Category Archives: PORK RECIPES

BACON, CARAMELIZED ONION, SWISS CHEESE, AND SPINACH QUICHE

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I know, quiche can be kind of a pain in the bucket to prepare. But boy oh boy, the effort is well worth the pleasure of biting into a pastry crust filled with a savory egg custard blended with cheese, tasty bits of meat or seafood, and veggies. In my book, quiche is a treat.

So, the other evening I decided we had been good and deserved something special for dinner. And what came to mind was quiche.

Now years ago, before I became so lazy, I used to make a regular pie crust that involved getting out my stand mixer whenever I wanted to build a quiche. Too much effort anymore. Plus, I developed a true liking for this no-roll pie crust. It’s definitely not as flakey and perfect as my regular pie crust and I wouldn’t even consider using it with regular pies. (Find my favorite recipe under “Pie Crust” on this site.) But, because this crust recipe contains less fat, it comes out kind of crisp. I actually find the crispness of this pastry to be a perfect foil for the soft and fluffy filling. So, when I make a quiche now, I use the recipe below. And that practically cuts my work in half. But more about this quiche.

I had bacon on hand. As well as some spinach that needed to be used, an abundance of Swiss cheese, and a hankering for caramelized onions. Put them all together, turn yourself about, and you have the makings for a pretty darn good quiche. And isn’t that the lovely thing about quiche. Once you have the basic egg, milk, and cheese part down, you can use any number of other ingredients to flavor this dreamy dish. Besides bacon, you can use ham, crumbled and cooked breakfast, spicy, or Italian sausage, shrimp, scallops, crab, chicken – the list goes on and on. And any veggie or veggies that rocks your socks.

So, when life throws you a mixture of unrelated ingredients, you might consider them a blessing in disguise. They might lead you to fixing a unique and delicious quiche.

As always – stay safe, stay sane, and stay home. Christmas is going to be rough this year. There is no denying that fact. But be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem. We will get through this. But it takes a team effort. Peace, joy, and love to all.

Quiche No-Roll Pie Crust:

2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour   

heaping ½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar

scant ¼ tsp. baking powder

7 T. vegetable or canola oil

5 T. cold water  

Whisk the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder together. Whisk the oil and water together. Pour over the dry ingredients. Stir with a fork until the dough is evenly moistened. Pat the dough across the bottom of a fairly deep pie pan, then up and over the rim. Crimp or mold the pie crust around the edge to make it pretty.   

Bake in a pre-heated 400-degree oven for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside until you are ready to assemble the quiche. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.

Quiche Filling:

8 slices thick, meaty bacon, cut into small pieces

½ med. yellow onion, diced

3 c. finely chopped spinach, not packed

2 c. grated Swiss cheese, divided  

4 lg. eggs

1⅓ c. whole milk

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

¼ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

pinch ground nutmeg, plus a bit more for sprinkling

While the crust is baking, fry the bacon in a medium sized fry pan until crisp. Remove cooked bacon from pan with a slotted spoon. Remove all but about 1 tablespoon of the bacon fat.

Add onion and cook over medium low heat, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft and starts to become a light golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Add the spinach and sauté for a couple of minutes, just enough to wilt the spinach a bit. Remove from heat.  

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl whisk the eggs, milk, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and nutmeg together. Set aside.

Quiche Assembly:

Spread the bacon evenly over the partially baked crust. Then spread on the onion and spinach mixture. Sprinkle 1½ cups of the grated cheese evenly over the onion mixture. Pour the egg mixture on top. Sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup cheese and nutmeg. 

Bake in the 375-degree oven until puffed and firm when touched in the center, 35-45 minutes. The internal temperature should reach 165 degrees. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before serving. To serve, cut into 6-8 wedges.

      

PÖRKÖLT (HUNGARIAN PORK STEW)

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OK, I don’t care what anyone else thinks about Hungarian food, it is always going to be one of my favorite cuisines. There is just something about paprika, caraway seeds, and sour cream that causes my mouth to start salivating. And of course, it’s partially because of the creamy nature of many of the dishes that I so adamantly love any type of Hungarian food. Because, above all else, I am truly passionate about creamy food. And I know I am not alone in this predilection. But mainly, my love of Hungarian food is because of the inherent flavors associated with this lovely cuisine. I mean really, who doesn’t love cabbage rolls, chicken paprika, rye bread, goulash, cucumber and onion salads, liptauer, and sauerkraut, to mention a few? No one. Well at least no one who has ever had a truly decent rendition of any one of these dishes. So, on that happy note, I have another grand Hungarian dish to share with you today.

Pörkölt is delicious. That’s the best way I know to describe this dish. I could add that the meat that has simmered in the sauce is succulent, that the sauce is both creamy and savory, but why bother? The main word that will pop into your mind when you take your first bite is delicious. Plain and simple. So that’s where I’m going to leave it. OK, I should tell you that this stew is very easy to prepare because I know that would be a helpful thing for you to know. And that even though you might not normally cook with a lot of paprika, caraway seeds, marjoram, or dill weed, I would strongly suggest that you not refrain from using them in this dish. Because they are the ingredients that make this stew special. And this stew is indeed just that – special. And a great way to use a lean hunk of pork. So enough about this recipe. Just prepare it. If I do say so myself, this is one of the best concoctions I have ever produced. And I do believe, Mr. C. would heartily agree with that statement. If he could first wipe the smile off his face, that is!

So as always, keep cooking delicious and healthy food. Keep trying recipes that take you a bit out of your comfort zone. (No better way to learn than by doing.) And have fun getting ready for Christmas. It’s going to be such a different celebration this year. But I plan to make it as festive as ever, maybe even more so. I always bake lots of cookies and make candy and special breads for our family and friends. But this year, more than ever before. So, my kid’s packages are going to be overflowing. And for friends and relatives in the area – special deliveries. (Ring the doorbell and run kind of deliveries.) So, please join me in making this holiday truly memorable. Bake up a storm and share your good fortune with those you care about. Ho Ho Ho to you and yours.

3 T. extra virgin olive oil

2-3 lbs. boneless pork loin roast, all fat removed, and cut into bite sized cubes

1 tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 lg. yellow onion, chopped

½ c. chopped carrot

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 c. chicken broth

2 T. tomato paste

2 T. sweet Hungarian paprika, or more to taste (I ended up using 7 teaspoons)

1 tsp. caraway seeds

½ tsp. marjoram

1 bay leaf

¼ c. flour

¼ c. dry white wine

1 c. sour cream

1½ – 2 tsp. dill weed, or more to taste

thick egg noodles, cooked al dente, drained and buttered

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven. Add the pork cubes to the pan, along with the salt and pepper. Fry the meat until a bit browned.

Stir in the onion and carrot; cook until the onion is tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add the broth, tomato paste, paprika, caraway seeds, marjoram, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Add the browned pork cubes, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 90 minutes or until the pork is tender.

Whisk the flour with the white wine together until smooth. Stir into the pork mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream and dill weed. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning. You will probably need a bit more salt. Return to heat and cook over low heat for 1-2 minutes or until heated through (do not boil). Serve over buttered egg noodles. (I serve the stew in a soup bowl.)

Please note: This is a very rich stew. I served it last evening with a simple cucumber salad. The vinegar in the dressing helped cut the richness of the stew. See recipe below.

Cucumber Salad

½ English cucumber, partially peeled and thinly sliced

2 tsp. white vinegar

¼ tsp. granulated sugar

¼ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

Mix all together in a small bowl. Set on your counter until dinner is ready.

 

CREAMY BACON, SWEET POTATO, CORN, AND RED BELL PEPPER CHOWDER

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And yes, I am still the worlds worse food photographer.

I made this chowder last evening mainly because in our last farm box we received several small white-fleshed sweet potatoes. Of course as luck would have it, we already had some on hand. Now granted, we love sweet potatoes. But there is a limit to how much of any kind of food I want to eat or serve several nights in a row. (And yes that includes chocolate and hamburgers!) So then, what in the heck to do with all the bloody sweet potatoes? Mr. C. suggested just baking them, and serving in the normal manner. Which in this house means baked, split in two, slathered with butter, and sprinkled with salt and pepper. OK, that sounds good for 2 of them. Maybe even 4 of them. But that still leaves me with a small crops worth still to be dealt with. But I’m always up for a good challenge. So to the internet I proceeded.

I’ve been on a real soup and chowder kick lately, so that’s the direction I decided to take. And oh am I glad I did. I found the basics for this recipe on the runningonrealfood.com site. When I told Mr. C. about the recipe, he asked me those three little words every cook knows are eventually going to come out of someone’s mouth when chowder is mentioned – “is there bacon”? I told him bacon was not in the original recipe, but it certainly would make a fine addition. So this recipe includes bacon. It also includes a wee bit of crushed red pepper flakes and fresh parsley. (I use crushed red pepper flakes a lot in my cooking. Not much, just a few flakes to keep things interesting. I also include fresh parsley whenever possible.)

As you glance through the recipe, you will note, that with the exception of the tiny bit of fat rendered as the bacon fries, there is no other fat included. There are also no dairy products. So this is a fairly low fat and healthy chowder. And truly, it doesn’t need any shredded cheese or sour cream. It is perfect unto itself. And I could have left it as such. But no, I decided to accompany the chowder with buttermilk biscuits. And not just any buttermilk biscuits.

I had developed a recipe for Huntsman Cheese and Chive Buttermilk Drop Biscuits that I was anxious to try. So I did. And I am here to tell you, the biscuits were outrageously delicious and went really well with this amazing chowder. So my next post will be for the biscuits I served last evening. But back to this recipe.

The first thing I need to mention is that this chowder is truly delicious. And to make it all the more appealing, very easy to prepare. And for all of you for whom time is of the essence when preparing dinner, there is no long simmering required to produce the lovely depth of flavor base for this chowder. And truly, I can’t think of any reason even the most picky of eaters wouldn’t enjoy this dish. So there you go. Dinner in a pot.

So as always, keep preparing and serving delicious food to your family.   And especially with winter just around the corner, remember that nothing says warm and cozy, healthy and happy, safe and cherished, like a big old bowl of soup or chowder. (Of course chocolate chip cookies work well too.)      

We are all going to be subjected to a long and isolated spell of being housebound until Covid-19 is brought under control. And having to stay inside because its winter is definitely not going to make life easier for any of us. In fact, just the opposite. But the more we as cooks can do to help our families cope with the boredom and stay as healthy as possible, the better. And there’s no better way I can think of to make that happen than by preparing interesting, healthy, and delicious food. If nothing else, it will be fun to tell your family all about a new dish when you are invariably asked what’s for dinner. If it happen to be this chowder you are preparing at the time, I would advise starting the discourse with the first ingredient listed below. Peace and love to all.

4-6 strips of meaty, thick bacon, cut into small pieces

1 c. chopped onion

2 stalks celery, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 c. (more or less) cubed sweet potato  

3 c. vegetable broth, or additional broth if you like a more liquid base for your chowder

2 tsp. chili powder  

1 tsp. paprika  

pinch crushed red pepper flakes

¼ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 c. (more or less) frozen corn

1 T. chopped fresh parsley  

Fry the bacon until very crisp in a heavy soup pot. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon to a medium sized mixing bowl. Set aside.

Add the onion and celery to the pot and cook until the onion starts to soften. (The onion will also start to get a little brown from the bits left behind while frying the lean bacon.) Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add the sweet potato, broth, chili powder, paprika, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Bring to a light simmer and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the diced red bell pepper and simmer until the sweet potato is fork tender. (Just cook until tender, not mushy.) This only takes a few minutes more. Then add the corn.

Remove about one half of the soup to the bowl with the cooked bacon. Using an immersion blender, whirl the remaining soup until it’s kind of creamy but there are still some small chunks. Then add the unblended soup back into the pot along with the cooked bacon. Taste and adjust seasoning. Bring just to a boil, stir in the parsley, and serve piping hot.

Please note: to make this chowder vegetarian, sauté the onion and celery in 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil. Then add the garlic and go from there.       

   

ANDOUILLE SAUSAGE, KALE, AND PASTA SOUP

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So once again it’s the beginning of soup season. Well that is, for most people. Not me. I love a good old bowl of soup year round. But I do have to admit, every year at this time the urge to make soup gets stronger. And yesterday was no exception.

I had just baked a batch of Chewy Sourdough Baguettes (recipe on this site) and thought a nice hearty vegetable soup would be the perfect accompaniment. (You realize I probably should have stated that the bread would be a perfect accompaniment to the soup. But for me, I know what comes first in my list of priorities!) Anyway, I had some Andouille sausage that needed to be eaten and I always have kale growing in a half wine barrel on the West side of our house. (The stuff grows like a weed. You can’t kill it. And the kind I have is a perennial. And I swear it lives to reproduce itself. I find baby plants in the ground all around the wine barrel.) But back to this recipe.

So researching under Andouille sausage and kale, I found the bones of this recipe on the healthyseasonalrecipes.com site. I changed things up a bit, but I still want to thank Katie for this fantastic recipe.

Now something you should know. We like our soup to have flavor. Shocking admittance, right?!?! But I have tried too many simple recipes like this one where any lovely flavors introduced into the soup completely disappear during the cooking process. (Where do you suppose they go?) Anyway, I’m really not sure how that happens, but I’ll bet you have had at least one similar experience. You start with a flavorful meat, add some veggies and herbs, and end up with a blah broth. Well, not if you make this soup. Ain’t going to happen.

(A neat trick I’ve learned over the years. When using a nicely flavored sausage like Andouille, brown it first in the oil you are going to use to cook your veggies. Then remove at least part of the cooked sausage, set it aside, and add it back towards the end of the cooking time. Then when you eat the soup, you get a nice burst of sausage flavor, not just a piece of meat with all the taste sucked out of it. But back to this recipe.)

Now let’s talk anise seed. DO NOT LEAVE IT OUT OF THIS SOUP! If you don’t enjoy licorice, fennel, or caraway, you are probably not going to like the flavor of anise seed. Therefore you might not enjoy this soup. But if you do like the flavor, you are going to love this dish. But don’t get me wrong. This is not a recipe for licorice soup. The flavor is there and it is a distinctive taste, but it’s not overwhelming. It’s simply YUM!!!

So if you would like a recipe for an easy to build soup, with simple ingredients, that doesn’t have to simmer for hours, this is the recipe for you. Plus this healthy vegetable soup is just different enough to appeal to taste buds that require constant gratification or bore easily. (Guilty as charged!)

My only mistake I made when preparing this soup was that I didn’t double the recipe. So if you have a large family or want planned-overs, I suggest you double the recipe.

As always, please vote in the upcoming election. But before casting your ballot, continue to search for the truth, consider global consequences, and above all – trust your instincts. If a food item looks rotten and smells rotten, then it probably is rotten. Throw it out! Same goes for words out of someone’s mouth. If someone is spouting hate, and derision, and condoning behavior you find repugnant, then that too is a sign of rot. And it too should be thrown out. Bad behavior should never be condoned or excused. So please, vote with your brain. Pretend you have no party allegiance. And forget the way you voted in the past. What does your brain (and your heart) tell you about each candidate? Then vote accordingly. Peace and love to all.

2 T. extra-virgin olive oil

6 oz. Andouille sausage, halved lengthwise, then again, and diced into small pieces

¾ c. diced yellow onion

1 carrot, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

¼ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper  

1½ tsp. dry marjoram

½ tsp. anise seed

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 T. tomato paste

½ c. dry white wine

4 c. chicken broth  

½ c. pasta (I use small elbow macaroni)

4 c. chopped kale

grated Pecorino-Romano or Parmesan cheese, opt. garnish  

Heat oil in a large heavy-bottomed lidded soup pot over medium heat. Add the diced sausage and cook until it is browned. Remove the sausage from pan and set aside.

Stir in the onion, carrot, and celery, stirring often, until the veggies start to soften and the bottom of the pot is starting to brown slightly, about 5 to 7 minutes. While the veggies soften, stir in the salt, pepper, dried marjoram, and anise seed. When the veggies are softened, stir in the garlic and tomato paste. Cook for 1 minute.

Stir in the wine and cook until most of the liquid is evaporated. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer the soup for about 20 minutes.

Add the uncooked pasta, reserved Andouille sausage, and the kale. Cover the pot and return to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Pass the grated cheese at table. Great served with fresh sourdough baguette slices.   

     

PORK TENDERLOIN IN CREOLE GRAVY OVER EASY CHEEZY GRITS

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And yes that’s a bowl of Slow Simmered Smoked Pork Shank/Hock with Mixed Greens you see on that plate. Yum is all I have to say!

I am such a lover of Cajun and Creole food. If it were possible, I would hop on a plane today and drift down to New Orleans for the fabulous food. And of course the great jazz and also to be able to spend time with our dear family friends John and Carol. But alas, there is no getting on a plane or eating in restaurants for us until the coronavirus is contained. So, the next best thing is to cook up some of my favorite dishes up here in the beautiful NW and listen to my very own resident jazz pianist. (Not a bad life dear readers. Not a bad life at all!)

But the ambiance is just not the same. For all intents and purposes, it appears to a visitor that New Orleans never sleeps. (I’m sure it’s because everyone, residents and vacationers alike, simply can’t stop eating the wonderful food and listening to fabulous jazz.)

Plus there’s just something exciting about being in a city that on average is six feet below sea level. FYI: The site of the city was originally very low in relation to sea level, but human interference has caused the city to sink even lower. When New Orleans was being constructed they ran out of good land. To make more room, engineers drained swamplands around the area so they could continue expansion. This drainage led to subsidence. Subsidence is sinking or settling to a lower level, in this case it was the earth’s surface sinking lower in relation to sea level. This sinking effect has led to present day New Orleans.

When we were in New Orleans several years ago, we watched as large ships navigated along the Mississippi river where the level of the diked water was actually higher than we were! After that exhilarating experience, we simply had to retire to Café Du Monde for beignets. (The beignets were wonderful. The chicory coffee, not so much!) We would have hit one of the local bars for a restorative, but it was only 10:30 in the morning. Just a bit too early for us to start imbibing alcohol. Even in New Orleans!

But enough about New Orleans. And back to Camano Island and our kitchen which is somewhere between 250 and 300 feet above sea level. Not nearly as dramatic as looking up at water, but a heck of a lot more relaxing. Pretty sure we aren’t at risk of being flooded out. Unless of course we are hit with the “really big one”. (A seismic catastrophe.) In that case, all bets are off! But back to this recipe.

My first experience making a Cajun pork stew was back in 2015 – Grillades (Cajun Meat Stew) and Cheese Grits. It too is a really tasty stew served over grits and quite similar in many ways to this recipe. The main difference is that this recipe has a stronger tomato component and uses roasted peppers (red and yellow) rather than a green pepper. Both recipes are delicious, but just enough different to make life interesting.

So if you get a hankering for some Creole Food, build this recipe. And if you want to go full in Louisiana, add a bowl of Slow Simmered Smoked Pork Shank/Hock with Mixed Greens or Collard Greens with Smoked Pork Hock. And don’t forget the corn bread. BTW – there are several great cornbread recipes on this site too.

As always, stay safe, stay diligent about protecting ethnic diversity that brings us wonderful dishes like this, and keep defending every person’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

None of us had a choice as to what ethnicity we would prefer, what nation we wanted to call home, who our parents would be, what level of intellect we would be given, how tall we would be, etc. The only thing we have ever had any control over, is the kind of person we would become and steadfastly remain. And how we would use the gifts we were given in a positive way to help everyone live a better and more productive life. 

So anyone who feels superior for being born a white person (for example), or intelligent, or physically attractive, or talented, or born into a wealthy family, or any of the other attributes that can lead a person to become conceited, is disgraceful in my opinion. A person should be proud of themselves and their accomplishments. That’s physiologically healthy, recommended, and applauded. But to feel superior because of one’s color, or monetary position, or societal status, or really for any reason, I find that behavior reprehensible. And yes, I am scared beyond belief at what might be the outcome of the upcoming November election. Our country has taken a terrible hit these last almost four years. I only hope and pray that a change for the better will come to pass.

Peace and Love to all.  

Pork Tenderloin in Creole Gravy:

3 T. extra virgin olive oil

2 pork tenderloins, silver skin and excess fat removed, cut into bite sized pieces

½ lg. yellow onion, finely chopped

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely minced 

1 T. paprika

pinch cayenne pepper

3-4 tsp. creole seasoning, or more to taste

pinch kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 bay leaf

1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes (preferably Italian)

1½ c. roasted peppers, diced or 1 jar (12 oz.) Cento brand Red & Yellow Roasted Peppers)

2 T. tomato paste

½ c. beef or vegetable broth

1½ tsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 T. unsalted butter

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large covered Dutch oven or heavy pan. Add the meat and fry until nicely browned. Add the remaining olive oil, onion, and celery; cook until the onion is soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the paprika, cayenne, creole seasoning, salt, pepper, and bay leaf.   

Add the diced tomatoes, roasted peppers, tomato paste, broth, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and butter.

Bake covered in a pre-heated 325 degree oven for about 2 hours. Check after an hour and add additional liquid if necessary. (You want a thick sauce, but you don’t want it to burn.) (You also want the meat to be fork tender.)

Remove from oven, adjust seasoning, and serve over Easy Cheezy Grits.

Easy Cheesy Grits:

1½ c. whole milk

1½ c. water

½ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

¾ c. quick-cooking grits

2 tsp. dried chopped chives, opt.

1 T. butter

1 c. sharp cheddar, grated

Bring the milk, water, salt, and pepper to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Gradually whisk in grits and chives. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and cheese. Adjust seasoning. If you like thinner grits, add a little more milk before adding the butter and cheese.

SLOW SIMMERED SMOKED PORK SHANK/HOCK WITH MIXED GREENS

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Now, if you too are a fan of Stephen Sondheim and are familiar with the musical Into the Woods, then you’ve heard of another woman (actually a witch) who loves her greens as much as I do. Now I don’t have the power to make life miserable for unsuspecting thieves stealing greens out of my garden. But I do have the power to help you produce a dish of greens that even the most greens phobic person might actually enjoy. And ever so simple to prepare. Actually, the preparation could not be easier. A bit of time is required for chopping veggies, but even the most novice of cooks should have no problem turning out this Southern classic.

And I’m telling you true, this is a vegetable dish that is just chock full of vitamins (such as vitamins A, C, and K and folate) and minerals (such as iron and calcium). Greens are also a great source of fiber. And since our bodies need a little dietary fat to absorb some of the vitamins found in dark green leafy vegetables, the olive oil and small amount of fat from the pork shank do the job nicely. (Of course the shank and olive oil also provide flavor. So a win/win situation.)

So a couple of days ago when I made my pot of greens, it was mainly because I had greens that either needed to be eaten or tossed. And I absolutely hate to toss food. I had a big bunch of beet greens, 2 types of kale (common curly kale from our garden and lacinato kale from our farm box) and a couple handfuls of baby spinach. I already had a recipe for collard greens that I love (Collard Greens with Smocked Pork Hocks). But I wanted to see if I could use a mixture of greens, none of which were collard greens. BTW, collard greens are the most commonly used greens in Southern braises and stews. So I took my collard greens recipe, changed things up a bit, and went from there.

Well, after tasting this mixture of greens, I can’t imagine ever again finding the necessity to stick to just one kind of greens. For me now, it’s bring them all on! The greater variety the better!

So if you too would like to feed your family a vegetable dish that is so darned healthy as to actually make you feel giddy, this is the recipe for you.

However, in all honesty, my children would probably have turned their noses up at this dish if I had tried to feed it to them when they were young. They ate a wide variety of foods, some that even surprised me, but they still were, after all, typical kids. So I can’t promise you that your young children will fall down on their knees thanking you for feeding them this wonderfully healthy and flavorful dish. Quite to the contrary I would suspect. But if your family consists of adults, I say go for it!

As always, stay healthy, cook up a storm, and be the person your dog thinks you are. Peace and love to all.

1 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 c. diced yellow onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 c. low-sodium vegetable broth 

freshly ground black pepper 

¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (or less if semi-spicy is a problem for you)

1 sm. smoked pork shank/hock 

12-16 c. (loosely packed) mixed greens (collard, mustard, turnip, beet, chard, spinach, kale, etc.)

sherry vinegar, for sprinkling, opt.

Heat the olive oil in a large covered Dutch oven or heavy pan. Sauté the onion over medium heat until almost tender. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.  

Add the vegetable broth, black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes. Add the smoked shank, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for an hour.

Add the greens. (They will wilt down as they cook,)

Simmer for 45 minutes. Do not boil. Add more vegetable broth if needed. May need more time, but be sure to check after 45 minutes. When done, greens will be dark green, tender, and will not have a raw taste.

Remove shank from pot, allow to cool, and remove the meat discarding as much fat and sinew as possible. Shred the meat and return it to the pot. Bring the meat and greens back to a boil when ready to serve. Adjust seasoning.

Serve in individual small bowls including some of the liquid. The liquid, often called pot liquor or potlikker, is possibly the best part of this whole wonderful dish. Pass the sherry vinegar.

FAST AND EASY ITALIAN SAUSAGE PASTA

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Now this is what I call an easy recipe. Hardly any prep work, and a resulting product that smacks of hours of simmering, when in reality, very little time is actually involved. And the results – absolutely divine.

I think sometimes we cooks over think and over ingredient dishes that should be left simple and basic. Good Italian sausage already has a lot of flavor. But I am as guilty as the next cook of not allowing just a few simple ingredients to speak for themselves. I’m always trying to over achieve, when almost any dish I prepare would probably be better served (literally and figuratively), if basically left simple. And this pasta sauce is a prime example. Simple ingredients, not a lot of time involved, and a taste that is pure Italian.

So if you are also one of those cooks like me that is always trying to make dishes more complex than necessary, give this recipe a try. You too might learn a valuable lesson. Of course with me, being older than dirt, the lesson might not stick. But if you are younger, and have a more flexible mind, you might be able to learn restraint. (It really is too late for me.) But I have confidence that those of you who are still learning might take advantage of what I am just now realizing at my advanced age. It’s the old do as I say, not as I do “thing”.

One thing I can promise you however, that regardless of your age or culinary experience, you are going to love this pasta dish. It’s clean tasting, simple, and reminiscent of late afternoon dinners in sunny Italian courtyards filled with happy diners, drinking young red wine, and dunking crusty, chewy, freshly baked bread in seasoned olive oil. (Oh how I love Italy.) So to all – keep striving for excellence.

I’ve been thinking lately of Corinthians 13:11, which has always been a part of scripture I truly felt was pertinent to everyday life. Now more than ever. “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child: When I became a man (woman), I put the ways of childhood behind me.”

It’s not easy being an adult. It’s a whole lot of hard work, often unrecognized or properly appreciated. It’s simply a whole lot easier to act like a child, than to think, react, and comport oneself as an adult. But especially now, all of us have a huge challenge. Especially parents of young children. How you manage your self during this difficult time is the lesson your children will be learning and taking with them into adulthood. So be kind, be loving, and be sensitive to the needs of those around you. I salute each and every one of you. And I pray for a better tomorrow for all of us. Peace and Love to all.

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 lb. bulk Italian sausage

¾ c. finely diced onion

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

¼ c. dry white wine

1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes (preferably Italian)

pinch crushed red pepper flakes

2 tsp. Italian seasoning

½ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

4-6 oz. penne pasta (or pasta of choice) cooked al dente

freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the olive oil in a medium sized skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the Italian sausage until browned, breaking it up as it cooks. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent, 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for one minute.

Add the white wine and cook until all the liquid is evaporated. Add the canned tomatoes, including liquid, crushed red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for 7-8 minutes or until most of the liquid is evaporated. Adjust seasoning.

Add the al dente pasta, and about a fourth cup of Parmesan cheese. Pass extra Parmesan at table.

 

BRINED, RUBBED, AND GRILLED BONELESS PORK CHOPS

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We love pork chops. First of all they’re easy to cook. (If you know how). And secondly, they are really quite reasonably priced. And there is very little waste because they are such a lean cut of meat. And mainly, when cooked correctly, there is just nothing finer than a good old pork chop for dinner.

But boneless pork chops must be carefully handled or the blasted things can become shoe leather in a matter of minutes! And I do really mean minutes. And believe me, over the years I have made more shoe leather than I care to admit. But too much cooking time is not the only culprit involved with creating an unpalatable piece of meat. The meat itself, especially a cut like a boneless pork chop that contains little to no fat needs extra special care. It’s the marbled fat in meats that melt during cooking that enhance tenderness and add succulence. So how to achieve a juicy, tender, and flavorful pork chop against all odds. Well there are some well-known secrets to achieving pork chop perfection.  

Brining is one of the well-known secrets that every good cook should become aware of if they are not already employing this simple technique. Brining infuses pork chops, and other non-fatty meats, with savory flavors while at the same time tenderizing the meat. Brining works especially well for types of meat like poultry, fish, and less fatty cuts of pork. (Like boneless pork chops.)

The second well-known secret to preparing a truly delicious hunk of meat, is rubbing the meat with a savory combination of ingredients including herbs and spices before applying heat.

The third and final secret to attaining perfectly cooked pork chops, or other meats, bread, cakes and the like, is an instant-read thermometer. Even if you have been cooking and baking for decades like I have, I find it very comforting to have my thermometer on hand even if all it provides is a second opinion!        

So last evening rather than having to cut our pork chops with a hacksaw, our trusty table knife was all that was required. And the meat was juicy and very flavorful. The brining recipe below is new to me and seems to be perfect for pork chops. I haven’t tried it with other meats, but I see no reason why it wouldn’t work just fine for them too. The rub recipe below can be used with pork, chicken, beef, you name it. (I have been using it for years.)

So if you too enjoy a nice boneless pork chop now and then, this is the recipe for you. Yes it takes a little time to build the brine. (But not much.) And the rub also takes a bit of time to throw together. But it makes plenty, so you’ll be all set to also rub other meats into culinary masterpieces.

As always, stay safe, stay happy, and have fun in your kitchen. Peace and love to all from Chez Carr.  

Brine:

1 c. water

2 T. kosher salt

1 T. brown sugar

1 T. maple syrup

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

freshly ground black pepper

1 c. ice cubes

2-4 thick boneless pork chops

vegetable oil

Heat the 1 cup water, salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, and black pepper to a boil in a saucepan. After the brine comes to a boil, remove from heat and add the ice cubes to help cool the liquid.

Once the brine is cool, place the pork chops in a shallow container or sealable plastic bag and pour the brine over the top. Let the pork chops sit in the brine in the refrigerator for 1 to 6 hours. Meanwhile prepare the rub.

Remove the pork chops from the brine, rinse them under cold water and pat them very dry with clean kitchen towels or paper towels. Lightly coat the chops with veggie oil just before adding the rub. Apply the rub to both sides of the oil coated pork chops thick enough to cover the chop, but not fall off the chop if you turn it upside down. (You will have extra rub for next time. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.) Let the chops rest at room temperature for 30 minutes while you pre-heat the grill to medium-high heat.

Grill the chops for 3 to 5 minutes per side. (Depends on the thickness of your chops.) Cook only until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 145 degrees on an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chop. Remove from grill, place on a plate, and let rest loosely covered with foil for 3-4 minutes before serving.

Rub: (can be used for pork, chicken, or beef)

3 T. dark brown sugar, packed

1 T. regular paprika

1 T. chili powder

1 T. kosher salt

1½ tsp. smoked paprika

1½ tsp. granulated garlic

1½ tsp. granulated onion  

¼ tsp. dried thyme

coarsely ground black pepper

Stir or shake all the rub ingredients together. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.    

ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND CANNELLINI BEAN CHILI

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It all started with me wanting to try out a recipe for sourdough cornbread. (And I know, sourdough and I appear to be joined at the hip these days. But I love everything sourdough, so why not a sourdough cornbread? After all, many cornbread recipes include buttermilk. Which is also sour. So logic dictates that sourdough cornbread should be delicious. And BTW – it is! Recipe to follow in the next couple of days.)

Anyway, I wanted to try out my recipe for sourdough cornbread yesterday so that I could serve it last evening. So I got to thinking about what to serve with the cornbread? Mr. C. and I love chili. We also love Italian food. So why not a chili that smacks of Italy, with a bit of Southwestern flavor thrown in for good measure. (And authenticity.)

So yesterday, I went on line looking for a chili recipe containing Italian sausage and cannellini beans. And there it was on the reneeskitchenadventures.com site. Of course I messed with the recipe, but I am pleased to give credit to Renee for the bones of this delightful dish.

Now, who knew Italian and Southwestern flavors would mix so well? But OMG, this was one of the best pots of chili I have ever produced, much less tasted. And ever so easy to prepare. But Italian seasoning and diced green chilies in the same recipe? Radical to say the least. But isn’t that fun! And what cooking should be all about! Coaxing the best out of every single ingredient you use. Sometimes it feels like magic to me. How a smattering of this and a dash of that can make such a difference to the final product. Of course there is one combination of ingredients I know I will never prepare. But none the less, it’s fun to imagine. For your reading pleasure: The well-known incantation of the Three Witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and howlet’s wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

As always dear friends and far-flung readers – stay safe, stay inspired, stay positive, and keep smiling. (Even if no one can tell you’re smiling under your mask!) Oh – and make this chili. It’s really great!

1 T. extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1 lb. bulk Italian pork sausage (I use sweet Italian sausage from our IGA on Camano Island)

1 med. onion, chopped

1½ c. diced bell pepper (red, orange, yellow, green – or a combination)

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 tsp. fennel seeds

1 tsp. dried oregano (preferably Mexican)

¼ tsp. kosher salt

1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, opt.

freshly ground black pepper

14 oz. can diced tomatoes (preferably Italian)

4 oz. can diced green chilies

2½ c. vegetable stock  

2 c. cooked cannellini beans*

Heat the olive oil in a large, covered Dutch oven. Add the meat, breaking it into small pieces as it browns. Remove the cooked sausage and set aside.  

Add the onion and peppers to the Dutch oven. Cook until the onion begin to soften. Add the garlic; cook for one minute.

Stir in the cumin, Italian seasoning, fennel seeds, oregano, salt, crushed red pepper flakes, and black pepper.    

Add the canned tomatoes with juices, green chilies, and vegetable stock. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for a good hour.

Just before ready to serve, add the reserved meat and the cooked cannellini beans and bring back to a boil. Adjust seasoning.

Serve in soup bowls. Pass the extra virgin olive oil. A small drizzle on top of the soup tastes mighty fine. And corn bread is perfect on the side.

Note: And while I know you are wondering why I don’t just leave the cooked Italian sausage in the pot the whole time, I believe my reasoning not to do so is sound. Unlike ground beef, which is inherently fairly uninspired tasting, Italian sausage is replete with flavor. (The spices bring a lot of the flavor to the mix.) If you leave the cooked sausage in the broth for too long, all that yummy concentrated flavor will be leached away. Yes the flavor will still be in the saucy part. But it’s really nice to bite into a piece of Italian sausage that still tastes like Italian sausage!    

*You can use canned cannellini beans, but I prefer to cook the beans myself. And no, you don’t have to soak the beans overnight or cook them in an instant pot. When I’m in a hurry, I simply wash the dried beans, place them in a covered pot, add lots of water, bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat, cover the pot, and let the beans gently simmer until they are tender. I check the pot every 30 minutes or so. When the beans are getting close to being done, I add salt to the water.

When the beans are finished cooking, I take the pot off heat and just let the beans sit in the water until I’m ready to add them to the chili.

(I realize my way of cooking beans goes against convention. Soak the beans the night before, etc. But most of the time, I am not efficient enough to know the day before what I am going to serve for dinner the next evening. That takes planning. I just happen to take a much more relaxed approach to the whole undertaking.)  

OVEN BAKED PORK CHOPS WITH RICE AND MUSHROOMS

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I hate dry pork chops. Absolutely hate them. And that’s just what I fixed the other evening when I prepared this recipe. But wait. I have a solution to the problem and that’s just what I’m going to share with you in this post. But before I provide you with what I call “pork chop enlightenment”, I’m going to start with the very reason for this recipe in the first place.

It had been a long, exhausting day of developing recipes, writing up an introduction to a post, cleaning house, and performing my 20 minute daily jazzercise workout.  So the thought of cooking dinner that evening brought with it absolutely no enthusiasm. (Usually I’m gung-ho to start cooking. But not this evening.) But I had defrosted two lovely pork chops, and they were patiently waiting on my drain board to be transformed into a culinary tour de force. (Right, like that was about to happen!) Anyway……..

What I really wanted was for dinner to almost cook itself. So I decided a dish that contained both meat and side, then slapped in the oven to finish cooking, was as close to not really cooking as I could get. That and a simple roasted veggie dish, and dinner was served. So I started throwing ingredients together and came up with this winning combination.

I decided to fry the pork chops until they were nicely browned (I apparently still had a modicum of culinary prowess left in my tired old body), and then throw them on top of the rice while the whole mess cooked in the oven. But like I stated above, the pork chops came out way too dry. So how to fix that for next time? Because there was sure to be a next time. The overall dish was just too good not to make again in the future. So, really, how to fix the pork chop problem? Simple remedy. Don’t bloody bake the pork chops so long! Duh Patti!

For perfect pork chops, the internal temperature should never exceed 145 degrees. (My pathetic pork chops, although I never actually checked, must have clocked in at 350 degrees! What was I thinking?!?!)

So if you too could use a recipe for a really easy main dish to fix after an enervating day, give this dish a try. You will absolutely love the rice. In fact, the rice alone could easily be prepared without any regard to the delicate sensibilities of pork chops everywhere. Just a simple, but delicious side dish.

As always – stay safe, stay secure, and keep having fun in your kitchen.

1 T. extra virgin olive oil

2 lg. thick boneless pork chops (about 1 pound) – all fat removed and cut in half

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 T. unsalted butter

1 c. long grain white rice

¼ c. chopped yellow onion

¼ c. chopped celery

8-10 button or cremini mushrooms, sliced

½ tsp. ground dried mushroom powder*

¼ tsp. granulated garlic

pinch paprika  

2¼ c. beef stock

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

Heat the olive oil in a small fry pan. Season both sides of the pork chops with salt and pepper. Place the pork chops in pan.  Fry until they are nicely browned on both sides.  You aren’t cooking them all the way through. You just want the nice brown color on both sides. Remove from heat and set aside.

Melt the butter in a medium sized covered Dutch oven or pan that can be used on a cook top as well as placed in the oven. Add the rice along with the onion, celery, and mushrooms. Stir and cook until the rice begins to brown slightly and the onion, celery, and mushrooms soften a bit. Stir in the ground dried mushroom powder, granulated garlic, paprika, beef stock, and Worcestershire sauce.

Cover and bake in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for about 35-40 minutes. After 35 minutes, remove the lid, place pork chops on top of rice mixture, and continue baking uncovered until the internal temperature of the pork chops reaches 145 degrees. Remove from oven and let rest for 3-4 minutes before serving.

* Dried Mushroom Powder: Can be purchased online or you can make mushroom powder at home. Start with any type of dried mushrooms. Place in your blender or spice grinder and let it whirl. (My spice grinder is an inexpensive coffee grinder dedicated just for the purpose of grinding herbs, spices, and anything other than coffee!)

Store mushroom powder in an airtight container. Great for adding depth of flavor to almost any dish that calls for mushrooms.