Rosemary rubbed pork chops

Pillaged the herb garden at my parent's townhouse balcony for a quick and easy rub for searing pork chops.

The rub contained chopped rosemary, brown sugar, salt, black pepper, and a tiny bit of cumin. Brined chops seared for 5 minutes per side, quick pan sauce with some wine for deglazing and flour for thickening. Yum!



Paired along with some roasted broccoli and brussel sprouts.

Pork chops revisited

This time with roasted garlic polenta! Now it's a complete meal.

Pork chops and caramelized onions

I love pork chops, but they are REALLY easy to overcook, and then only applesauce can save them. This is an easy dinner, though you need the right tools to pull this off.

Caramelized onions:
Really easy if you know what you're doing. Use more onions than you think, because they cook down to nothing. Cut onion into rounds, place into non-stick pan with olive oil over low heat. The key to this is low and slow. 20-30 minutes, just keep it moist with wine when it looks dry. Salt and pepper at the end. Don't add sugar, it just gets gummy.

Pork chop (bone in, thick cut, organic preferred):
1) Brine the chop (I like a sweet/vinegary brine for pork. Try a fist full of salt, a gallon of cold water, a tablespoon of brown sugar, a splash of rice vinegar, and bunch of pepper corns - 2 hours tops)
2) Heat pan (ovenproof, cast iron if possible) over medium flame. Preheat oven to 350
3) Drain the chop. Pat dry with paper towels.
4) Oil the chop, NOT the pan (something with a high smoke point, like canola or peanut). Salt and pepper lightly
5) Sear about 3 minutes on each side, until you get a good crust. I like to add butter or oil to the pan right when the pork starts to keep it from sticking and smoking.
6) When you get a good sear, put the whole pan in the oven for about 5 minutes or until you get internal temp of around 155 near the bone.
7) Remove from oven and pan, let rest on cutting board with foil tent.

Pair with a bright red wine and some pasta or fennel salad. You have now made a dish that costs $25 at a nice restaurant for about $5!

Dancing Sausages

Down in Sarasota, Rich tries to make us breakfast, with an interesting revelation.

First time I've tried this, but here is a video:

Sausage and pepper pasta

Grab bag of peppers from Reading Terminal Market: $1
1lb sausage (from a bigger 5lb package): $0.89
Whole wheat pasta: $1.50
Onion: $0.25
Garlic: $0.05
Meals for the next 3 days: Priceless

Sausage pasta

This is my first post from my new apartment in Philadelphia. New kitchen, same toys, and this is one of my go-to recipes.

So this is your basic tomato sauce. Brown meat, sweat onions, add garlic, deglaze, add tomatoes, mushrooms and simmer. Bam. Dinner and lunch for a few days with no hassle.

Char siew - Chinese barbecued pork

This was a recipe I'd been trying to get right for a while. Usually, it's not worth making yourself because the char siew from the local market is excellent in most cases and cheap enough. But I'm not living in a place where I can get it that easily, so I had to make it myself. A mixture of burnt edges, sweet tang, and partially rendered fat make this dish a winner. Throw in some chinese broccoli (kai lan) on the side and it's almost like I'm back in Chinatown or Singapore.

This is going to be my style of "recipe". Remember, this is mostly by feel, mostly by experimentation.

1. Stab strips of fatty pork butt all over with a fork
   
2. Marinate in a mixture of hoisin, rice wine, ketchup, garlic, ginger, white pepper, five spice powder (ESSENTIAL for the right taste)
3. Throw on a rack in a 450 degree oven for about 45 minutes to an hour, turning twice and brushing on leftover marinade. Look for black charring on the edges. Don't worry, it's not burnt, it tastes amazing....