Week 5 - Rasperry/Mustard glazed porkchops over a bed of sauteed spinach

So, my now 7 year old Peanut chef claimed this was the end all be all of our main dishes - I did not serve enough...



It is every chef's desire to take on a recipe and make it their own - but one who can start from scratch, make it 100% fresh and home made, is in a realm not traditionally created by a home cook - today I bring you a recipe that can reside on a plate in a working persons home and yet also on a working gourmet kitchen...



this all starts with picking rasperries 2 weekends past - we picked much more than we could eat raw so I learned how to make jam - Once the Jam was prepared I followed a recipe, yet not really - I have posted my rendition on All Recipes - I pan seared the pork chops until they were golden brown on each side, then simmered them in a Rasperry/mustard sauce that was to die for - served over a bed of tender yet crisp sauteed spinach. this was one of my favorites, thus far!!!

Happy Cooking!

~Jeff

Here is the recipe:

Week Day Porkchops (Modified)


Ingredients 4 bone-in pork loin chops
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup Rasperry Jam (preferably home made!)
4 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons Colemans Mustard Powder
2 tablespoons Cold Water


Step-by-step:
1.In a large skillet, brown pork chops in oil over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes on each side.
2.Meanwhile, In a med microwave-safe bowl, combine the jam, vinegar and mustard. Cover and microwave on high for 25-35 seconds or until heated through, this will render a thinner sauce and will tame the mustard a bit. (Taste it before and after, it's a pretty big difference)
3.Reserve some of the sauce (about 1/4 to 1/3).
4.Reduce heat of the pan to medium; baste on sauce and flip chop, baste other side and cook, uncovered, for 5-7 minutes flip chop again and continue for another 5-7 min or until juices run clear.
5.Drizzle some of the reserved sauce over the chops, serve and enjoy!

In The Begining there was my Mom, Cecilia...

Hello all and welcome to my new Foodie blog...

For those of you who know me, know I LOVE to cook, while recently I focused on grilling anything and everything, I've decided to expand my culinary skills.

While I DVR shows like Hells Kitchen, Master Chef and the F-Word, it is my desire one day to surpass Gordon Ramsay and be able to tell him to F^(# off... 12 Michelin Stars is gonna be hard to beat...

My cooking adventure began when I was pretty young, My Mom (Cecilia) was a great instructor, while my father was a pretty standard menu man, she taught me the basics as well as some of the fun stuff that would never make his plate... She could cook anything and everything simultaneously - I hope that her graces and skills rain down on me while I take on this challenge...

I'm not only trained by my Mom, unfortunately, I worked for Marriott Food Services as well, starting as a short order chef on the grill to being a show "Wok" artist creating meals off of a stir fry cart with my colleague and fraternity brother CJ Curtis "MEAT" - we were good and we were requested every night we weren't on shift...

Since then I went through bachelorhood, yet, I could cook - I was fortunate enough to have the best looking woman accept my proposal of marriage, 10 years later I have an 8 year old son who has been diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome (A mild form of very high functioning autism) - he is routine, hot dogs, "Daddy's Steak" and Mac 'n Cheese... My Daughter on the other hand, will try and like anything! She'll be like me, her Papa, My Father always said I was the only "market priced" child he had - what goes around comes around, my 6, soon to be 7, year old peanut of a daughter will either work for Epicurious, be a Model or become a Chef...

Anyway, long story short, I love to cook and I'm going Gourmet for 1 day per week for an entire year... I forgot to mention above where I detailed my family, my wife is a pro photographer, she's new too food shoots but she has already made a few of my dishes look better than they tasted - all photos will be from her - she can be found by clicking on Photography by Shawnanne.

I plan to accompany each dish with a recipe, it's origin and some photos - I'll include notes as well, as Chef Ramsay said "Smokin' Hot" and I ended up with charcoal topped raw scallops the first time (I'm sure this was a mis-credit, he knows smoke is no good in a pan)... I make each dish in 3 separate servings, so each time it becomes better and better, I get the first, my wife takes the second and my daughter gets the third, my son loves the Mac n' Cheese I make, LOL...

Anyway, my quest is starting soon - be prepared - please, if you re-create anything and find a better taste, comment, I'm not perfect, many of my recipes lack something, if you come up with something let us know, we'll either praise or say get the F^(# out of my kitchen :-)~

Happy Cooking!

Jeff