaze for the pork chops. I got the recipe from Williams-Sonoma.

Pork Chops Agrodolce

4 bone-in pork chops, about 1 inch thick

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons honey

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons butter

Herbed bean salad (recipe to follow)

Season the pork chops with salt and pepper. In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Add the chops and cook, turning once, until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chops to a plate.

Reduce the heat to medium. Add the honey, balsamic vinegar and thyme and cook until the liquid is thickened and reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Stir in the broth and bring to a simmer. Return the chops to the pan, cover and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover and cook, turning the chops occasionally and basting with the sauce, for about 15 minutes more for medium doneness. Transfer the chops to a platter and cover loosely with aluminum foil.

Increase the heat to medium-high and simmer until the sauce is syrupy, about 3 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the butter until incorporated. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the sauce over the pork chops and serve immediately with the herbed bean salad.

Herbed Bean Salad

1 1/2 cups cannellini beans, picked over, rinsed and soaked overnight

2 fresh thyme sprigs

1/2 yellow onion, peeled

1 bay leaf

1 shallot, finely diced

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh oregano

3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Drain the beans and rinse with cold water. Place in a Dutch oven and add the thyme sprigs, onion and bay leaf. Add water to cover the beans by 3 inches. Bring the pot to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the beans are tender, 45 to 55 minutes. Discard the bay leaf, thyme sprigs and onion. Drain the beans into a colander and rinse with cold water.

In a large bowl, whisk together the shallot, oregano, basil lemon juice and olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Add the beans and stir to coat well with the vinaigrette. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

You could serve the bean salad warm or cold, whichever suits your tastes best. As I said, if you wanted to make this a really quick weeknight meal, you could make the beans the day before or skip them all together and make other sides instead.

For tomorrow’s dinner, Sean really wants to have the Popcorn Shrimp, so I think that is what I am going to make. I’ve never made it at home before, so it should be interesting. Check back tomorrow to find out how it goes. Until then, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on May 31, 2012 in Cooking, Dinner, Pork, Side Dishes

Tags: bean salad recipe, herbed bean salad, pork chops, pork chops agrodolce

Pop on Over For Some Pork Chops

22 May

This is a pretty easy meal for a weeknight dinner, which we sure could use around here lately. Every day seems kind of crazy, so I have been trying yo pick things for dinner that I can do quickly and easily and still taste good. Tonight’s effort is Smothered Pork Chops. It’s pretty basic and uses nothing out of the ordinary, so it’s good for a weeknight meal that you haven’t had much time to plan for.

Smothered Pork Chops

4 bone-in rib chops

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus extra if needed

2 onions, halved and sliced thin

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme, or 1/4 teaspoon dried

2 tablespoons water

3 slices bacon, chopped fine

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cup chicken broth

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

Pat the chops dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Brown the chops on both sides, about 6 minutes, then transfer to a large plate.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the skillet and return to medium heat until shimmering. Add the onions and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and the thyme and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Stir in the water, scraping up any browned bits, then transfer to a bowl.

Add the bacon to the skillet and return to medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving the bacon fat in the pan. Whisk the flour into the fat left in the skillet and cook over medium-low heat until golden, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the broth, scraping up any browned bits. Return the chops to the skillet and cover them with the onions. Add the bay leaves, cover, and simmer over low heat until the pork is completely tender, about 30 minutes.

Transfer the chops to a serving platter and tent with foil. Continue to simmer the sauce until thickened, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaves, stir in the parsley, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the sauce over the chops and sprinkle with the crisp bacon before seasoning.

This recipe calls out for mashed potatoes or noodles because of the gravy, but rice would probably work just as well here too. I served it with noodles and green beans on the side. Make sure the chops are nice and browned and not pale and gray; they look much better and taste a lot better.

That’s it for tonight. A quick recipe for a quick meal. Tomorrow I am making chicken, I just haven’t decided on a recipe yet, so check back and see what I come up with. Until next time, enjoy your evening and enjoy your meal!

2 Comments

Posted by MikeG on May 22, 2012 in Cooking, Dinner, Pork

Tags: pork chops, smothered pork chops

Grilling some BBQ Ribs and Some Meals This Week, Wow!

21 May

I Have gotten way off schedule lately. Michelle has been working a lot of hours, Sean’s school is winding down and I started a new work project that takes a lot of my time, so I haven’t had much time for blogging on either blog lately, but I also have gotten away from our meal plan for the last few weeks. We are going to try to get back to it this week, so hopefully it all works out. In the meantime, while I am not grilling today because we are getting heavy rain here in New York, I did grill yesterday and made some Barbecued Pork Ribs. Now I have made baby back ribs on here before (check here for the recipe), but spare ribs were on sale at the supermarket last week so I got some and made them yesterday and they turned out great. It’s a simple recipe, but they take a long time to cook, which actually gave me a bit of an advantage using the electric grill over charcoal and gas, although maintaining the proper heat levels on the electric grill can get a little tricky. You really have to watch the temperature gauge closely to make sure its working out. Any type of grill will work with this, you just need to keep checking and rotating the ribs. This recipe, from America’s Test Kitchen, is written for a gas grill.

Barbecue Pork Ribs

2 full racks spareribs (2 to 3 pounds each)

1/2 cup Barbecue Spice Rub (This is the same rub I used on the pulled pork a couple of weeks ago, I always make extra to have to use for ribs, burgers, steaks, chicken, etc. You can get the recipe here or I will list it below)

2 cups wood chips, soaked and drained

2 cups barbecue sauce

Massage the ribs all over with the rub and let them stand at room temperature, covered loosely with plastic wrap, for 1 hour. Place the wood chips in a disposable aluminum tray (I actually have a small cast iron smoker box I use) and rest the tray directly on top of the primary burner. Turn all the burners to high, close the lid, and heat the grill until very hot and the chips are smoking, about 15 minutes. Clean and oil the grill. Turn the primary burner down to medium and turn off the other burners.

Position the ribs over the cooler part of the grill and cover. Barbecue until the meat starts to pull away from the bones, 3 to 4 hours, flipping, switching and rotating the ribs every 30 minutes. The temperature inside the grill should remain between 300 and 275 degrees. brush the ribs with barbecue sauce during the final 15 minutes of cooking.

Since I was using the electric grill, I had to pay particular attention the temperature. There really aren’t any cool spots to speak of when using electric since the element covers a lot of the surface area, so I would have to make sure to rotate and flip and keep the ribs to the edges of the grill. It took some work, but they were fall off the bone tasty. If you want the barbecue spice rub, here it is:

Barbecue Spice Rub

1/2 cup chili powder

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup salt

2 tablespoons black pepper

2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

Mix all the ingredients until well combined. Store in an airtight container. It will last for about 1 month.

As I said, I use it for a lot of different things, like chicken, steak and shrimp and burgers, but you can use it for whatever you would like. I served the ribs with some of the leftover beans we had frozen from the pulled pork dinner, some corn on the cob, and some potato salad. It was a great Sunday meal.

As for the rest of the week, tonight I am making Pepper Steak, which I have made before on here and you can get the recipe right here. For the rest of the week, I did buy the meat necessary, I just haven’t decided what to make yet, so it will be wait and see when you check on here to see what the meal will be. I did buy some pork chops, a whole cut up chicken, some frozen shrimp and some chicken legs (I’ll probably use some of these to make chicken stock). I’ll have to see what kind of recipes I can come up with. Any suggestions? Any input at all would be greatly appreciated any time. You can leave a comment here, on my Facebook page or on Twitter. Until the next meal, enjoy your day and enjoy your meal!