Chipotle Orange Chops

Day 104: “So Easy: Luscious, Healthy Recipes for Every Meal of the Week”

April 14, 2011

Pork did a great job in their marketing as whenever I think of pork, I say to myself in my head , “the other white meat”. Or is that just me? Pork is so versatile to cook with and it can be substituted with chicken in a pinch. Or buy the meat that is on sale and go with that. My favorite cut of pork is the thin cut chops as they cook in minutes and can be on your table in no time.

Ellie Krieger is the host of the cooking show Healthy Appetite. In this cookbook she takes recipes that can be made quickly but are still healthy for you and full of flavor. Many cookbooks try to deliver on these three areas, but she succeeds. She breaks the cookbook up into sections based on the amount of time that you have to prepare it. For example breakfast is divided into “at the ready” or “at leisure”. This is done not only with breakfast, but with lunch, dinner and desserts.

The Ruling: We made the chipotle orange chops and everyone ate them. Our family has a love affair with chipotle peppers, put it over liver and they would probably eat it. OK, I wont take it that far, but I do think that I could put it over most things and my family would be happy. These pork chops are no exception. Very similar in taste to our tried and true chipotle chicken tacos that we make on a weekly basis. I served these with slow cooker sweet potatoes as a side dish.

Chipotle Orange Glazed Pork Chops, page 135

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons thawed frozen orange juice concentrate
• 1 teaspoons finely chopped, seeded, canned chipotle chile plus 1/2 teaspoon adobo sauce it comes in
• cooking spray
• 4 3/4-inch thick center cut, bone-in pork loin chops (about 8 ounces each)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine the maple syrup, orange juice concentrate, and chipotle.
2. Spray a nonstick grill pan or grill with cooking spray and preheat over medium-high heat.
3. Sprinkle both sides of the chops with the salt. Brush one side of the chops generously with the maple-orange glaze. Place the chops on the grill pan, glazed-side down. Brush the other side with glaze. Cook over medium-high heat until cooked through but with a slight blush in the center, 3 to 4 minutes per side.

 

To Joyful, Simplified Living,

MS. Simplicity

MS. Simplicity, also known as Melissa Schmalenberger  operates her business as I Did it with MS. Simplicity.  She is a Professional Organizer based out of Fargo, ND and her website can be found at www.ididit-fargo.com .  Need to contact MS. Simplicity privately, you can email her at melissa@ididit-fargo.com.  For daily organizing tips find the MS. Simplicity fan page  here.

If you try any of my suggestions, I would love to hear from you.  It helps me to understand what my readers want me to write about and what they think is a waste of their time….thanks for taking the time to help me out.

Pistachio-Dusted Pork Chops

Day 78: “Ciao Italia: Five-Ingredient Favorites: Quick and Delicious Recipes from an Italian Kitchen’

March 19, 2011

Pistachios crusted on a pork chop….I never would have thought of that on my own.  I do love pistachios in my pesto instead of pine nuts, and I do love to eat pistachios plain, but I never thought to finely chop them and cover meat with them.  My grocery store use to carry them already shelled but they have been missing from the shelves as of late. I have been able to find them in my big box warehouse store already shelled as well. Doing a price comparison they cost about the same, so why not buy the shelled ones.  I should have made that extra trip to the big box warehouse as it took way to long to shell these as the recipes calls for 1 cup.

If you watch cooking shows on PBS you know who Mary Ann Esposito is.  She is the no-nonsense cook of Ciao Italia for as long as I can remember. Here her cookbook conquers quick meals with only five ingredients. She starts out the cookbook with a list of 5 ingredients that you should have in the pantry, 5 in the refrigerator and 5 in the freezer.  These are good lists to use when stocking your kitchen. With each chapter she then gives a little story about the subject matter and then gives tips.  For example, in the meat chapter she tells an interesting story of teaching a cooking class in Italy and when she asked for the leg of lamb, let’s just say there was more than a leg there! Her takeaway was how great things can taste when the ingredients are fresh, not plastic wrapped with a sell by date. Amen!

The Ruling: The pork chops tasted great. Youngest son scrapped the crust off his pork chop, just because he is weird I guess. I just shake my head and roll my eyes! Please try to buy the shelled pistachios as you will lose your mind trying to shell the 1 cup of nuts. Also use a food processor to grind your nuts, someone (who shall remain nameless) used a hand chopper and it took him a very long time to turn the nuts into dust. Let’s just say, he got all of his aggression out! May Ann does give a tip that when you brown pork chops to not be in a hurry. Great tip Mary Ann as my kitchen is always a little smokey when I am browning things as I tend to be in a hurry. I need to remember slow and steady!

Pistachio-Dusted Pork Chops, page 74

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup finely minced fresh rosemary leaves
• fine sea salt and black pepper (she doesn’t count these in her 5)
• 4 bone-in loin pork chops
• 1 cup natural pistachio nuts, shelled, ground to a powder
• olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl with the rosemary, salt, and a grinding of black pepper.
3. Coat each chop in the pistachio dust and set aside.
4. Heat the olive oil in a stovetop-to-oven saute pan large enough to hold the chops without crowding them.
5. Brown the chops quickly on both sides, then slide the pan into a 350 degree F oven, and bake them until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F. Serve hot.

To Joyful, Simplified Living,

MS. Simplicity

MS. Simplicity, also known as Melissa Schmalenberger  operates her business as I Did it with MS. Simplicity.  She is a Professional Organizer based out of Fargo, ND and her website can be found at www.ididit-fargo.com .  Need to contact MS. Simplicity privately, you can email her at melissa@ididit-fargo.com.  For daily organizing tips find the MS. Simplicity fan page  here.

 If you try any of my suggestions, I would love to hear from you.  It helps me to understand what my readers want me to write about and what they think is a waste of their time….thanks for taking the time to help me out.

Thai-Spiced Loin Chops

Day 74: “The Culinary Institute of America’s Gourmet Meals in Minutes”

March 15, 2011

So continues my week of quick and fast meals.  Who wants to stand in a kitchen cooking in the evenings? Give me something that takes little prep time so that I can do more important things, like talk to my family.  The other option that I am thinking for are meals that can be quickly put together and get on the table quickly once everyone walks in the door at night.  My quest of those perfect combinations is never-ending once you put in the added level of difficulty of 2 fussy eaters.  But I am not daunted by this task and I continue!

I love cookbooks by the Culinary Institute of America!  I find them to be well photographed and full of information. Not just information about the recipe, but they try to teach you some great cooking skills as well. Like tips on quick cooking methods for meats. Or how about baking fish inside a parchment paper shaped as a heart called en papillote. I promise anyone could make this, but where to find the cleriac is the only thing that stumps me about that particular recipe.  You will not be disappointed in the wide array of selections and the lovely photos contained in this cookbook.

The Ruling: Everyone ate it!  Very few ingredients and we simply used our lovely George Foreman grill to give it a quick cooking.  I do like to use thin pork chops because the cooking time is shorter and I am always guaranteed a cooked pork chop. It took me a while to find the hot-sweet mustard in the grocery store….but it was right where it should be…with the mustards.  We even had the Thai red curry paste from a recipe that I prepared with noodles. So if you buy the Thai red curry paste, make both of these recipes to use up the bottle.

Thai-Spiced Loin Chops, page 161

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds boneless center-cut pork loin chops, 1/2 inch thick, trimmed of fat
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
• 2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
• Cilantro sprigs, as needed
• 1/2 cup hot-sweet mustard, prepared

Directions:

1. Lightly oil the grill and preheat to high heat. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper. SPread 1/4 teaspoon of the curry paste on each side of each chop.
2. Place the pork chops on the hot grill. Cook, turning once, until pork is done, about 3-3 1/2 minutes per side.
3. Garnish the pork chops with cilantro sprigs. Serve with the hot-sweet mustard.

To Joyful, Simplified Living,

MS. Simplicity

MS. Simplicity, also known as Melissa Schmalenberger  operates her business as I Did it with MS. Simplicity.  She is a Professional Organizer based out of Fargo, ND and her website can be found at www.ididit-fargo.com .  Need to contact MS. Simplicity privately, you can email her at melissa@ididit-fargo.com.  For daily organizing tips find the MS. Simplicity fan page  here.

If you try any of my suggestions, I would love to hear from you.  It helps me to understand what my readers want me to write about and what they think is a waste of their time….thanks for taking the time to help me out.