Pork Chops au Poivre

This was a new recipe for pork chops - simple cooking process, tasty sauce. I'll make this again.

Pork Chops au Poivre
(Eating Well magazine, Feb 09)
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt, divided

4 4-oz boneless pork chops, 1/2" thick, trimmed

3 TBS all-purpose flour

2 TBS olive oil

1 medium shallot, minced

1/2 C brandy

1/4 C sour cream

1.) Combine pepper and 1/4 tsp. salt in a small bowl. Pat the mixture onto both sides of each pork chop.
Place flour in a shallow dish and dredge the chops, shaking off any excess.

2.) Heat oil in a large skillet over med-hi heat. Add the chops, reduce heat to medium and cook until browned and just cooked through, 2-3 minutes per side.

Transfer to a plate and tent w/ foil to keep warm.

Here is the minced shallot - a small, mild onion. The one I used was about the size of a golf ball.

3.) Reduce heat to med-low. Add shallot to the pan and cook, stirring until softened, about 1 minute.

Add brandy and cook, stirring and scraping up any browned bits, until most of the liquid has evaporated, 1-2 minutes.

Here it is just after adding the liquid:

After reducing by about half:Remove from heat, stir in sour cream and remaining 1/4 tsp of salt.

Serve the pork chops with the sauce.

Per serving: 299 calories, 15 g fat, 3 g carbs

These were served with roasted sweet potato slices and steamed broccoli.

I simply washed the sweet potato and sliced about 1/2" thick, put them in a zipper bag with a TBS or so of olive oil, a little salt, and a little pepper. Seal the bag and smoosh them all around so every slice gets oil and seasoning. Then I put them in a 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes. This is about the only way I like sweet potatoes. They went great with the chops!
For the broccoli, I used a zip 'n steam bag in the microwave.

To make this a "cook ahead" or "freezer" dish, here's what I'd do: cook the pork chops as directed, cool, and bag. Make the sauce as directed, but do not add the sour cream. Bag the sauce mixture with the chops. When you're ready to serve the meal, thaw everything and warm the chops in the oven (only enough to heat them through). Heat the sauce mixture, then add the sour cream before serving.

There was one "oops", when I made this. I thought I had a bottle of brandy in the cupboard, but when I went to gather my ingredients this afternoon, there wasn't one. Greg stopped at the liquor store on the way home and got me what I call a "little airplane bottle" of brandy. I was thinking I only needed 2 TBS. so I only had him get one. I should have had two. So the brandy got watered down a little to make 1/2 cup. The sauce will be even better next time when I use the correct amount of booze. :o)

*Tonight's prep for tomorrow's supper: soak beans, thaw roast*

The Meal of Love, Kinda

I had already purchased the ribeye steaks to cook for Valentine's Day before Pioneer Woman posted her four-part "Meal of Love" tutorial on her cooking blog. I hadn't planned on the garlic mashed potatoes, but she reminded me of our love for them, so that's what I made.

We did not, however, pan-fry the steaks. Just couldn't do it. So Greg went outside in the 18 degrees (above zero, though) weather and grilled those babies. I just sprinkled them with a little Lawry's. I also sauteed half a pound of mushrooms (wiped clean, sliced thick) to put on top.

[I never used to want any seasoning or topping on my grilled meat (except burgers, of course), but thanks to my new best friends Tyler Florence (I wish he'd come cook for me, I wish he'd come cook for me, I wish he'd come cook for me - I said it three times, think it'll come true?), and Alton Brown (Greg's hero), I know now that seasoning is not evil. Seasoning is good - over-seasoning is not, and we won't discuss how I know this...]

So I made the garlic mashed potatoes - roasted three heads of garlic in the oven, used real butter and fat-free half and half, oh, and some salt. Seasoning potatoes is a good thing, too. Who knew?

This photo doesn't show the salad or the wine. Just a regular salad. The wine was a Merlot-Cabernet blend from Columbia Crest Winery in Paterson, WA, very near the wineries we visited while on vacation in Seattle. It was just dry enough for Greg, and not too dry for me, and really went well with the steaks.

The photo does show the whole grain ciabatta roll - we like the "take and bake" type from the grocery store bakery section. We just tear it up and then dip in a little olive oil with fresh-cracked black pepper. Good and good for you.

So that was it - our own little "meal of love". We didn't do dessert since we went to the movie and Greg had popcorn. :o)

sweet potatoes

I really don't like canned sweet potatoes made into that sweet, gooey, marshmallow casserole so popular at Thanksgiving. I never have. Greg likes it, though, so his mom often provides that once-a-year treat for him. Since I have never liked sweet potatoes made this way, I never made any kind of sweet potatoes until I'd been married a few years and Greg bought a fresh one at the store. He asked me to just bake it like a regular white potato. I still wasn't convinced. It took a few more years before I tried it that way, and it wasn't too bad. Then a few years ago we started grilling vegetables and sliced rounds of sweet potatoes were one of our choices. I liked them that way, too. I still don't eat them very often, but when I find a recipe that looks tasty, without any augmentation of the sugar load, I'll try it.

I made this recipe for supper on Monday evening. Served it with grilled turkey mignons and steamed fresh broccoli. It smelled good the minute I put it in the oven and I actually looked forward to tasting the end result. I was not disappointed. (Comments in the recipe come from Kalyn. Her blog is where I got this recipe.)

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Red Onions, Rosemary, and Parmesan

(Makes 4 servings, slightly adapted from Bon Appetit, November 2002)

4 large or 6 medium tan-fleshed sweet potatoes (white skin)

3 medium red onions

3 T olive oil

2 T finely chopped fresh rosemary, divided (if you only have dried rosemary use less and make sure it's finely chopped)

1 tsp. salt

fresh ground black pepper to taste

1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

2-3 T chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 F and cover a flat roasting pan with foil, then spray foil with non-stick spray or mist with olive oil.
Peel potatoes and remove skin from onions. (Sweet potatoes could also probably be left unpeeled, but I did peel them.) Cut sweet potatoes and onions into same-size pieces about 1 inch square. Place in plastic bowl and toss with olive oil, 1 T chopped rosemary, salt or sea salt, and fresh ground black pepper. Arrange in single layer on roasting pan and roast until vegetables are cooked through and slightly browned, about 45 minutes or longer. (I actually roasted my sweet potatoes and onions in the photo for about exactly an hour, but I like them a little crisp and well-browned.)
Combine fresh-grated parmesan and finely chopped rosemary in small bowl. Remove vegetables from oven and toss with parmesan-rosemary mixture. Serve hot, sprinkled with fresh parsley if desired.

[My comments: I used yams. We just don't get "sweet potatoes" here very often. I also used fresh rosemary, but skipped the parsley. Greg really liked this.]