The other night I made stuffed pork chops. It was a lot of food and I couldn’t finish it! So, today I took the leftover meat, stuck it on the grill with a sliced brioche roll, toasted both and BAM! Deliciousness. I also had another apple to eat, so I cut it up and served it along side the sliders. A perfect combo and a perfect way to use up the leftovers.
I love pork and the other day, I got a huge hankering for it. This came about after talking to my mom,” Try cooking them in apple juice,” she said on the phone. So, my brain started planning the menu and after receiving beautiful apples, red onions, and a nice head of arugula from my CSA (community supported agriculture), the meal was set.
First, I went to Whole Foods and got three thick cut pork chops. These babies were about 1 1/2 inches thick and looked oh so good. At $7.99, it wasn’t too expensive, though three pieces cost me about $17. Once I got them home, I let them sit in a half cup of Red Jacket Orchards apple juice, for about an hour. Next, I stuffed them with a mixture of apple, fresh sage, pine nuts, dried cranberries, a little salt and pepper, a dash of tarragon, and a touch of olive oil. After the saucepan was heated, I poured the apple juice from the pan and put the chops in. Cooking them on medium heat, I rubbed brown sugar on one side of the pork chop and then let them simmer till each side was browned.
While I cooked the meat, I decided to caramelize the other half of the apple and a small red onion. Using about 6 Tbs of butter and 1/4 cup of brown sugar made enough sauce to cook the apple and onion, and left enough to drizzle on the finished pork chop. Taking the head of arugula, I evenly divided it on the plates, thinly sliced some radish and summer squash and put it around the dish, and set the meat right on top. I didn’t think the greens needed any sauce, since the sweet butter and juices from the meat coated it.
Voila! A delicious, though not healthy, local, and seasonal meal.
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Well, it’s been a while since I have kept up on my food blogging, but on this lovely fall-like Saturday, I decided to get back in the game. For your eating pleasure, a broccoli-double Gloucester cheese omelet. The snap of the broccoli goes perfectly with the mild, tangy, and creamy cheese. This dish is super easy, and perfect for Saturday morning brunch!
Meat Cake from Black Widow Bakery
This is truely inspirational as far as creative cooking goes. Meat cake, by the Black Widow Bakery. Of course, further exploration reveals Martha Stewart’s version of a meatloaf birthday cake, but not nearly as fun as the BWB (who also has a meat cake gallery). I think I will make one for my next party (or maybe some meat cupcakes!)
When in doubt, make a quiche. At least I think that’s my new motto. Quiche is a simple, easy to make dish that almost anyone can eat and just about everything can go into. Now, I am lazy and buy pie crust from Whole Foods; two frozen shells to a pack for about $3. This makes it even easier to prepare a quiche. The one pictured here I made with all farm fresh veggies and eggs from my farm share, save for the tomatoes, cheese and crust!
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Ah, the veggies kids are afraid of. Adults too when you really think about it. The turnips I got with my farm share were tender and small, and, if I hadn’t wanted to mash them up with some potatoes, I could have eaten them raw. For this meal I used up my collard greens, turnips, and some of the potatoes. On the shopping list: Serrano ham, shallots, lemon, garlic, butter, salt and pepper.
After waiting year to get into my local CSA (community shared agriculture), I finally was able to join. Last Saturday I received my first dose of fresh, local vegetables and eggs. The list included chard, bok choi, collard greens, radishes, turnips, and a melody of potatoes, mint, and scapes. Green, green, red, green—the pile was high and I wondered if I could really eat them before they went bad. I did, and managed to do so before I left for a wedding in Denver, Colorado. But, despite the lovely recipes the Bed-Stuy Farm Share provided, I wondered if people still felt lost with faced with such a bevy of interesting produce. I know I didn’t know what to do with it all (save for the eggs and bok choi) and didn’t even know what a scape was.
I recently learned how to choose and cook scallops. Not only do they taste AMAZING, but they’re simple to prepare. This plump beauty came from Choice Greene market in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. They do run a bit on the expensive side, about $12 to $18 a pound (and about 8 in a pound), but the price is well worth it. › Continue reading
The other day I had some fridge fixings that needed to be used up. What to do with a pound of buffalo meat, snap peas, carrots, birds-eye chili peppers, and other vegetable odds and ends? Mmmm…Time to be creative! So, I whipped up some super dense buffalo meatballs with chopped up red onion and chili pepper to give them a kick. With the remainder of the veggies I just pan-fried them a little and served it on the side. The result, though not serendipitous, tasted amazing.
- serves 3-4 -
While wandering the aisle of my grocery store, I noticed the big pile of fennel between the beets and the lettuce. Now, where had I read about fennel…that’s right, everywhere. I plucked a bunch and put it in my basket, only to forget about it for almost a week.
Oops, well it hadn’t gone bad, but I still wasn’t sure what to do with it. So I thought soup. Soup is the answer to all questionable vegetables. Surfing the web for some decent recipes that wouldn’t take me leaving the comfort of my warm home, I decided to start combining ingredients and techniques. The result was a deliciously creamy orange soup, that coincidentally, didn’t have a drop of dairy in it. It’s also super easy, I spent maybe an hour, but half the time was just simmering it while I read email.
1 fennel bulb, sliced thin (yields about 2 cups)
2 cups sliced carrots
1 small onion chopped fine
1 fist sized potato cut in small pieces (Yukon gold works well)
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
1 quart chicken or vegetable stock or broth
Black pepper and salt to taste
1. Heat oil in large pan and put in all the vegetables.
2. Sautee them until soft (though the potato doesn’t have to be cooked as much).
3. Add stock and simmer for about 20 minutes or until everything is breakable by a fork.
4. Let cool before transferring into a blender (may take more then one batch).
5. Blend till everything is pureed and put into clean pot, reheating and adding salt and pepper to taste.
