Pork Chops with Purple Mustard Pan Sauce

We seasoned some thin, bone-in pork chops with salt, pepper, thyme, and a little dried mustard and wrapped them individually and very tightly in plastic wrap and let them sit around the refrigerator for a couple of hours before they were to meet the site of their impending doom - my sauté pan.

Heat pan, throw in a little olive oil, and in they go... these were thin and cooked pretty quickly, about 4 minutes on each side. Once removed, it's Purple Mustard Pan Sauce time! Deglaze with red wine (the purple part) and scrape up the seasoned bits that easily come off the enamel in the pan. Then add a couple tbls of dijon mustard and a little butter and stir to combine. Let it cook down a little bit and you're ready to pour it on yer chops. Easy and delicious!

What to have with the pork chops? Edamame! Why not? One of us is a HUGE fan (her) and the other is not quite as fond of the little soy bean pods (him), but she puts up with him alot, so he owes her... And it IS fun popping the little beans out of their pod... We had a frozen pack (that had been previously parboiled) so we just boiled them in very salty water for 6 minutes and then seasoned them with salt and pepper and some other stuff. They were pretty good!

As usual, we made roasted sweet potatoes to go with our pork, which we've described a few times now (cut them up, season and oil them, 400-degree oven for ~30 minutes, eat). Having this easy recipe in your repertoire comes in very handy and is a good alternative starch to potatoes/rice/pasta - again, check out some nutritional info on good carbs here...

Yum!

Paella

A few years ago, we were shopping for a set of pots-n-pans to help with our burgeoning cooking habit, and we ended up going with a non-stick calphalon set from Williams and Sonoma. It was on sale that week and we had some gift certs, so we'd be getting a nice set for not much money. Over the past 3 or 4 years since that purchase, the set has served us well - we've used the sauce pan and big saute pan maybe hundreds of times, those two pieces are up for replacement.

When the box containing the set was brought up to the register and our gift cards were strewn all over the counter, we noticed an auxillary box was with our set. "We didn't want to buy that thing," we noted. "Oh, that comes with this set for this week only," came the reply. So we looked at the long, wide, flat box and read what it contained: 16" Paella Pan. And we thought.... "hmmmm... paella!??!?!"

The pan ended up being a great introduction to paella for us - we now make it pretty regularily. We also use the pan for sautéing big orders, like browning 8 or more chicken pieces and large-quantity stuff like that. This is a BIG non-stick pan with a BIG lid...


Paella is one of those dishes that is (relatively) easy to make - yet looks, smells, and tastes like a culinary masterpiece. It is a one-pan show, yet includes chicken, veggies, rice, shrimp, and a wonderful browned/burnt crust called Soccorat (spelling?). Originally, paella was the name of the pan that the dish was made in, now they've renamed the pan and left the name paella for the dish!

We procured a variety pack of cut up chicken - 3 wings, 3 drumsticks, 3 thighs - that we salt and peppered and sprinked with a little paprika. When your big pan (paella pan or just the biggest one you got!) is hot, add some olive oil and then add the seasoned chicken and brown on both sides, then remove.

Next, in goes 1/2 a big green pepper and 1/2 a big red pepper chopped up. Get those going for a couple minutes then add a large onion chopped.

Go, veggies, go!


While those are getting cooked - 4 or 5 minutes - slice up some chorizo sausage which is going to add most of the flavor. We use two big links... nicely chopped/shredded. Throw in the chopped chorizo and brown and stir together with the veggies.

Since we use brown rice that takes longer than recommended rice, we started that in chicken stock a side pot and let that have about 20 minutes start on it's own. When the veggies and chorizo are browned, add the rice with the stock into the big pan, nestle the chicken back down in there, cover and cook for about 1/2 hour.

After that 1/2 hour, add about a cup of frozen peas and stir them in, then add in your shrimp in and make sure they are pressed down into the liquid... See how much liquid you have left, if you've got none, add a little. If you have too much, try and use a baster or a ladel to remove some.


Now, turn up the heat a little and remove the cover to finish. The shrimp will cook in the liquid and the heat will give the rice at the bottom that crusty "soccorat" finish which comes out so carmelized and delicious.

Try to use a big spatula to serve "slices" of the whole mixture, it will come off kind of intact if you have a nice toasted bottom...

Delicious! The tastes of the chorizo and dark-meat chicken and shrimp (next time we're adding clams, too!) mixed with the rice and veggies - so good! Easy but still fantastic!

Weekend Cat Blogging

We have two cats that probably should be named Yin and Yang - because they are polar opposites of each other. Cat number one is pure evil-genius, he dislikes everyone except his mom (he tolerates his dad, even though dad always teases him), he is very vocal and very bold. Cat number two is pure goodness, all-loving, barely makes a peep (in fact, he does "peep" instead of meow) and can be very shy. Yin and Yang! Can you tell who is who?

Bacchus lounging - he thinks he's pretty:


Osiris always finds the sun:


Careful or you'll step on him, he's camouflaged:




Bacchus up close:


Yin and Yang:

Shrimp Fajitas

We keep a two-pound bag of frozen easy-peel shrimp on hand at all times - just in case! - so thursday evening we pulled a couple of handfulls out and let them defrost in the refrigerator overnight. We knew that on friday evening we'd employ the trusty grill pan and whip up some easy, delicious SHRIMP FAJITAS - YEA!!!!!!!
Peel the shrimp (these are already de-turded and broken open on the back, so it is easy) and then we de-vein them too. I guess you don't need to do remove the vein but - let's go the extra mile, shall we? With a tiny-bladed knife, it's easy to slice down and pull that thing out and just wipe onto a paper towel. Alright, yeah, it isn't fun, but it's worth it.

We don't have an outdoor grill yet, having just moved to a house with a porch a few months ago from a completely "landlocked" apartment in the city, so we use our Calphalon grill pan, which is the next best thing. (If you just have a regular sauté pan, hey - you get a great fajita that way, too...) Slice up a big green pepper and throw into a plastic bowl (with a cover) with a fajita-seasoning combo of cumin, chili powder, salt, red pepper and a little olive oil to get the seasoning spread all over the pepper slices. Put the top on and shake shake shake and then right onto the hot grill pan (medium-high heat).

As one of us tosses those peppers, the other slices an onion and into the bowl it goes for it's seasoning and shaking... after a few minutes head start, push the peppers to one half of the pan and add the seasoned onions to the other half. Toss and cook both sides and get those peeled shrimp into the bowl as the last contestant on Season and Shake!

The shrimp won't take but a couple minutes on the grill pan, so get your accoutrements ready - throw whole wheat tortillas on a plate covered with wrap into the microwave for 45 seconds. We like a little shredded mexican cheese, some sour cream and some salsa over the top. Get all that out and when you're about ready, add the shrimp to the grill. Let those cook on one side for 2-3 minutes, flip and do it again and you're ready. Just scoop a layer of peppers and onions onto a tortilla wrap, then 4 or 5 shrimp (ours are LARGE), then a little cheese, a dollop of sour cream and some salsa, roll it up like a cigar and enjoy hot!

Crack a beer and turn on the basketball tourney and away we go!

Til next time...

~El Cocinero de Boston

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