Bourbon Braised Pork Chops

May 11, 2011 Leave a Comment

Pork chops, being the economical kitchen staple that they are, definitely have their place in my house.  For the longest time I only made them the way I grew up eating them, simply fried in a dry frying pan with salt and pepper.  Don’t get me wrong, they are good that way, but every winter around January I would start getting really freaking sick of pork chops.

Then I realized that there had to be other ways to prepare them.  There’s more than one way to prepare a chicken.  There’s more than one way to prepare a steak.  There MUST be more than one way to prepare a pork chop.  Since that fairly obvious epiphany of mine (I am often the last horse to finish the race, folks…don’t let the blog fool you) I have discovered that pork chops can be baked, breaded, and even braised.  YES.  And they are delightful in all their forms.

I typically use the boneless tenderloin chops for breading since it is a really quick prep.  But the big cheap chops with the bone?  Those suckers do well with a braise.  The great thing about meat bones is that they lend so much flavor to liquids and it’s almost a crime not to prepare meat containing a bone in a way that doesn’t take advantage of that flavor.

Note: This is a great recipe for Martians as well!

Bourbon Braised Pork Chops

My Recipe

2 large bone-in pork chops

3 Tblsp. olive oil

1/3 cup AP flour

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

2 carrots, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1/2 cup bourbon

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 Tblsp. Worcestershire sauce

3 cups chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Preheat a large dutch oven on the stove top over medium heat.  Heat the olive oil.

Dredge the pork chops in the flour, shaking off any excess.

Drop pork chops into hot oil and cook only long enough to brown the outsides.  Do not cook all the way through.

When the chops are browned, let them rest on a plate.  Add onions to the flour and stir until soft.  Add garlic and cook only for a moment so as not to burn the garlic.  Add carrots and celery next and cook only for a moment.  Next add bourbon to deglaze the pot, stirring vigorously to get any brown bits off of the bottom of the pot.

Add applesauce, chicken stock, salt and pepper, and red pepper flakes.

Return pork chops to the pot.  Bring the liquid to a very gentle simmer and then prepare your pot to go into the oven.  If you have a glazed cast iron pot, you are lucky and need not prepare the pot, just put it in the oven.  If you have a pot that has plastic handles and knobs, wrap the places that are not heat safe well in aluminum foil.

It looks a little like a UFO, but it gets the job done just fine.

Put the pan in the oven and cook for 45 minutes to an hour.

While it’s in the oven, make a side dish that will soak up that braising liquid (you won’t want to waste it).  I made couscous with cranberries.

When it comes out of the oven, the meat will fall apart and the braising liquid will be sticky and fatty and delicious.  It’s a great deviation from dry fried pork chops.

It really is delicious and I hope you give it a try.

Note: This recipe calls for using only 2 large pork chops, but the amount of liquid that this recipe makes can easily allow for 4 medium sized pork chops.

A note on bourbon:  I use bourbon in my cooking quite a lot.  I don’t really care for drinking bourbon but I love to cook with it.  It adds a sort of richness and complex depth of flavor.  I use Kentucky bourbon and ONLY Kentucky bourbon.  I keep two on hand, a sweet mash and a sour mash.  The sweet mash is a good and cheap substitute for recipes that call for brandy or cognac in the cooking and the sour mash is good in this particular recipe, but feel free to play around with it.

Enjoy!

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Filed Under Main Dishes Tagged With bourbon, braise, dinner, food, how to, pork chops, recipe

Elastic Waistband Meatloaf and Creamy Broccoli

February 8, 2011 2 Comments

Ahh, meatloaf.  I make it a lot in this house.  Not only is it a total comfort food in cold weather, but it is so versatile.  You can make meatloaf a million different delicious ways.  I’ve posted a previous recipe for meatloaf where I talk about hiding vegetables inside of the dish.  It’s crazy easy and can be really rather delicious.  It doesn’t have to be the dry, tasteless hunk of hamburger and bread crumbs we have all fallen victim to in our lives.  I will admit, though, that I myself have made some truly terrible meatloaves in my adventures to create mouthwatering depression-era food.

And then there’s the recipe I’m giving you today.  I have named it Elastic Waistband Meatloaf because you will want to eat it until your pants get tight.  No, I’m not trying to sell you something, I am telling you how this dish was received after I served it.  It’s damn good.  As a side I made a creamy broccoli dish and (as always) mashed potatoes.  I will not eat meatloaf without mashed potatoes.

Elastic Waistband Meatloaf

My Recipe

1 lb. ground beef

2 eggs

1 cup finely diced onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tblsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce finely chopped

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup oatmeal

Thick slices bacon for top of meatloaf

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine beef, eggs, onions, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, chipotle peppers, and Worcestershire sauce in a large bowl.  Hands are the best utensil for this job.  Once combined, add the oatmeal.  Lightly combine.

I like to use a loaf pan to prepare my meatloaf, but you can certainly shape the meat into a loaf-like shape and cook on a sheet pan.  Take your thick-sliced bacon and cover the top of the meatloaf.  I needed 5 slices.

Bake in the 350 degree F oven for 1 hour.

Creamy Broccoli

My Recipe

1 16 oz. bag frozen broccoli

2 Tblsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 can cream of mushroom soup

Tabasco sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet.  Add broccoli and toss about, coating in oil and heating through.  Add soup and mix until broccoli is coated.  Add Tabasco sauce.  I used about 4 good dashes, but you use however much pleases your tastes.  Salt and pepper to taste and cook until the broccoli is tender and heated through.  VERY easy side-dish and very satisfying.

I don’t like broccoli.  There, I said it!  And quite frankly, I get tired of eating it smothered in cheese.  I thought this would be a nice break from that whole dangerous game of murdering vegetables in cheese in order to get people to eat them.  So instead, I murdered mine in canned soup.  It was great.

The meatloaf is fantastic.  The combination of the smokey bacon along with the smokiness of the chipotle peppers in the meat makes this a very rustic-tasting meatloaf.  It has a little bit of warmth because of the peppers, but I assure you it is in no way painful unless you are very sensitive to that kind of heat.  This is also a very juicy meatloaf thanks to the bacon.  It is not dry and crumbly and it didn’t even need ketchup.  That’s right, there is NO topping on this meatloaf.  It just doesn’t need it.

I hope you try this recipe.  I’ll be making it again for sure!

Enjoy!

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Filed Under Main Dishes, Side Dishes Tagged With bacon, broccoli, food, how to, meatloaf, recipe

Fast Homemade Tomato Soup

February 6, 2011 3 Comments

Believe it or not, I had never had homemade tomato soup until I became an adult and made it myself.  I always ate canned concentrated tomato soup.  I think that stuff has a place.  It’s a crazy fast, cheap and filling meal to have on a cold day when there’s just no time or energy to make anything else.  But, I learned that homemade tomato soup, using canned chopped tomatoes is can also be quick, cheap and filling.

Fast Homemade Tomato Soup

My Recipe

2 Tblsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

1 16-oz. can chopped or stewed tomatoes

3 cups chicken or vegetable stock (or water will be fine.  The stocks just lend more taste and nutrients.)

1 Tblsp. chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp. dried basil

Salt and pepper to taste

In a dutch oven, heat the olive oil.  Add onions and cook until soft.  Add garlic and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant.  Add tomatoes, juice and all, as well as stock.  Heat until almost boiling. Add basil and salt and pepper (be sure to taste to make sure seasonings are right for your palate).

Simmer for 10 minutes uncovered.  Now use either an immersion blender or a regular blender or food processor to blend the soup.  Be sure to use proper precautions and don’t overfill the regular blender or food processor.  The hot liquid will move around quite a lot in the receptacle and may burn you if you overfill.

Blend until all large chunks are gone.  As is, the soup will still have some bits to it, it will not be completely smooth.  While I have no problem with this, you can certainly strain the soup to make it perfectly smooth, but you run the risk of losing quite a bit of flavor in the process.

YIELD:  This makes two adult-sized dinner portions.  It can make 4 small servings if used as a side dish.

I like to serve this soup with a grilled sandwich.  Sometimes I like good old fashioned grilled cheese and sometimes I like to add a little bit of deli meat to the grilled cheese for a bit more interest.  Either way, this is a fast and cheap dinner and I hope you utilize it someday.

Enjoy!

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Filed Under Main Dishes Tagged With cheap, food, homemade, how to, quick, recipe, soup, tomato

Spaghetti Pie

February 4, 2011 Leave a Comment

Has anyone else ever noticed that comfort foods are often starch-laden carbohydrate-stuffed stomach bricks?  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE it that way.  Nobody appreciates that kind of comfort food more than I so.  NOBODY.  But along that line of thinking, what could possibly be more comforting than a nice warm pasta dish……(wait for it)…….served in a pie crust??

Not much, that is the answer.  There are not many things (except brownies maybe) that could be more comforting.

Spaghetti pie is wonderful.  It really is.  It can be really rich and really filling which is a wonderful thing on boogery cold days like the ones we have been living through lately in my neck of the woods.

I decided to make mine a little lighter by using chicken instead of beef.  I also used a sauce that is a bit more like a puttanesca sauce rather than the traditional spaghetti sauce.  The briney taste mixed with the rich pie crust was just wonderful.  This is also a dish that does very well as leftovers.

Spaghetti Pie

My Recipe

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (you can grill or boil)

2 Tblsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

1/4 cup chopped olives (I used Spanish olives, but any briney olive will do fine)

1 Tblsp. capers

1 tsp. dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Double pie crust (I make mine homemade, but you can buy the refrigerated stuff.  It works just fine.)

Enough spaghetti pasta for 4 people (The easiest way to measure is to hold the uncooked pasta between your index finger and thumb, and for every adult, have a bundle of pasta that is approximately the width of a dime.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Boil the pasta to almost al dente in salted water.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.  Cook onions and garlic.  Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, olives, capers, oregano and salt and pepper.  Heat through.  Add chicken cubes.  Toss cooked pasta into sauce.  Set aside.

Line a deep dish pie pan with the bottom pie crust.  Add pasta and sauce (this will make a a very deep pie, so beware!).  Cover with top layer of pie crust.  Crimp edges of pastry and cut vent holes into the top.  Brush with egg wash (1 beaten egg and 1 Tblsp. water).  Bake for 30 minutes or until crust is golden.

All things considered, this dish really doesn’t take long to make.  I can make pie pastry in my sleep at this point and if you buy it, that’s one less step.  The thing about the preparation that takes the longest is the cooking of the pasta.

This was a really filling a delicious dish.  I’d even dare say that this could even be a Martian-friendly meal.  Most of my martians would like it, at least.

Give it a try.

Enjoy!

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Filed Under Main Dishes Tagged With comfort food, cooking for martians, food, how to, pasta, puttanesca sauce, recipe, spaghetti pie

Fish Stew

January 26, 2011 Leave a Comment

I’m not a big fan of fish.  White fish mostly.  I love salmon and I am a big fan of shell fish.  When it comes to white fish (like flounder, whiting, tilapia, etc.) I prefer it battered and deep fried.  To me, it’s just not very versatile in taste.  You can smother it in citrus and butter and sauté it and make it as elegant as you like, but it still tastes like muddy fish to me.

It was brought to my attention that I might like a Bouillabaisse.  It’s a Provençal fish stew.  Since it’s beginnings look humble enough and French peasant food has yet to let me down, I decided to make my own bastardized version from easy to find fish here in any supermarket.  It was easy to make and it smelled really good considering it’s all fish.  So I must amend my previous statement and say that I like white fish battered and fried AS WELL AS having it in a French-ish stew.

Fish Stew

My Recipe

3 Tblsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 shallots, minced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cups white wine

3 cups stock (fish or chicken of even vegetable would all work fine)

2 cans tomato sauce

1 can sliced stewed tomatoes

zest of 1 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

dry red pepper flakes

6-8 cups diced fish of your choice.  I used whiting, flounder, salmon and shrimp.

Heat olive oil in large pot.  Add shallots and cook until soft.  Add garlic.  Cook for 1 minute then add wine.  Add stock and tomato sauce and sliced tomatoes.  Add lemon zest, salt and pepper and dry red pepper flakes.  Heat on low to slow simmer and cook for 10 minutes to allow flavors to mingle.  Start adding fish starting with the most dense and ending with the quickest to cook.  Serve as soon as the last bit of fish has cooked.  YIELD:  8-10 servings.

Surprisingly, next to the flavors of the fish, the broth had an almost delicate flavor that was quite pleasing.  It also helped that I was very careful not to overcook the fish.  Overcooked fish is a terrible, terrible thing.

It’s amazing how just all of these ingredients could make fish edible to me.  My husband LOVED the stew and even ate it as leftovers until it was gone.  I have a small box of saffron that I was going to use in this stew.  It was actually the main reason for the stew but I chickened out at the last minute.  I’ve never cooked with saffron before and I was afraid that the flowery taste might compete too much with the other flavors in the broth.  That is by no means an educated reason for no adding it.  As I said, I chickened out and will continue to hoard my precious box of saffron until the right recipe comes along.

Here is the fish ready to go into the stew.  I added the salmon first.  Next came the whiting and then the flounder.  The very last thing to go in was the shrimp which was already cooked.  It simply had to heat through.  The salmon and whiting had the skins on them and I happen to think that fish skin is delightful, but you can certainly shave them off if you are squeamish about it.

To be totally honest with you, I might have had a moment or two during the eating of this stew where I had had enough of the fish.  Luckily I had some crusty bread and could use it to soak up the broth in my bowl.  That broth is wonderful.  Simply wonderful.

If you are picky about fish but are open to trying it prepared in different ways, give this a try.  If the fish still icks you out, the broth will still make you happy.

Enjoy!

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Filed Under Main Dishes Tagged With bouillabaisse, cooking, fish, food, how to, recipe, saffron, salmon, stew, white fish