Pork Chops with Nectarine Relish

I mentioned that I was going to make this and everyone oohed and aahed.  So I thought I’d better write about it.

I found this recipe on the Food & Wine website.  It’s a Bobby Flay recipe.  I’ve altered a little, because we don’t eat pine nuts in our house.  And I just chop up all the ingredients fairly small, so my pictures look a lot different than his do. I also cut the recipe way down because there are only two of us.

adapted from FoodandWine.com

Ingredients:

Two 6-ounce center-cut boneless pork chops, about 1 inch thick
Olive oil, for brushing
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 firm nectarines, halved and pitted
1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/2 tablespoon shredded basil

Directions:

- Light a grill.
- Brush the chops with oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Grill the chops over high heat, turning once, until cooked through, 10 to 11 minutes.
- Transfer to a plate; let rest for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, brush the nectarines with olive oil and grill cut side down until browned, about 3 minutes. Turn and grill until charred and softened, about 2 minutes longer; cut into 1/2-inch dice.
- Put the nectarines in a bowl and stir in the vinegar and honey. Add the onion and basil and season with salt and pepper.
- Serve the pork chops topped with the relish.

 

Meme Mosaic

I was tagged for a meme a little while back by The GlutenFree CaseinFree Experience.  I didn’t respond then because I just couldn’t come up with much to say.  But then I was browsing random food blogs yesterday (we all do that, right?) and came across this idea for a “meme mosaic.” 

Here’s how it works:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab’s mosaic maker.

Questions:
1. What is your first name? [Karen]
2. What is your favorite food? (this changes often, so it’s hard to say) [Scallops]
3. What high school did you go to? [Nauset]
4. What is your favorite color? [Green]
5. Who is your celebrity crush? (I’m going with sports here) [Dustin Pedroia]
6. Favorite drink? [Port]
7. Dream vacation? [Tuscany, Italy]
8. Favorite dessert? [Creme Brulee]
9. What you want to be when you grow up? [Relaxed]
10. What do you love most in life?  (it said “what” not “who”, so…) [Cooking for others]
11. One Word to describe you.  [True]
12. Your flickr name. [Kieferwilson]

(Now, nothing turned up when I put in “kieferwilson”, so I split that into two words for the search.)

It’s amazing the odd things a Flickr search turns up.  But it results in a cool mosaic, don’t you think?

 

Menu Plan Monday, August 18, 2008

This week’s menu swap is being hosted by Mary Frances at Gluten Free Cooking School.  Check out her site for the weekly roundup.

This week going to be one of those “plan to be unplanned” weeks for me.  I got the ingredients for certain meals, I just don’t know when I’ll make them.  I have too much going on.  Monday, I have to go out of town for work and will be getting back late.  Wednesday, my husband’s office is having a “field trip” to a AA ballgame and I’m going too, and so I don’t know if we’ll go out to eat after that or come home.  Thursday, I start band practice and have to eat early and quickly.  (Yes, that’s right, I’m joining a band.  A concert band.  I play the clarinet.  Okay, I played the clarinet about 12 years ago and am just now taking it back up.)

 

Sunday:
Grilled Steak
Caprese Salad
(We are required to eat tomatoes at every meal - we have so many!)

Ideas for the Rest of the Week:

Grilled Pork Chop with Nectarine Relish

Pizza Margarita 

Butter Beans with Tomatoes and Chorizo (recipe to follow)
Arepas
(I’ll have to check out the new Mexican market that went in near me.)

Pasta with Fresh Pesto

And I’m sure we will go out to dinner at least once.

 

Salmon with Tomatoes

What do you do when you have a deluge of grape tomatoes? You start eating that with every meal. I happened to see this recipe in this month’s Food & Wine Magazine, and salmon was on sale this week. So it was perfect!

Pan-Roasted Salmon with Tomato Vinaigrette

 

Food & Wine Magazine, September 2008
Serves 4
(I cut the recipe in half)

Ingredients:

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon drained capers
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Salt
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 center-cut salmon fillets with skin (about 7 ounces each)
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1 tablespoon chopped basil

Directions:

- Preheat the oven to 425°.
- In a bowl, toss the tomatoes with the shallot, capers, vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
- In a medium ovenproof skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Season the salmon with salt and pepper and add it to the skillet, skin side up. Cook over moderately high heat until well-browned on the bottom, about 3 minutes. Carefully flip the fillets. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast until the salmon is cooked through, about 7 minutes.
- Transfer the fish to plates and pour off any fat in the skillet.
- Place the skillet over moderate heat and add the tomato mixture along with the cumin, canola oil and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Cook, scraping up any bits stuck to the skillet, until the tomatoes just soften, about 2 minutes. (I just left the remaining oil in the pan and did not add any new oil; worked just fine.)
- Pour the sauce over the salmon, sprinkle with the parsley and basil and serve right away.

 

Easy Sweet and Sour Chicken

In honor of the Olympics, I thought I’d make the American version of Chinese food. (I doubt this could be called actual Chinese food.) Since it’s hard to eat this out in a restaurant, I’ve been making it more at home. I usually make my version of General Tso’s Chicken, and have recently tried Natalie’s Sesame Chicken (it’s really good).  This is another simple recipe that can be make with either chicken or shrimp (or tofu or just vegetables).

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients:

1 pound chicken breast
1 teaspoon ginger, chopped
1 egg white
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 green (or red) bell pepper
2-4 carrots
12 oz can of pineapple chunks

Sauce:
2 teaspoons sherry
2 teaspoons light gf soy sauce
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

- Cut up the chicken into bite-sized chunks.
- Combine ginger, egg white, about 1/2 teaspoon each salt and cornstarch, and about 1 teaspoon oil.
- Add chicken and stir until well-coated.
- Cut pepper into strips about 1 x 1/4 inches.
- Cut carrots diagonally into thin slices.
- Drain pineapple, saving 1/2 cup of the juice.
- Prepare sauce by mixing sherry, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, reserved pineapple juice, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, and 1 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
- Heat about 3 tablespoons of oil in wok or deep cast iron pan (peanut oil is recommended because of high smoking point).
- Stir-fry chicken in small batches, stirring continuously until golden brown. Remove to dish. Repeat until all chicken is done.
- Heat about 1 tablespoon of oil in empty wok. Stir-fry carrots and green pepper for about a minute or two.
- Add chicken and pineapple chunks. Stir 1 minute or until well-mixed and re-heated.
- Add sauce to wok and stir until thickened.
- Serve with rice.

 

Menu Plan Monday, August 11, 2008

This week’s menu swap is being brought to you by Jyesika at Wheatstate Celiac.  Please bear with her, she is having some technical difficulties, but does now have up the round-up of all the great menus from everyone.  She chose Tofu as her ingredient.  I’ll let everyone else tackle that.  First, I never was much of a fan.  Second, I suspect that high concentrations of soy don’t really agree with me.  I seem okay with things like gf soy sauce, but not things like soy milk on cereal.

I’m not sure this really will be the menu for the week, but it’s apt to be close. Just maybe not in this order. [edit: as of Monday at 5:30 p.m., I have already changed the order around. oh well!]

 
Sunday:
Pizza

Monday:
Grilled Lamb
Potatoes
Salad

Tuesday:
either leftovers or soup out of a can
(I’m volunteering at another cooking class)

Wednesday:
Out to dinner?

Thursday:
Sweet and Sour Chicken (recipe to follow)
Snow Peas
Rice

Friday:
Tacos with Ground Turkey
Cheese, Pico de Gallo, Lettuce, Salsa