Recipe of the Week: Sweet and Garlicky Pork Chops

Here's another classic recipe which is both simple and delicious, Steven Raichlen's Garlicky Pork Chops. I could have sworn that I've posted this recipe before because I've made this meal numerous times, but I couldn't find it on the blog, so here it is. Hopefully this isn't the second time I've posted this recipe, but if it is maybe it will get you excited to try it out for this upcoming BBQ season.

Not sure if you can tell, but it's raining in this picture; typical. Well the day started off nice and I had plans to BBQ, so nothing was going to hold me back.

The finished product, look at that sweet and delicious char on the edges, which is why YOU HAVE to BBQ these pork chops, you could cook them on a grill pan, but it just isn't the same. The name of the recipe couldn't better describe this meal. To make it simple think a sesame oil, garlicky teriyaki pork chop.

There are a few things to keep in mind to take this dish from good to great:

• If you have time marinade overnight (the recipe says 1-2 hours, but I think the more time the more flavorful)


• Use a hot grill, don't put the pork chops on until it's nice and hot otherwise you won't get that nice char, which is the best part of the finished product


• Cook 4-6 minutes per side, try not to overcook because the pork chops will lose some of their juiciness and flavor, also they will cook while you let them sit on the cutting board

Now on to the recipe:

What you need:

• 4 thick (1 inch) or 8 thin (1/2 inch) pork chops - about 2 pounds in all - I recommend the thick cuts


• 1 head garlic, broken into cloves and peeled


• 3 T sugar


• 1/3 C Asian fish sauce or soy sauce (go with good fish sauce)


• 3 T honey


• 3 T rice wine


• 2 T Asian (dark) sesame oil


• 1 T grated fresh ginger


• 2 t salt


• 1 t freshly ground black pepper


• A FOOD PROCESSOR - a good blender, may work, but I highly recommend you get access to a food processor

What to do:

• Make 1 or 2 cuts in the fat side of each pork chop to keep it from curling during grilling. Arrange the chops in a baking dish and set aside.


• Combine the garlic and sugar in a mini chopper or food processor and process to a paste or pound to a paste in a mortar using the pestle. Work in the fish sauce, honey, rice wine, sesame oil, ginger, salt, and pepper. Using a rubber spatula, spread the mixture over both sides of the chops. Cover and let marinate in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours, I say more for more flavor. Also turn the chops a few times throughout the marinating process to make sure each side gets coated.


• Preheat the grill to high - please use charcoal and never use lighter fluid to get it started (use a chimney or my propane starter BBQ)


• When ready to cook, oil the grill grate.


• Arrange the chops on the hot grate and grill until nicely browned on both sides and cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes per side for thick chops half that time for thinner chops.


• Shold read 160 degrees internally when cooked.


• The chops will have a great juice after finished so I recommend serving with rice.

Here's hoping for better weather because I'll be BBQ'ing rain or shine and would prefer to soak up some rays rather than rain while I'm cooking.

- Kyle

Recipe of the Week: Cooking with Jamie Oliver

Emi hit up the library again to find some new cookbooks for us to peruse. One of the books she picked up was Happy Days with the Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver. I haven't had a chance to go through it yet, but did try one of the recipes Emi picked out. It was super easy. I'm talking easier than a crockpot easy. So for any one out there in need of a simple and easy, yet tasty meal this one is for you.

The recipe was called Chicken Breast Baked in a Bag with Mushrooms, Butter, White Wine, and Thyme. I changed it up a little.

What you'll need:

• 4 - chicken thighs or you could do 2 chicken breasts, I prefer thighs
• 1 handful of dried porcini (didn't have these and it still came out great)
• solid amount of mushrooms torn up, I used crimini (some chopped, some whole) and one chopped up portabello mushroom. If you can find them I would use chantrelles.
• 1 large wineglass of white wine - I used a chardonnay, but I'm sure anything on hand works
• 3 large pats of butter - I used 3 chunks of Emi's homemade truffle butter
• 1 handful of fresh thyme
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
• 1 shallot diced - not in the original recipe, but was a good addition
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Using aluminum foil, make your bag by placing 2 pieces on top of each other (about as big as 2 shoeboxes in length), folding 3 sides in and leaving 1 side open. I added a third piece in the end to make sure it was fully sealed.
2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
3. This is optional, but I think would create a crust and seal in a better flavor. I didn't do this, but will next time. Salt and pepper the chicken generously and heat a pan on medium high heat with 1 T of olive oil. Once hot, brown the chicken skin side down for maybe 3 minutes at the most.
4. Then mix everything together in a bowl and place in the bag with all the wine, making sure you don't pierce the foil.
   
5. Close up the final edge, making sure the bag is tightly sealed and secure on all sides, place into a roasting pan.
6. If cooking chicken breast, I wouldn't recommend browning the meat and only cook it for 25 minutes. With a bone in chicken thigh, which I cooked, you'll need about 40 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and place on a big plate. Break open the foil and serve.
8. Jamie said you could vary the recipe with grated parsnip, smoked bacon, and red wine.

Before I sealed everything up. In the end the mushrooms were the highlight of the dish. They soaked up the butter, thyme, and wine beautifully. Make sure you don't skimp on the mushrooms.

The finished product. This photo doesn't really do this dish justice. It was super easy and very flavorful. The only thing lacking was a little bit of salt and pepper, which I added in after, however I think if I brown the chicken in advance that might help a little.

This was a great recipe because the ingredients were simple and the steps to making it were simple. All you need is chicken, some white wine, mushrooms, butter, garlic, and thyme. I can't wait to try a variation of this dish with something different like fish.

I'm looking forward to reading through the rest of this book. The recipe seemed pretty healthy and I'm interested to see what else he has to offer. Random side note, but I just read the back of the book and at the time he wrote this he was only 26. Pretty impressive all that he had accomplished at still a very young age. By the way thanks Carmen and Jamie for getting me interested in learning more about Jamie Oliver!

- Kyle

Rachel Ray You've Done It Again - Balsamic Pork Tenderloins

Since Emi was out of town enjoying a girl's weekend, I took it upon myself to go grocery shopping and to cook the week's meals. The first cookbook I turned to for inspiration was my first cookbook ever, Rachel Ray's Top 30 - 30 minute meals - Guy Food. It's such a simple cookbook, yet I have about 5 regular meals from this cookbook, plus I keep discovering new ones which brings us to the Balsamic Pork Tenderloins.




This was an amazing meal, one of my new all-time favorites. I smiled after taking the first bite of the tender, flavorful, and juicy pork tenderloin.

What you'll need:

• 2 pork tenderloins (2 and 1/4 pounds total)


• Balsamic vinegar, for drizzling (3 T)


• EVOO, for drizzling


• 4 cloves garlic, cracked


• 2 T sea salt and freshly ground black pepper


• 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme, leaves stripped and finely chopped

What to do:

• preheat oven to 500 degrees


• Place tenderloins on a nonstick cookie sheet with a rim


• Coat tenderloins in balsamic vinegar (I used cheap balsamic and it still tasted amazing), rubbing vinegar into the meat. Don't worry about getting dirty, you will.


• Drizzle tenderloins with evoo, just enough to coat.


• Cut small slits into meat and disperse chunks of cracked garlic into the meat (tasty nuggets of deliciousness)


• Combine sea salt and pepper with rosemary and thyme and rub meat with blend (you really can't overdo the salt, pepper, and fresh herbs).


• Roast in hot oven 20-25 minutes, let meat rest, transfer to carving board, slice and serve.

What an explosion of flavors. Everything stands out from the sea salt and roasted garlic to the fresh rosemary and thyme, with a spicy kick from black pepper, all with a sweet essence from the balsamic vinegar.

Sometimes the most simple meals are also the most delicious. This was a good example of that. From prep to finished and in my belly, this meal took less than 45 minutes to make.

- Kyle

French Wine Tasting - Chardonnay

We've been having so much fun tasting French wine that I couldn't wait to go pick up something different and this time went with a white wine. We prefer reds and rarely drink white wine, but if we do drink white, it's usually a Chardonnay.


Also the meal I made for Emi asked for a little bit of white wine, so I figured the wine would pair well with the food.

• Name - Macon-Villages - Louis Jadot - Chardonnay - 2009
• Cost - $15 - Central Market
• Our Take - Emi described this Chardonnay as less buttery than most Chardonnays she has tried in the past. It wasn't as overpowering for me where some Chardonnay's are sort of sour and not very pleasant with their aftertaste. Similar to the French Pinot Noir we tried earlier in the week, this wasn't as strong as we expected. It was light, sweet, and paired well with the meal.

I paired the wine with Rachel Ray's real deal caesar salad and Mark Antony's scampi topping. I think it was the first time I've ever made a caesar salad from scratch. It turned out really well, but took a lot of steps which I don't really feel like listing here. However if you are interested, pick up Rachel Ray's Top 30 - 30 minute meals - Guy Food cookbook or just look it up online.

The best part of the salad was the scampi topping. I will list that recipe.



What you'll need:

• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• a pinch crushed red pepper flakes


• 2 T EVOO
  
• 10 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (Central Market has a great deal going on right now)
  
• a shot of white wine

Heat the garlic and crushed red pepper in oil over med-high heat until the garlic speaks. Add shrimp and cook for a minute on each side, keeping pan moving with vigorous shakes to avoid burning the garlic. Douse with a little white wine and serve on top of the caesar.

This scampi topping goes with anything, over pasta, any type of salad, even by itself. Also it's really easy, I highly recommend it and make sure to pair it with a nice glass of Chardonnay.

- Kyle

Recipe of the Week: Keo's Honey Glazed Spareribs

A few weeks ago while Emi and I were trying out a few of Keo's recipe, I grilled up the Honey Glazed Spareribs. They were delicious and I wanted to share the recipe with all of you. The sweetness of the honey combined with the lemongrass is a great, unique flavor.

If you want to try something different, yet still simple with great flavor this recipe is for you. It's also perfect for a summer BBQ.


Honey Glazed Spareribs Recipe:

The recipe book said that this was one of their more popular dishes.

What you will need:

• 4 pounds of baby spareribs - I purchased a few racks of these ribs at Ranch 99 (much more affordable there)
• 4 stalks of lemongrass, chopped (again easy to find at Ranch 99 or your equivalent local, Asian market)
• 1/2 C chopped garlic
• 3 T coarsely chopped fresh ginger
• 1/2 C coarsely chopped Chinese parsley roots (it looks like a white turnip)
  
• 1/2 C honey
• 1/2 C coconut milk
• 1/4 C soy sauce
• 1 t salt

Cut spareribs into individual ribs. In a food processor, combine lemongrass, garlic, ginger, Chinese parsley roots, honey, coconut milk, soy sauce, and salt; blend until smooth. Pour sauce over the ribs and marinate overnight in the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 350 F place ribs in an open pan and bake for 1 hour, or until cooked, depending on the thickness of the ribs. Serve with Sriracha sauce for dipping.

I BBQ'd the ribs over indirect heat instead of baking them in the oven. This gave the ribs an added smokey flavor. It took a little bit longer to cook them at about 40 minutes in total. It's important to cook over indirect heat so that you don't burn the sugar in the marinade coating the ribs.

The ribs came out tender and flavorful. If you enjoy sweet, salty, and garlicky and teriyaki flavors you will enjoy these ribs. Also the lemongrass gives this dish an added kick.

Instead of serving with Sriracha, Emi prefers a little bit of sweet chili sauce on the side. Honestly the ribs have so much flavor you don't need an additional dipping sauce.

- Kyle

Recipe of the Week: Bobby Flay's Crunch Burger

Ali, Emi's good friend bought her Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries, and Shakes for Christmas. We've been waiting a long time for BBQ weather so that we could finally pull out the book to try out some of Bobby's recipes.

This past weekend with the sun out and the weather in the mid 70's we decided it was the perfect weather to finally have some people over to BBQ. The book is filled with tons of fun burger and milkshake recipes that I'm sure we will test out this summer, but we wanted to start out with Bobby's signature burger the Crunch Burger.

Directions (recipe makes 4 burgers):

• 1 1/2 pounds ground chuck (80% lean) - fat is flavor so look for at least 20% fat
• First heat up the BBQ - I prefer charcoal and make sure it is nice and hot before cooking, briquettes should be glowing orange and starting to turn ashy.
  
• Make the horseradish mustard mayonnaise in advance.
• Whip together 1/4 C mayo, 2 T dijon mustard, 1-2 t of horseradish (depends on how spicy you want it to be), salt and pepper. Let it sit covered in the fridge for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to combine.
  
• Divide the meat into four equal portions and loosely form into 3/4 inch patties
• Make a deep depression in the center of each patty with your thumb. This will keep your patties from turning into hockey pucks and the depressions will disappear as the patties cook.
• Season with Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper on both sides
• Brush on 1 1/2 T of Canola oil over both sides of all of the patties
• Throw on the BBQ and cook for 4 minutes on one side, then flip and cook for 3 minutes on the other.
• Add on 2 slices of American cheese and cover the BBQ and allow to cook for another minute or two, until the cheese is melted. This will result in the burgers being medium-rare, cook an extra minute for medium. Remember to not push down on the burgers with your spatula this will squeeze out the juices and may also cause your BBQ to flame up.
• Toast each side of a potato bun on the BBQ
• Place the cooked patty on the bottom of the bun, top with lettuce, tomato, red onion (we didn't do onions), a dollop of the horseradish mustard mayonnaise and a handful of potato chips.

This is a great burger, it's deliciously simple. I love the smoky flavor that only a charcoal BBQ can give a hamburger and American cheese is the only cheese to enjoy on a cheeseburger. The horseradish mustard mayonnaise is what makes this burger special. It's not overpowering, but both sweet and a little spicy and adds a great flavor to the burger. However, what brings this burger to another level is the potato chips, hence the name the "Crunch Burger".

Make sure to try out this burger at your next BBQ because it's really easy to make, yet you'll impress with the added horseradish mustard mayo and the creative use of potato chips.

- Kyle

Birthday Dinner #3: The Guy's Party

So every year since kindergarten I've thrown a birthday party for my friends and myself. "Thrown" is the key word, since I usually plan everything out and host all of the festivities. I'm definitely ridiculous with my parties since this has been going on for almost 26 years, but my friends probably love my birthday even more than I do. One of them even flies back from out of state for it. Basically I plan out a bunch of random games and competitions throughout the night and the party usually includes a lot of drinking and eating. Also did I mention it's a sleepover? Anyhow enough about my childish games and back to the purpose of this blog and the post, the food.

When I was younger we would BBQ hot dogs and hamburgers at my parents house. I can still remember all of the boys giggling about burning our hot dogs in the fire or catching our marshmellows on fire for late night s'mores. Honestly things haven't changed much over the past few decades, however this year the food was a little different than in the past.

This year to keep the party going I decided to plan a multi course meal so that everyone could eat throughout the night. Also in years past we would usually stuff ourseleves full of hamburgers, hot dogs, and steak and then would be full and lethargic for the rest of the night. So I figured food throughout the night would keep everyone from crashing too early. Hey it was the end of a long work week and we're all old working men now not hyper little grade schoolers!

Everyone was welcomed with our charcuterie platter of prosciutto, brie, aged cheddar, crackers, marcona almonds (my favorite snack to pair with a cocktail), pistacious, some olives, and Muscat grapes. Muscat grapes seem to be pretty popular right now. You can find them at all of the local grocery stores. They are the grapes used in Muscat wine which is a very sweet wine, so the grapes have a high sugar content.

Since it was a competition, everyone had to wear a jersey, so that's why I was sporting my B. Roy jersey. Anyhow we paired all of the appetizers with Maker's Mark cocktails. I made some Old Fashioned's and also a hard iced tea. The tea was 2 parts pre-brewed and refridgerated mango tea (unsweetened), mixed with 2 parts low sugar lemonade, 1 part soda water, and 1 part Maker's. It turned out to be a refreshing cocktail that went well with the food that wasn't also too sweet or overpowering.

This dish was one of the highlights of the meal. Emi made crostinis and I made the ricotta spread. The spread was creamy with a fresh thyme flavor and saltiness that brought all of the flavors together when spread on the crostini. I definitely ate way too much of this dish. To make it,all you need to do is buy a tub of fresh ricotta cheese, drain out the liquid and dump it in a food processor. Then add a splash of milk and puree until smooth. Pour into a bowl, add some fresh thyme, layer with sea salt, and olive oil and serve. It was so good, I made it again last night just for Emi and me.

After snacking and drinking a few drinks, we started some of the games and also ate some truffle popcorn which is a new favorite snack of mine. All you do is make a bag of instant microwaveable popcorn and then open up the bag and add a couple pinches of truffle salt, a little bit goes a long way, and then reseal, shake, and serve. It's a great way to turn some simple popcorn into a very memorable snack.

Emi joined in on this year's festivities, which was a first because usually it's a "guy's only" party. She helped keep the food coming and made her famous Spring Salad. It's a simple romaine salad with strawberries, kiwi, mangoes, and slivered, candied almonds with a sweet dressing.

Our first course was a slow roasted leg of lamb that I prepared for the party. Since Easter was that weekend, lamb was pretty cheap. I rubbed the lamb with salt and pepper and then browned it in olive oil. Then I wrapped it in aluminum foil, rubbed more salt and pepper on it along with 3-4 cloves of diced garlic and also poured in 1-2 cups of white wine. I also added in a few more whole cloves of garlic for extra flavor, sealed it up and slow cooked it at 250 degrees in the oven for about 6-7 hours. This is the aftermath, which turned out really good. The flavor was great and the lamb was succulent and tender.

Later in the night we had bacon cheeseburger sliders. I premade the sliders by first premixing the 3 lbs of ground beef in a bowl with salt, pepper, MSG (you don't know what you're missing if you don't eat MSG), and garlic powder. Then I spread out the mixture of seasoned ground beef in a baking sheet with a 1/4 inch raised edge. It should fit in like one giant cookie. Then I sprinkled truffle salt all over the meat and baked it at 350-400 degrees for about 10 minutes. It cooks pretty quickly and easily in the sheet, then you can pull it out and drain the fat. I then added on multiple slices of Tillamook cheddar to cover the meat and let it melt and stay warm in the oven. Then we hand prepped all of the sliders with mayo, mustard, ketchup, etc and I cut up the meat in the pan into 12 patties. Emi fried up some bacon and onions to go with these perfect sliders. They were amazing as a later night meal.

We paired the sliders with sweet potato and yam oven baked french fries which we drizzled with olive oil and sea salt. One of the few "healthy" options of the night, but a fun change of pace instead of normal french fries to eat with the sliders.

Besides snacking on chips, salsa, and my homemade guacamole we also were hungry later on in the night for some pizza. Emi made us two pizzas one was a margarita pizza with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil. The other one had Italian sausage, cherry tomatoes, and more fresh mozzarella.

To end it all we had to save room for my annual Baskin and Robins ice cream birthday cake. I've been eating this bad boy since I came out the womb. They probably want to remove this cake from the B&R ice cream catalogue, but for some reason it is their most consistent selling cake with over two decades of yearly sales. It's always the exact same cake no matter what. A good way to ruin my birthday would be to order me a different cake. White cake, white frosting, five balloons, "Happy Birthday Kyle", and the best rainbow sherbet known to man. The perfect ice cream cake for a five year old and still the perfect ice cream cake for a 26 year old man. Ask anyone who has tried this cake, everything goes together surprisingly well. And what's great about ice cream cake is that it makes amazing leftovers. Think about it, after you have a cake you usually throw it out, maybe eat a little the next day, but this cake freezes! So I can enjoy it a month later, not that I save it that long...

Emi also made some homemade ice cream to go with my ice cream cake. She made a delicious Thin Mint Cookies and Cream Ice Cream, strawberry ice cream, and also some chocolate covered strawberries.

The next morning in what is even more famous than the cake are my Mom's strawberry waffles with whipped cream and sausage. We usually drive over to my parent's in the morning for the waffles. Most of my friends look forward to this more than anything else we do at the party. Needless to say we usually gain a few pounds over a short 12-16 hour period and then pass out for the rest of the weekend.

Thanks again to all of my friends for making it a fun weekend, to Emi and Mollie for helping with the food, and to my Mom for the always great breakfast.

This year was a lot of work, so I'm rethinking my strategy moving forward. Also I've come to realize there isn't anything wrong with eating all at once and being stuffed. So I may be changing things up again next year. We'll have to wait and see.

- Kyle

Recipe of the week: MVM (most valuable marinade)

The recipe I am about to share with you is my most valuable marinade and probably my most prized recipe of all time. I learned this marinade back when I was going to school down in Southern California and was just learning how to cook. One of my friends down there was a pretty good cook and BBQ'd steak for us one day and it was absolutely amazing. It wasn't like anything I had ever eaten before, it was so flavorful, every bite of the steak just gushed juice and an amazing garlic flavor. It also had a great little spicy kick to it. As soon as I took my first bite I knew I had to have the recipe. It was so good, I was skeptical he would share it with me, but alas he did and I've seriously been using it probably at least 5 times a year for the last 6+ years.

This recipe is basically fool proof, really easy to make, and consistently really, really, really good. I've shared this marinade numerous times from my closest friends to strangers at Husky tailgate BBQ's who just had to have the recipe. However the time has come to share it with the world. I know I've built it up a lot, but I think you'll enjoy it just as much as I have.

What's great about this recipe is that it is very versatile. I usually make this with 3-5 lbs of tri tip steak, but I've also done pork tenderloin, chicken thighs and drumsticks, and flank steak. Basically any hearty dark meat will work well.

Dan's Steak Marinade (Named after the genius who shared this recipe with me)

In a blender add the following:

• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 2 T A1 steaksauce
• 2 T worcheshire sauce
• fresh ground black pepper
• few dashes of cayenne pepper depends on how spicy you like it
• KEY INGREDIENT: One whole head of garlic, remove the skin from each clove and put the cloves in the blender

Blend everything to a smoother consistency and pour over your meat into a gallon sized ziplock bag. If you need to use two bags do that.

Now this takes a little bit of planning, but marinate for two days if possible and rotate the meat a few times a day. Also if you have more than one fridge, I would recommend you store the marinade in the one you use the least because this stuff is overpowering.

After you are done marinating the steak, heat up the grill and let the fire do the rest of the work. Of course I only recommend grilling with charcoal (no lighter fluid, use a chimney or propane starter) or propane grill if you have to. This will ensure the best flavor. Also keep an eye on the meat because the marinade can cause the BBQ to flame up and you don't want your meat to get burnt. Depending on what your cooking, cook it for a few minutes on each side and when rare to medium rare, pull it and let it sit on a cutting board for about 10 minutes. Then slice it up and serve. I like to throw a few tortillas on the hot grill for a few seconds each side to serve with the steak. It also goes really well with guacamole. I'll have to share that recipe later.

Anyhow hard to mess this one up, unless you don't give it enough time. If you are short on time, try poking holes in your meat with a fork and hopefully that will help.

Good luck and let me know if you ever try out this recipe!

- Kyle

The Best Dinner I've Ever Made

My grandmother and her sister in law are both great cooks. Every year both grandmothers host their side of the family for Christmas Eve dinner. My "Auntie" lives near my grandparents so we always go over before dinner with my family to visit. Every Christmas Eve they eat short ribs and she always let's me sample them before dinner because she knows they are my favorite. Recently she gave me the recipe so that I could try making them for myself.

There are a number of reasons why this is the best dinner I've ever made. 1) It is really, really easy to make, 2) It's amazing how something as simple as meat, some vegetables, salt and pepper can create such a great complex, delicious flavor 3) If given enough time to cook properly the short ribs come out super tender and melt off of the bones.

I bought 3 lbs of beef short ribs from Central Market that I seasoned with Kosher salt, fresh black pepper, and a few drops of Tabasco. Then I browned them with olive oil over high heat in my Le Creuset.

After cooking the spare ribs on high heat for about 3 minutes per side I added in 2 coarsely chopped potatoes, 5 stalks of celery, 4 carrots, 1 large onion, and a 28 oz. can of San Marzano whole tomatoes. I also added in my "secret ingredient"; truffle salt. The original recipe didn't ask for it, but I knew it would add great flavor to the dish. Then I closed up the Le Creuset and cooked it on Med Low heat for about 2 hours.

After 2 hours I opened up the pot and was met with an amazing, hearty stew with a truffle fragrance. I added in 1 tsp of Kosher salt, 1/2 tsp of black pepper, and some more truffle salt. A little bit of truffle salt goes a long way.

This is a great meal for a cold winter day because it will not only warm up your home, but it will also fill up your kitchen with a delicious smell. Let the meat cook a little longer with the top on and you know it's done when the meat is tender when tested with a fork.

I recommend spooning the tender meat and stew over rice. Don't just consume this meal, savor it. Take the time to taste a variety of flavors within each bite from the truffle salt to the delicious fatty, tender meat.

This is a fool proof, delicious meal, just make sure to set aside enough time to make it.

Enjoy!

- Kyle

Sunday Recipe: Rachel Ray's Sage Pork Chops

One of the first cookbooks I ever got was Rachael Ray's Top 30 - 30-minute meals - Guy Food book. Emi and I have been using it a lot lately because the meals come out really, really good, but also they're easy to make. I highly recommend this cookbook for any guy in your life that is interested in learning how to cook. Some of my favorites in the cookbook are: Moroccan Rub Lamb Chops, Grilled Halibut Tacos with guacamole sauce, corn on the cob with chili and lime, caesar salad with scampi topping, Delmonico Steaks with Balsamic Onions and Steak Sauce, and this week's Sunday recipe Sage Pork Chops.

Since Emi's parents always cook for us, we wanted to return the favor and make dinner for them. I bought some thick pork chops from Central Market to take over to their house for dinner. The plan was to try out Rachael Ray's Sage Veal Chop recipe. However, I decided to substitute in pork chops.

Here's what you'll need:

• 4 - 1-inch thick pork chops
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 sprigs of fresh sage, chopped (about 4 T)
• 1 T extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 T butter
• 1/2 C dry white wine

Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Season chops with salt and pepper and rub them each with about 1 T of chopped sage, rubbing well into both sides of the chops. Add oil to the pan, melt butter into the oil and add chops to the pan. Cook 10-12 minutes each side, remove to warm platter, and let rest. Add wine to the pan and scrape up the drippings. Spoon over the chops and serve.

The pork chops were very flavorful and juicy. I think cooking them over high heat in butter and olive oil sealed in the flavors and was the key to this recipe. The pork chops go really well when served with rice. Again I'm all about easy and delicious and this recipe hits both requirements for me. Try it out and let me know what you think.

-Kyle

Roast Chicken Recipes

As I have blogged before, I'm a big fan of chicken and more specifically roast chicken. Nothing beats the smell of a crisped, browned, juicy chicken coming out of the oven. So recently I found a few new recipes that I wanted to try out and here are the results.

The first chicken I made was the Barefoot Contessa's Lemon and Garlic Roast Chicken. The only thing I did different compared to the recipe was I rubbed Hawaiian sea salt and black pepper underneath the skin. All you do is loosen the skin from the body and then rub in the salt and pepper. I feel the chicken comes out juicier and more flavorful.

The chicken, stuffed full of a few halved heads of garlic, fresh thyme, halved lemons, salt, and pepper. The obvious draw to this recipe is the fat layer of bacon that coats the chicken throughout most of the cooking process. Also I was happy because I was able to utilize our All-Clad baking dish which was on our registry specifically for meals like this.

The golden, brown finished product, which came out juicy with a great garlicky, lemon taste from the heads of garlic and lemon that were baked with it. However I made an amateur mistake and only took the internal temperature from the thigh and not from the breast, so unfortunately I pulled it out of the oven too early and it wasn't cooked all the way through. We ended up eating the dark meat and some of the white meat and I used the rest of the chicken for what turned out to be a great chicken noodle soup.


Greyson my guinea pig.

Meal #2 was the Chicken with Roasted Grapes and Shallots. I found this recipe in Bon Appetit. I made this meal for Emi and my parents at their house.

I included dark purple grapes, red grapes, and green grapes in this recipe. After the grapes bake they give you a very unique flavor. They retain their sweetness, but also gain the flavors from the chicken, seasonings, and shallots.

The finished product, chopped up, and ready to be served.

My Mom provided the salad and soup, and we provided the wine and chicken and the after dinner clean up.

Emi also tried out her new ice cream maker (gifted by one of our very generous friends) and made a simple vanilla ice cream.

The ice cream went perfectly with my Mom's homemade pumpkin pie which was a great way to end our feast.

Of the two recipes, I think the Lemon and Garlic Roast Chicken was the best. However the 2nd dish was super easy to make, so if you have the time go for the first one and if you don't have as much time the 2nd one is the way to go.

- Kyle

Steak

Emi and I love steak. It's easily one of our favorite meals. However Emi has never been a big fan of eating animals so she always feels a little guilty eating meat. If she didn't love it so much she would probably be a vegetarian.

I think this picture sums up Emi's feelings on meat.

Steak is one of the most simple things to make and at the same time one of the most complicated meals to perfect. Ultimately after years and years of eating steak all over the country, we've come to the conclusion that no restaurant can make it better than you can. By making it yourself, you guarantee it's seasoned right, cooked to your liking, and affordable.

We wanted to share a few photos of some of our more extravagant steak dinners along with a review of our favorite place to eat steak in Seattle and to finish off the post we wanted to share some pictures from our Sunday dinner.

Emi won an award trip to Vegas through work, so we had our most expensive meal ever at PRIME steakhouse which was located in Caesar's Palace. Luckily it was covered by the company, but to give you an idea of how expensive it was the cheapest part of the meal was our $25 glasses of wine!

After eating this porterhouse steak at PRIME I started to realize that steakhouses are overrated. The steak was OK, but not amazing, definitely big and expensive. If you do go to a nice steakhouse make sure to get a ribeye steak, they usually are the most flavorful.

After celebrating our one year anniversary in Portland we had plans for a special meal at The Metropolitan Grill. Their porterhouse steak used to be an all-time favorite.

38 oz of gluttony, but again I ended up being disappointed. The meat was tough, gristly, and not all that well seasoned. C'mon Met, what type of 2nd hand meat are you serving me?!

Look it's bigger than her head!

Even though Emi and I are no longer fans of the fancy steakhouse, the one place that we can still recommend is Jak's. Their ribeye steak is tender, smoky, flavorful deliciousness and it's affordable. Emi also loves their steak salad, that doesn't short you on the meat. The Jak's we go to is located next to Varlamos in the UDistrict and they have another location in West Seattle.

Keys to a good steak:

• Marbled meat, the fat is the flavor and the more there is the more tender it will be
• Never overcook your steak, rare to medium rare at the most guaranteeing it will be tender. Why pay $50 for a chewy piece of steak.
• Season your meat and let it sit out at room temperature before cooking it. Also don't skimp on the rock salt (we prefer Hawaiian sea salt), crushed black pepper, and garlic. Emi is the master seasoner and I'm the master griller.
  
• When cooking the meat, cook on high heat to sear in the flavors and juices, don't let the BBQ, grill pan or oven heat up while cooking the meat, make sure it's already hot.
• When the meat is done let it sit for 5-10 minutes before cutting into it so the meat can absorb the juices, otherwise when you cut into it everything will spill out
  

Last Sunday, Emi and I had no idea what to make for dinner so we went to Central Market to look around and this is what we came up with; ribeye steak.


We cooked this steak on high heat on our All-Clad grill pan. It ended up working really well and even cooked in the layer of seasonings.


Emi made homemade croutons to go with the salad


Even though the presentation may not be as nice as a fancy steakhouse, the food is ten times more flavorful, cooked to your liking, and much more affordable. To go with our steak we boiled white asparagus seasoned with salt and pepper, sauteed sweet onions with chantrelles and garlic, and Emi made mashed sweet potatoes.

Even though we make a pretty good steak, Emi's Dad's is the best. For those of you reading, hopefully you can come enjoy one of Steve's steaks someday because they are amazing.

- Kyle

Preparing for the Fall

I mentioned in an earlier post that I have been doing a lot of cooking the past few weeks while enjoying my "summer break". Now that I am going back to work I know I'll have less time to plan and cook dinner. My solution was to make some great hearty meals that I can freeze and then thaw out to heat up on a busy night. I highly recommend each of the following recipes. I've provided links and a quick review of each recipe. If you too are also interested in freezing some meals for a cold fall/winter night, make sure to invest in some Kerr jars. You can buy them at your local grocery store. Here's a rundown of what's currently filling up my freezer.

Black-Eyed Pea Soup with Ham Hocks and Creme Fraiche
Bam! This is a great recipe from Emeril. After cooking the soup you will discard the fat and skin from the ham hocks leaving behind only a little bit of meat. If you enjoy your ham like I do either add in additional ham hocks from the beginning or just buy some ham to add in. I especially love the use of the Creme Fraiche in this recipe which is basically a sweeter sour cream. I like to mix a couple dollops of Creme Fraiche with homemade strawberry or raspberry jam to add to fruit salad making the fruit sweet and creamy.


The Lady's Chicken Noodle Soup
This is a Paula Dean recipe. Making a real chicken stock like this recipe suggests takes some time so make sure to plan ahead. Also when heating up this soup as leftovers some of the broth will be soaked up by the noodles and vegetables, so just have an extra can of chicken broth handy to add to the soup with additional salt and pepper and other seasonings before you heat it up or it when heated up it will turn out more like a stew.

I also have some chili and beef curry in the freezer, but will have to post recipes for those another time.

Hope you give these two recipes a try!

-Kyle

Healthy Hearty Scramble

The last three months off has given me a great opportunity to learn how to make a few new things in the kitchen. Specifically I have been working on expanding my breakfast recipes. When working, I usually only have time for a piece of toast or half a grapefruit before running out the door, but during my break I had the luxury of having all morning to cook.

Recently I've been putting together healthy egg scrambles. Scrambles are great because they taste great, are easy to make, fill me up, and are very healthy (depending on the ingredients you use). Here's an example of a scramble I've been making the past few weeks. Use it as a guide to create your own future breakfast scramble.


Step1: Prep your ingredients

I like to add in a variety of colorful ingredients into my scrambles, the more colors the better. Make sure to rinse everything clean and then give them a rough chop, then saute in olive oil.

Avocado, homegrown pineapple heirloom tomatoes, crimini mushrooms, spinach, and a couple slices of fresh mozzarella. The spinach really shrinks and cooks down after you add it in, so make sure to use a good sized handful.

Step 2: Brown the meat

I feel a dish isn't a complete unless it has some protein in it and my protein of choice is meat. For a healthier option I like to use chicken Italian sausage which you can buy in bulk from Central Market. Usually all you need is 1/4 of a pound or less of the chicken sausage for each scramble. If you buy it in bulk then the ground chicken doesn't come in wrappers so all you have to do is brown it over medium heat. The ground chicken sausage is lower in fat than the pork sausage with all the same great flavor.


Step 3: Cook the eggs

I usually heat the pan over medium heat with olive oil before adding in 3 eggs. I let them cook a little before breaking the yolks to scramble them. I usually mix the eggs up just a few times to make sure they get cooked through, but don't cook them too long or they will get watery.

Step 4: Mix everything back together

Once the vegetables are done, add in two slices of fresh mozzarella that have been sliced into thin strips. The mozzarella will melt into the other ingredients, then add in the chicken sausage. Optional: add a little kosher salt and pepper or Hawaiian sea salt to the eggs before mixing everything in. Try to separate out some of the liquid that came from the vegetables and serve. I like to eat my scrambles with a piece of whole grain toast to sop up the flavor and to complete the meal with some carbs! You shouldn't need to add too much salt or pepper to anything because the chicken Italian sausage and the fresh mozzarella should add enough flavor to the dish.


Other options to spice up your scrambles are: make some instant pesto to mix in with the eggs or salsa and Mexican cheese. You really can't go wrong with this easy, delicious way to get a healthy start to your day.

-Kyle

Experimenting with the Tomatillo

Ever since moving up to Richmond Beach we’ve been fortunate to live so close to Central Market which is my new favorite place to go grocery shopping. Central Market has helped expand both Emi and my culinary expertise and has provided us with many delicious and affordable meals over the past few years. For those of you not familiar with Central Market it’s basically an affordable Metropolitan Market or Whole Foods. It has everything I’m looking for in a specialty grocer without the high cost. Emi loves checking out their impressive cheese section before we have people over for parties. The people working there are always very helpful and have given us some great recommendations. I also love Central Market’s homemade, fresh tortillas, amazing frozen pizza dough, and their produce.

In their produce section they always have a great variety of quality fresh fruits and vegetables. I’ve been trying to branch out and try new fruits and vegetables. Recently I stumbled upon the tomatillo. Many of us have had tomatillo salsa at Mexican restaurants, but probably few of us have actually tried cooking with the tomatillo. It’s a pretty cool fruit that looks like a green tomato. There is a difference in flavor and the tomatillo is surrounded by a paper-like husk.

Tomatillos at Central Market

Unhusked and husked tomatillos

I recently made a Bobby Flay recipe from Boy Meets Grill: Shredded Chicken and Tomatillo Tacos with Queso Fresco, that I wanted to share with everyone.

It was really fun and easy to make and I was happy because I was able to utilize my grill.

What you’ll need:

• 6 tomatillos, husked, washed, and grilled until blackened
• 1 serrano chili, grilled until blackened
• Olive oil
• ½ small red onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1 C chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 T honey
• 1 ½ C shredded rotisserie chicken (I prefer to use only the skinless breast meat)
• 8 blue corn tortillas (I used freshly made whole grain tortillas from Central Market)
• 1 C crumbled queso fresco

Directions:

• Preheat the grill to medium. Blacken the tomatillos and Serrano on the grill. Add the blackened tomatillos and Serrano to a small sauté pan and briefly sauté in a little olive oil on the grates of the grill.
• Place the tomatillos, Serrano, onion, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, and honey in a blender and blend until smooth. Place the tomatillo mixture in a large sauté pan and place on the grates of the grill. Bring the mixture to a simmer, add the chicken, and heat through.
• Place the tortillas on the grill, and grill for 20 seconds on each side. Spoon the chicken mixture into the tortillas and top with a few tablespoons of queso fresco. Fold the tortillas in half serve immediately.

Grilling the tomatillos and serrano on the grill

The completed shredded chicken and tomatillo sauce

Our guinea pig Pert eating the Shredded Chicken and Tomatillo Tacos with Queso Fresco and Emi’s homemade pico de gallo

This meal is really easy to make and I like how the recipe utilizes the grill for both blackening the tomatillos, but also for heating the rest of the mixture. The tomatillo sauce came out great and was tart, yet sweet with a great spicy after taste. The queso fresco was my favorite part of the meal. This awesome cheese will definitely be going on every taco I make from now on.

-Kyle