Pork Chops with Italian Salsa

I've almost gotten into a rut with pork chops.  If they're not braised with pears and red onions, they're topped with spicy fruit salsa of some sort.  Really good, but been there, done that.  A lot.

So as I'm planning which salsa I'm going to make (apricot or peach) I see two tomatoes that are getting riper as I look.  And there's some endive in the fridge I didn't use last night.  In my mind, dinner starts taking on a bit of an Italian theme...  I had already baked some bread.  Pork chops.  Italy.  Let's do it.

I marinated the pork chops in red wine, garlic, and dried Italian seasoning.

For the salsa, I basically made a chopped tomato salad:

Italian Tomato Salsa

  • 2 ripe tomatoes, diced
  • 1/2 small red onion, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • splash olive oil
  • basil, oregano, and parsley, minced
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Mix and chill.

I'm a west coast boy.  If you chop stuff up and mix it together, you make salsa.  But this really was just like a bruschetta or tomato salad.  Really simple and no-brainer, but really flavorful.

I braised the endive in a hot skillet with just a splash of olive oil and pat of butter, salt and pepper.  After it browned for a minute, I covered it and lowered the heat and let it cook about 6-7 minutes.  I then topped it with just a tiny bit of shredded Locatelli.

The rice was lazy-man's Risotto.  I cooked a cup of sticky rice (I picked up a 5-pound bag at the Asian grocery store on Sunday) and after it was cooked, stirred in some shredded Locatelli. Lazy.  But good.  And just different enough that we didn't have just plain ol' white rice with dinner.

A  little later on, there's chocolate banana pie.

It's 74° outside, windows are open and a breeze is blowing through the house.

Life really is good!


Chocolate Banana Pie

 

Think OMG delicious!  And then multiply it.  That's what you get when Victor heads into the kitchen and makes a clean out the refrigerator pie!  This was last night's dessert that I didn't get posted.

The cookie crust started out as the chocolate chip cookies I made last week and froze.  The chocolate pudding to use up some whole milk we had on hand from making ice cream, the bananas were getting to the use me today or make banana bread tomorrow stage...

And then we topped it with whipped cream.

It didn't come out of the pie plate in perfect wedges.  But it didn't matter.

It rocked!

And there's more for tonight.


Salads with a Mexican Bite

Tonight was one spicy meal.  From the grilled London Broil to the fried peppers, from the corn salad to the dressing, there was chili to be had.

The corn salad was a wing-it recipe...

Corn and Pinto Bean Salad

  • 2 ears fresh corn
  • 1 can pinto beans
  • 1 can chopped green chilies
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp Sofrito sauce
  • splash Tabasco
  • pinch cumin
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Cook corn, cool, and cut kernels from cob.  Place in bowl with 1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained, and 1 can chopped green chilies.

Add mayonnaise, sofrito sauce, tabasco, cumin, and salt and pepper.

Mix well and chill.

It was rather good.  The flavors and textures played off one another well.  It made a goodly amount, so we'll have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

The beef was another spice-sensation.  I did a dry rub of salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, and chipotle powder.  Lots of chipotle powder.  It was spicy!  And good.  The really thin slices really picked up the flavor.

And then the dressing...

It was pretty much the same dressing as on the corn salad with the addition of lime juice!  I wanted something to jazz it up just a bit.

Creamy Sofrito Dressing

  • 3 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp Sofrito sauce
  • juice of 1 lime
  • pinch cumin
  • pinch cayenne pepper
  • splash Tabasco
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Mix all ingredients and chill.

The salad itself consisted of iceberg lettuce under spring mix, with some fried peppers, tomatoes, black grapes (love the sweet pop in a spicy dish!) the grilled beef, grilled zucchini, and the corn salad.

It was a lot of flavor for minimal effort.

Let's face it - salads have to be one of the easiest meals to create.  They're really not much more than open the 'fridge, pull stuff out, put it atop some lettuce, and add a dressing.

Dressings seem to intimidate people.  They really are nothing but three parts oil to one part vinegar - and then stuff added, if you want.  Apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, red or white wine vinegar, olive oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil or safflower oil.  They all have their own unique flavors and work with a variety of other things...  mustards, honey, maple syrup, soy sauce, rice wine... Usually stuff you already have in the house.  And the beauty of making your own dressings is you can make exactly the amount you need and not have a refrigerator-shelf full of partial bottles of molding science experiments (that you have no idea how long they have really been in there).  Not to mention the chemicals, additives, and flat-out garbage that so many of those "national brands" seem to have in them.

I mean...  you're putting fresh vegetables on a plate.  Why would you want to cover them with crap?!?

And herbs!  ANYthing fresh from the garden works.  Anything.  Chop it up and throw it in.  But dried herbs work well, also, and herb blends like herbs d'Provence or Italian seasoning take all the guesswork out, completely.

No matter where you live, you should be approaching - if not already in - peak vegetable season.

Do your local economy a favor and make a salad with some locally grown ingredients.  Or better yet, with some things you've grown yourself!


Risotto

Let's see...  It's hotter 'n hell outside, humidity like you wouldn't believe.  Perfect for baking bread and making risotto!

Reality is, the house is closed up, the air conditioning is running, it's nice, cool, and comfortable in here, and I have some veggies that have seen better days.

During the winter, I make clean-out-the-refrigerator soup once a week.  But comfortable house or not, soup was not what I was looking for tonight.

Risotto started calling my name.

Into the skillet went half a diced onion, garlic, a chicken breast, broccoli rabe, broccoli, radicchio, a cup of arborio rice, white wine, and chicken broth.

I cooked it fairly traditionally, adding a ladle of broth, stirring it in - for about half of it.  I then added the rest of the already hot broth, stirred it well, put on the lid, and baked it for 25 minutes at 350°.

When it came out, I stirred in the cheese, fresh herbs, and a bit of salt and pepper.

The fresh bread finished the meal.

As I've been saying, Mother Nature's Proofing Box has been perfect for bread-baking!  All the heat and humidity has been helping to make some stellar breads and rolls.

I may not be able to do anything about the weather, but I can certainly utilize it to my advantage!


Chicken Sandwiches

This right here pretty much sums up why I went from charcoal back to propane.  Grilling small things outside in minutes.  Trying to do small things with charcoal - without a really small grill - just isn't practical.  Or economical.  A quick bbq chicken sandwich - and it was quick - was perfect for lunch today.

I used the Gates Kansas City BBQ Sauce on the chicken and on the rolls - and a healthy helping of fried hot peppers.

Simple and delicious.  Or...  simply delicious, as the case may be.

I still have the charcoal grill.  It ain't goin' anywhere any time soon.

But for quick and easy?!?  The gas grill, for sure.


Cheese Burger In Paradise

It was shortly after dinner last night that Victor said I should make some bread dough so we could have homemade burger buns today.  I like the way his mind works.

I made a batch of no-knead dough.  Mother Nature's proofing box is working overtime right now.  The only thing good about this weather we're having is it makes for some perfect dough-proofing.  It really is just like putting it into a steam box.

So...

Three hours outside last night, overnight in the 'fridge, and then shaped and formed and outside again for an hour made for the most perfect buns.  They were extremely light, the crust properly chewy... (I actually brushed them with a bit of butter when they came out of the oven to help soften them a bit).  And slightly oversized - important when you look at all the things we tend to put on them!

From the top down:

  • bun
  • mayonnaise
  • ketchup
  • mustard
  • sliced pickles
  • sliced tomatoes
  • fried hot peppers
  • asiago cheese
  • burger
  • lettuce
  • ketchup
  • mayonnaise
  • bun

It was a total mess to eat.  I had juice and mayo and lord knows what running down my arms.  I'd take a bite and stuff would just ooze everywhere.

The perfect burger!

I made a really small batch of potato salad to go along with it.

Cheese Burger in Paradise, indeed!  Jimmy...  Eat your heart out!


Gates Kansas City BBQ Sauce

When our friend Luigi said she was sending us a bottle of Gates Kansas City BBQ Sauce, I knew right away I was going to like it.  Our taste buds are really in sync.  (Actually, so are our political beliefs, humor, outlook on life - and she was partly responsible for Victor and me getting together in the first place.)  If she says I'll like something, the odds are pretty good I will.

So, while it was no great surprise that I was going to like the Gates BBQ Sauce, it was a bit of a surprise to find that it may just be my favorite bottled BBQ sauce - ever.  I actually just went to their website and ordered more.  Another bottle of Classic Original, and a bottle each of  Extra Hot and Sweet and Mild.  Experiment time!

And I especially like that it is made with real ingredients.  It totally packs a wallop and there's no crap in it!

Bold, sweet, smoky, spicy...  everything a BBQ sauce should be.

I've had a lot of BBQ sauces in my time.  Yellow sauce from South Carolina, compliments of Mike and Barbara, Memphis, Texas, Kansas City... and I've made BBQ sauce for years, including Strawberry and Root Beer.  I actually don't buy a lot of bottled sauces anymore because I don't care for the ingredients, so getting this is an extra-special treat.

I was feeling adventurous (gluttonous?!?) and wanted to try it on a lot of things at once, so I cooked pork ribs, beef tips, and chicken breast.

The ribs I baked in the oven for about an hour with nothing on them at all.  I then slathered on the sauce and placed them on the top rack of the grill and just let them slow-cook.

The beef tips and chicken were marinated in the sauce and then grilled over medium heat.

I'm not sure which of them I liked best.  The flavor was most pronounced on the chicken breast, the beef was smoky-spicy rare, and the ribs... they were fall-off-the-bone tender with flavor that just exploded.  No choosing necessary.  It goes with everything.

Potatoes were done in a  grill basket with a splash of olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic.

And Grilled Pineapple, too!

I marinated the pineapple in rum, brown sugar, and sambal oelek.  Sweet and spicy.  Onto the grill it went.

The only thing that wasn't grilled was the corn.

We have friends coming down from Boston for July 4th weekend.  I'm thinking bacon burgers...

Thanks, Luigi!

Oh!  I almost forgot...  Today's weigh-in...  down a pound and a half!


Peach and Almond Upside-Down Cake

The day is just not complete without dessert at our house.

Oh...  I know that I'd be doing much better at the Friday weigh-in if I forsook  this nightly ritual, but... ya know what?!?  Life is about living, not being a size 3.

So tonight, with some absolutely delicious peaches in the house, I decided on a peach upside down cake.

I found a recipe at Epicurious using peaches and pecans, but I didn't have any pecans in the house and had lots of almonds and almond meal.

I have to say that it totally rocked.  The cake was unbelievably good, the peaches perfect, and the almonds added just the right amount of crunch.

Peach and Almond Upside-Down Cake

For peach and pecan topping:

  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
  • 1 cup slivered almonds
  • 3 peaches cut into 8 wedges

For cake:

  • 1 1/2 cupsall purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup almond meal
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup whole milk

preparation

Peach and Pecan Topping:

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add brown sugar; whisk until sugar dissolves, about 1 minute. Pour mixture into 9-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides; spread evenly over bottom of pan.  Arrange peach wedges,  covering pan bottom. Sprinkle with almonds.

Cake:

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine first 6 ingredients. Beat sugar and butter in large bowl until butter is pale, about 4 minutes. Whisk eggs and vanilla in small bowl until well blended. Add egg mixture to butter mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions, beating just until blended after each addition. Drop batter by large spoonfuls atop almonds and peaches in pan; spread evenly and gently.

Bake cake until golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Transfer cake to rack; cool in pan 25 to 30 minutes (do not cool longer or peach layer may stick to pan). Run small knife around sides of cake to loosen. Invert onto serving platter.  Cool.


Not Your Normal Nachos

I had planned to do something with a couple of pork chops tonight.  On the grill, whatever.  I didn't give it a lot of thought when I pulled them out of the freezer this morning.

Everything changed, however, when I got home and found a present from our friend Luigi - a bottle of Gates Kansas City BBQ Sauce! No way could I grill chops tonight.  I have Gates Kansas City BBQ Sauce!  I need to plan using this.  The chops went back into the 'fridge.  I needed another plan tonight.

Pseudo-Mexican!

Mexican is my go-to style of cooking when I don't know what I'm going to cook.  I was thinking tacos of some sort - I had the necessary stuff to pull it off.  Victor came in and said something about Nachos.  The mind started creating...

Our tastes are remarkably similar, but when it comes to tortillas, Victor is more of a flour tortilla kinda guy and I'm definitely of the corn persuasion. I like fried and crunchy, he's more soft.

So... how to combine two different tastes into one dish?!?  Fry up some corn tortilla wedges and bake some flour tortilla wedges.  Pile one type on half the plate, pile the other type on the other half of the plate.

Simple.

The filling (or is it topping?) was strictly clean-out-the-refrigerator.  I fried up some ground beef with an onion and then added some sofrito sauce and a bit of chipotle powder.  I heated up the leftover polenta from the other night.  Tamales are made with corn meal.  Polenta is corn meal.  'Nuff said.

Fresh corn.  I cut the kernels off an ear.  Pinto beans.  And those fried peppers from the other day.  Lots of them.  And some of the cucumber salad from last night.  Diced tomatoes.  Cheese.

It was one of those dishes that just screamed YUM!

It was messy to eat and every bite was slightly different.  Each chip had a slightly different combination of filling.  It was a lot of fun.  It would make a great communal party dish.

Fun food.

And speaking of fun food.....

I'm thinking a mixed grill of sorts tomorrow.  I have pork chops and pork ribs.  Maybe some steak tips, as well.  Corn on the cob and a salad.

I can't wait!


Summer Salads

Summertime... and the livin' is easy... Provided the air conditioner keeps running, that is!

It's mid-90's out there.  And just a tad humid.  I hate it.  I grew up 2 blocks from the Pacific Ocean.  The very cool Pacific Ocean.  Where if it happened to hit 70°, we would go to the beach.  70 degrees.  Beach.

No one has air conditioning out there.  Don't need it but maybe twice a year, and even then, it's not like this.  Heck.  I bought my truck in San Francisco.  It doesn't have air conditioning, either.   Now I leave it at home and take the (air conditioned) car.

Okay.  Enough whining about the weather...

Summertime.  Salads.  Yum.

I actually went just a tad overboard with these.  I just kept finding fun things to add to them.  I almost added beans, too.  I'm glad I showed a little bit of restraint!

First thing I did was make a cucumber salad.

Cucumber Salad

  • 2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and diced
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1/4 cup coconut vinegar (I love my coconut vinegar - made in The Philippines - but any white wine-type vinegar will work)
  • 2 tbsp assorted herbs, minced
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Mix all ingredients.  Chill until ready to serve.

Quick, easy, and refreshing.

Next was the Raspberry Poppy Seed Dressing.  I had raspberries in the 'fridge that needed using up.

Raspberry Poppy Seed Dressing

  • 1 cup raspberries
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp dry mustard
  • 1/4 cup coconut vinegar (I'm on a run...  any vinegar will work)
  • 2 tbsp minced onion
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 1 tbsp poppy seeds

Place raspberries, honey, lemon juice, mustard, vinegar, and onion in a blender and puree.  With blender running, drizzle in 1 cup of olive oil.  Add poppy seeds, and briefly mix.

Chill until ready to serve.

This worked well - and I think any fruit would work well.  Peaches....  yum.....

The salad itself was mixed greens, radicchio,  hard cooked egg, avocado, broccoli, zucchini, peach, tomato, cucumber salad, and a grilled chicken breast.

It's going to be a while before I think about dessert.


Italian-Inspired Brochettes

Just received the latest issue of La Cucina Italiana.  I really like the magazine.  I rarely follow their recipes verbatim, but it really does inspire me to have some fun.

Tonight's dinner is a perfect example...

This month, the cover recipe - and several recipes inside - are about skewers of some sort.  Chicken  skewers, shrimp skewers, sardine skewers, tuna skewers, lamb skewers...

I haven't made kabobs/skewers/brochettes in a while and the magazine got me going.  There was one recipe that sounded especially intriguing...  It was a chicken skewer that was topped with chopped arugula, olives, cucumber, thyme, and crushed red peppers.  The concept was sound.  I top things with homemade salsas all the time.  This was like a dry salsa.  Sorta.

First thing I did was switch the meat from chicken to a cubed tri-tip.  I marinaded it in Moore's Marinade, garlic, and a bit of sherry.  Onto skewers with quartered onion, zucchini, and red bell pepper.

For the topping, I chopped a mango, radicchio, broccoli rabe, and fresh basil, parsley, thyme, and oregano.

Served over white rice.

That little bit of chopped stuff on top really took the plate from ordinary to extraordinary!  The fresh herbs, fruit, and veggies really livened up the dish.  Every bite exploded in freshness!  And unlike the salsas I usually make, there was no underlying sweet/hot flavor.  This was pure fresh.

I can see variations on a theme happening all summer.


Sausage and Peppers

You know the warning about wearing gloves when dealing with hot peppers?  I do.  Quite well, in fact.

Did I heed that warning when cleaning that pound-plus of long hot peppers today?!?  Of course not.  I don't have any gloves in the house!  Several hours later, I can still feel a bit of burn in my hands.  The only good thing about it is it's keeping me focused to keep from rubbing my eyes.

I would die.

I almost died cleaning them.  I have never coughed and sneezed so much doing anything.  Ever.  They were totally overwhelming.  Non-stop sneezing and coughing.  Rivulets of water pouring from my eyes.

I loved every minute of it.

I usually get long Italian peppers to mix with the hots, but the produce store was out of them this morning.  Plan B.  Red and green bells, cut into strips.

Now... Victor usually does the peppers.  He's the Italian.  He knows his peppers.  But he was working today and I wanted them with dinner.  Time to do it, myself.

I mixed about 2 pounds each of red and green bell peppers with the pound and a quarter or so of the hots.  Into a really large skillet with olive oil and eventually, some salt and pepper.

Just before they were done, I shredded 3 cloves of garlic into them.   The garlic gets bitter if ya put it in too soon.

90 degrees outside and I opened windows and turned on the exhaust fan to fry them up.  The breeze blowing through kept me from keeling over in the kitchen.  Those peppers are wicked!

The peppers keep for a really long time in the 'fridge (not that we allow them to stay around long...) They go with just about anything, from sausages to sandwiches, steaks to salads.

And speaking of peppers...  here's a recipe I used to make all of the time and haven't in a few years.  Red Pepper Relish. This one really lasts forever in the 'fridge.  It's from Chris Leishman's cook book Recipes From The Heart.  It's one of those things you end up finding a million and one uses for.  It's especially good on a cold flank steak sandwich on a crusty french roll.  Find some red peppers on sale and go make a batch!

The fried peppers made the perfect accompaniment to dinner tonight.  Grilled Italian sausages, grilled polenta, broccoli rabe, and a loaf of crusty Italian bread.

For the polenta, I used 2 cups of non fat milk, 3/4 cup of polenta, salt & pepper, and about 2 ounces of asaiago cheese.  When it was cooked, I put it into a well-buttered 8"x8" pan and when it was relatively cool, cut it into quarters and each quarter diagonally.  Onto the grill for a few minutes.

The broccoli rabe was sauteed with onions in olive oil and a splash of red wine vinegar.

It really was a simple dinner with some really awesome flavors.

For dessert, we have more Boston Cream Pie.

There's also fresh peach ice cream, but, really...  One dessert at a time.