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!

Week 4: Beets and Apples??? Oh My....

So after the labor day holiday I realized I ate wayyyy more than normal, I'm pretty sure I'm still full from Monday's dinner so I wanted to go a little lighter on my trial dish today... I went over to my local market and right in front of me were bunch atop of bunch of raw, fresh Beets... I knew I could consume all of the beet and figured I'd give it a go, $2 later i was on my way home...

the bunch I chose had 3 good sized bulbs and some crisp greens... I trimmed some off to let Shawn and Chef Bailey try some, Brycen was having no part of it... There went one bulb as the 3 of us loved the flavor of the raw beet... Now, I said I was gonna make each dish, "my own" - but just like "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" has help, I should get some too, so I "Polled the Audience" - in this case the Internet, as you are my audience...

I found what sounded like a fun recipe for Beets with Green Apples so I made a go at it...

First off, my beets were fresh, not in a can with a liquid so there was no sauce to reserve... I realized I had 2 Apples and 2 Beet bulbs left, coincidence?!? So I pull out the juicer and toss in the spare green apple and the beet bulb - I love to taste everything but probably could have passed on the Beet/Green Apple juice - I peeled and cored the remaining apple and sliced it into triangles, I did the same with the remaining beet, yet made the slices a little thinner as I figured they'd take longer to soften...

In my pan I mixed the ingredients the recipe called for (Brown Sugar, Corn Starch, Salt and Lemon juice) with my beet and apple juice blend (1/2 a cup)I knew the sauce would thicken up quickly so I added my apples and beets just when it started to simmer, I kept it on med heat and realized quickly the sauce was going to be too thick so I lowered the heat and covered my pan with a clear lid - while that was very gently simmering I took the Beet Greens and tossed them in a pan that had 1 TBSP olive oil, 1/2 tsp minced garlic and 1tsp lemon juice, I sauteed the greens until they wilted and were tender and quickly removed them from the heat, seasoned to taste w/ salt and pepper and laid them out as a base for the apple/beet mixture.

At this point I tasted the beet/apple sauce and found it a little bitter still so I stirred in a tsp of confectioner sugar - the next taste made me smile...

So, I tried this plate 3 different ways, warm, room temp and cold, in my opinion,
warm is the absolute way to go!!!

I could see this being served as an appetizer, not as a desert, though the sauce might lend itself to a protein well, I may experiment further, but for now, this was a fun dish to make...

Happy Eating,

~Jeff

Week 3: Up from the lowest, Crab Louis (AKA Louie)... A Tearful Tale...

While I would love to say every recipe I make tastes awesome, this week has been one of angst and defeat...

The first run were Chicken and Fish enchiladas, they looked beautiful, however the taste?!? Yeah… My advice, beware of the cilantro, it can help and it can kill a dish, quickly… The sauce I made and use inside killed it - My buddy Dave suggested the enchiladas, good call, the web recommended the cilantro - should have stuck to Dave's idea alone - boo on me!

The close looser, I mean winner – Crab Louis… While I have never made my own thousand island dressing , I was quickly disappointed that this was what I was making – it was on sale for $1.50 at Ralphs and we spent $1.99 alone for the scallions – I’d figure epicurious would monitor the posts when a dish is rated 4 forks, and called “gourmet” guess not… Anyhow, almost 7 year old chef bailey opted for the remaining boiled eggs and apple slices, while Shawn and I powered through the 3 servings – it was good, just not “gourmet” – If some chef placed that in front of me and tried to charge me even $15 as an entrée, I’d laugh all the way to the complaint box….

The recipe can be found here - http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/reviews/Crab-Louis-106264?pg=2 – It has quite a few pricey ingredients to make a very inexpensive to buy pre-made dressing – just grab a bottle and toss in some chili powder/ crushed red pepper and you’ll have the same sauce – I wasn’t disgusted, I actually liked it, it just wasn’t what I had hoped it would be, but shame on me for not knowing what 1000 Island dressing is made of – now I know…

Hopefully next week will yield some more positive comments, but with all good, there is always some bad…

~Jeff

Week 2: What to do when you have a vegetarian MIL?

Aug. 21, 2010 10:32 pm
You do Portobello Mushrooms!!!

Have you ever eaten at "Islands"? They have a veggie Hawaiian Burger that is to die for! Tonight I attempted to create my own - It worked out well - photos of it are forthcoming!....

First off, I don't usually cook vegetarian, I made 1 mistake, my aioli sauce had eggs in it... DOH!!!! Fortunately for me, my MIL will eat eggs, I got lucky!!!

The problem you'll find with me and my recipes, I don't measure anything, usually....

Back an hour or so, I soaked the shrooms in a Teriyaki/Pineapple sauce , these things need to take on a flavor regardless of who you are serving them to, 1 hr + will yield the results you seek....

Meanwhile deep fry some yams/sweet potatoes - cut them to fry size and drop them in - they take a Looooooooong while to cook, I was surprised, be patient.... use some salt and the Aioli sauce you created to make a dipping sensation - while I prefer a whole wheat bun, w/ provolone some tomato and a slice of romaine, lets get get creative, you have time - the fries take about 15-20 min per batch... Once you have a batch of fries and a shroom per person, you are ready to go....

I need to make these again to detail the recipe as I did indulge in a few libations before, during and after and my notes were about as clear as mud, however here is the gist for 1 serving and some extra sauce:

The Burger:
Whole Wheat bun
1 Burger sized portobello mushroom cap
1 deli slice of provolone cheese
1 hot house tomato slice
1 slice pineapple
1 leaf romaine lettuce

The Fries:
1 julienned Yam ( McD's Fry size, you can do steak fry size but I imagine those will take forever!)

The Sauce - This is the one I need to re-make but the components are:
Make a mayo/aioli or just use mayo from the store
mix in some teriyaki, some pineapple juice, some garlic powder (i did fresh finely minced garlic, but powder would work too) - my teriyaki wasn't too salty and the sauce was too sweet so I added some Lawry’s seasoning to bring it back down a bit, just keep tasting it every 10-15 min to let the flavors meld and go to your taste - mine got a bit runny but since it was cold I used some corn starch to thicken it up, it was used on both the burgers as a dressing and as a dip for the fries...

Both my MIL and myself tried the burger w/ the wasabi honey sauce (from week 1) on the extra one and that was awesome too!!!

Happy Vegetarian cooking!!! I actually liked it!

~Jeff

Week 1, Part 3, The Final Dish- Shrimp. The winner..

The Shrimp Finalist of week 1 - Chris Avitia's recipe!!!
BBQ Bacon wrapped shrimp, Pineapple and Jalapeno on a skewer - the spice, sweetness and hardwood smoke mixed with the excreted salt taste phenomenal!!!



The recipe - it's a long one, get a pencil, ready???

For every shrimp your use 1 cube of pineapple and 1 fresh jalapeno slice - for every skewer you can use 1-2 strips of bacon - my skewers fit about 6 shrimp per skewer, the Jalapenos I purchased netted about 12 slices each and I got a whole container of Pineapple cubes, I could probably feed 20...

OK, Ok, I'll spell it out...

5 servings

30 Large Peeled and De veined Shrimp, uncooked...
1 Large can/bottle of Pineapple Chunks, In Pineapple juice (Not water, don't be cheap, water based sucks!!!!) - (you need about 30 pieces)
3 good sized Jalapeno Peppers
5 THICK slices of bacon (or 10 if you want to double wrap)
BBQ Sauce - enough to line, coat, garnish etc. I prefer "Sweet Baby Ray's" "Original"
5-6 Bamboo Skewers (Or metal ones, whatever you have)

If using wood based skewers soak for 1 hour - submerge them with something that is safe food compliant, a clean fork works well

Heat up/clean grill - coat w/ oil, PAM etc... non-stick is good!!!

place 5-6 shrimp running skewer tail to head alternating pineapple, shrimp, jalapeno, till the skewer is almost full, pierce the bacon on the meatiest point (red, not white) and wrap back to the tail of skewer (as shown in photo, good luck if you are wrapping on a metal one, start with the bacon then and F^(# off for not realizing you cant end the skewer w/ Bacon that way!!!)...

Cook over med heat, if you bought Large shrimp like I suggested they should pink up about the same time as the bacon becomes edible, if you're cheap (I am) cook the bacon a little first in a saute pan, then wrap it...

At this point where things are coming together baste the shrimp w/ the BBQ sauce...

You're done when the bacon is crispy and the shrimp is reddish/pink...

Shrimp can/will be overcooked easily, this isn't an easy grilled meal, watch it closely, I can do it in 5 min and I can do it in 30 min, depends on the need/timeline - get to know your grille - heat all food to 170*+F and you can kiss Salmonella goodbye - Pork and Fish will cook differently, figure it out, don't put all your shrimp on your first skewer - I've wasted about 15 shrimp perfecting this, be patient and watch it closely...

My Best to Chris and his lovely wife Karah and kids... - we miss our BBQ's w/ you!!!

Happy Cooking,

Jeff

Week 1 - Part 2... Shrimp Cont...

Second Place goes to my own creation - Portobello Mushroom stuffed w/ a White wine, garlic shrimp reduction sauce in Van D'Kamp hot dog bun/ Garlic Sauteed Shrimp stuffing covered in a Wasabi, Crushed Red Pepper, Mayo and a squeez of lemon sauce - lemon wedge and cilantro as garnish - the sauce kicked A$$, made everything taste perfect...

Week 1 - Shrimp... Last Place...

I may try to only do 52 new recepies, however each visit to the market, be it a farmers, meat or deli I can get overloaded - in two days I got two different style shrimp from the same local market and I got 3 different recipes - I had to try them all - first up an internet based Orange, garlic, cilantro and cyanne pepper based marinade - Not so good - plated beautifuly but tasted much too tangy...