Grilled Pork Chops and Spanish Rice

Lots of things going on and changing for us.  We are being smarter with leftovers too... meaning there's not necessarily a big show of a meal as often.  Part of it is because I'm working now and I don't want to be eating dinner at 8pm when I have to be up before 5am the next day!

We had a pretty good weekend, despite the cold windy weather last weekend.  Friday night we caught the Idaho Steelheads' Kelly Cup playoff game and Saturday we played in the 13th Annual Snake River Rugby Golf Scramble.  It was freezing, but fun.  Sunday we had time to make a delicious dinner and I couldn't have been happier.

Chuck made a homemade dry rub for some bone-in pork chops and homemade Spanish rice.  We also had Gazpacho Salad, which I've posted before.

Dry Rubbed Bone-In Grilled Pork Chops

Ingredients:

     2 lg          Bone-in pork chops
     1 t            Chili Powder
     1 t            Cumin
     1 t            Cayenne Pepper
     1 t            Kosher Salt
     1 t            Black pepper

Directions:

     1:     Combine the chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.

     2:     Coat the pork chops in the spice mixture and refrigerate until 1/2 hour prior to 
                      cooking.

     3:     Grill chops to preferred doneness.

Spanish Rice

Ingredients:

     1 c.           Basmati rice
     1/2           Onion, diced
     1               Red Bell Pepper
     1               Poblano Pepper
     1               Garlic clove
     1               Chayote (it's kind of like a squash.potato, pictured below)
     15 oz can Diced tomatoes, with juice
     1 1/4c.      Chicken broth
     1 t             Smoked Paprika
     1 T            Sugar
                      Crushed Red Pepper Flakes, to taste
                      Kosher salt
                      Ground black pepper
                      Olive oil
                      Fresh Cilantro

 Directions:

     1:     Drizzle red bell and poblano peppers with olive oil and rub to coat.  Sprinkle with 
                   salt and pepper and grill. Tip from Chuck:  This adds smokiness and gets rid of 
                   the crunch.  Once the peppers have a nice char and the skin begins to break, 
                   remove from the grill and place in a bowl, covered, and let sit for about 10 
                   minutes.

      2:     Add a drizzle of olive oil to a large frying pan over medium heat.  Add onions with a 
                    pinch of salt and pepper.  Once softened, add the chayote with another pinch of 
                    salt and pepper along with the paprika.

     3:     After the peppers have sweated for their 10 minutes, the skin should easily peel off.  
                    Remove the seeds, dice the peppers and add to the pan.

  
     4:     Add the tomatoes, garlic, rice, sugar, and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Stir together.

     5:     Stir in the chicken stock, cover, bring to a simmer then reduce heat and let cook for 
                     about 20 minutes. Tip from Chuck:  If the rice starts to dry out toward the end of 
                     cooking, you can add additional chicken broth.

  We had plenty of leftovers!  Monday night Chuck sliced up the leftover pork and had it on chibatta bread as open-faced sandwiches!

Honey Glazed Ham on Sweet Potato Biscuits

I had planned on posting this on Monday.  It's Friday.  Whoops!  It's been a busy but great week! 

We had these for Easter Brunch.  They took some preparation but it was quite the flavor combo and completely worth it... I thought.  Still, it was Chuck that was cooking while I was just there for moral support and record keeping.

This is not a recipe that either of us thought up on our own.  We saw it on Food Network's "Sandwich King" and thought it would be perfect. Here's the link to his recipe.  We can't take credit for the recipe but Chuck can definitely take credit for the execution!

We used a Hormel Quarter Honey Ham.  It was already sliced and Chuck placed it, and all of its juices in a pan over low heat, covered.  Letting it sit while you put together the biscuits and bake them will warm it up perfectly for this delicious breakfast sandwich.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Ingredients:

     1 lb                  Sweet potatoes
     2 T                  Buttermilk
     1/4 t               Ground nutmeg
                             Kosher salt
                             Fresh cracked black pepper
     2 1/2 c.           All purpose Flour
     3 T                  Brown sugar
     1 1/2 t            Baking soda
     1 1/2 sticks   Butter, divided

Directions:

     1:     Preheat oven to 375 degrees, poke some holes in the yams, place them on a lined 
                  baking sheet and bake for 75 minutes.  Remove from oven, peel, mash and 
                  refrigerate overnight.

     2:     Remove yams from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for about an 
                  hour.
     3:     Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a mixing bowl (we used the one that already had the 
                  yams in it), combine the yams, buttermilk, nutmeg, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of 
                  pepper.

     4:     In another mixing bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, and another pinch of salt and 
                  pepper.

     5:     Cube one stick of butter and make sure it is very cold (we stuck it in the freezer for a 
                  few minutes).

     6:     Cut in butter to dry ingredients until it is in pea sized pieces, being careful not to 
                  handle too much.  Fold in the sweet potatoes.

     7:     Place your dough onto a floured surface and press to 3/4" thick.  Cut into biscuits 
                  and place in a seasoned and lightly oiled cast iron skillet.

  

     8:     Melt remaining 1/2 stick of butter and brush the top of the biscuits with the melted 
                  butter.  Bake for 15-18 minutes.

While those are baking, make the sauce to put on these little gems. 

Blackberry Balsamic Drizzle

Ingredients:

     12 oz.       Blackberry preserves (if you get the seedless kind you won't have to strain the 
                                                              sauce!)
     1/2 c.        Balsamic vinegar
     1/4 c.        Yellow mustard
     1/2           Habenero pepper, seeds and ribs removed (or a whole jalapeno)
     1 t             Pepper
                      Kosher salt

Directions:

     1:     Place all ingredients in a sauce pan and warm over low heat.

     2:     Once warm, whisk together and bring to a simmer and let reduce.

Easy, huh? 

Assemble the sandwiches by drizzling the balckberry sauce on the biscuits and add some ham.  The Sandwich King recommends adding arugula.

We ate these with hard boiled eggs that we had dyed the night before.  Yes, that's a Michigan State "S."

We were surprised to find that the Easter Bunny had visited overnight!

Hearty Healthy Meatball and Mash

Monday night's dinner was a hit!  It was an experiment, took some improvising, and approaches were changed along the way.  The final product was delicious, filling, and (my favorite) healthy.  This dinner was so good, in fact, that Chuck, who never eats the same thing two nights in a row and doesn't like leftovers, had it again last night for dinner and couldn't stop complimenting it.

The idea behind it was to have something hearty, filling, but not heavy.  He nailed it.  His favorite part was the light and airy-ness.  I'm going to break it down into the three separate components: turkey meat balls, portobello red wine sauce, and mashed cauliflower.

Turkey Meatballs

Ingredients:

     20 oz.           Ground turkey (93/7)
     2                    Eggs
     3 slices         White bread, crust removed
     1/2 c.            Panko Bread crumbs
     1 t                  Orange zest
     1 T                 Orange juice
     1 t                  Dried thyme
     1 t                  Dried minced onion
     8-10 leaves  Sage, chopped
     1/2 c.            2% milk
                           Kosher salt
                           Fresh cracked pepper
                           Olive oil 

Directions:
  
     1:     Place the turkey in a mixing bowl.  Add 1 T Kosher salt, 1 t fresh cracked pepper, 
                        drizzle of olive oil, eggs, orange zest and juice, thyme, minced onion, and sage.  
                        Lay the pieces or bread across the top the of the ingredients and pour the milk 
                        over the bread.  Gently fold all of the ingredients together until they are 
                        combined.  Add the bread crumbs.  Tip from Chuck:  General rule of thumb is 
                        one egg per pound of meat, he increased to two eggs because of the extra 4 oz 
                        of meat we were using.  Had planned on only using two slices of bread and no 
                        bread crumbs but the turkey was so moist it would hold its shape.  The extra 
                        egg did create a much lighter meatball but you can experiment with one egg 
                        and less bread/breadcrumbs.  Just don't over handle your meat or it will get 
                        tough.

     2:     Form into 2" meatballs.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

  
     3:     Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.  Add a single layer of 
                        meatballs and brown each side.  Once all of the sides are brown, place them on 
                        a baking sheet lined with non-stick foil and place into the oven, preheated to 
                        300 degrees F. Don't throw our your drippings, save them for the sauce! Tip 
                        from Chuck: You might need to brown the meatballs in two batches, we did.

 
     4:     Remove meatballs from the oven when their internal temperature reaches 165 
                       degrees F.

Red Wine Portobello Sauce

Ingredients:

     2 T        Flour
     2 T        Butter
     1 T        Olive Oil 
     1            Shallot, minced
     8 oz      Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
     1/4 c.   Red wine (we used Ruffino Chianti)
     2 c.       Beef broth
     1 T        Sage, chopped

Directions:

     1:     After the meatballs have been removed from the pan, add the butter and olive oil to 
                      the pan. Tip from Chuck:  The olive oil will prevent the butter from burning.  
                      Stir in the flour.

     2:     Add the shallot to allow to soften as the flour cooks out of the roux.  Once this cooks 
                      for a few minutes, add the mushrooms.  Tip from Chuck:  Initially it will look 
                      like it's really drying the sauce out but as the mushrooms cook, they will add 
                      plenty of moisture to the mix.

     3:     After the mushrooms have cooked for a couple of minutes, add the wine to deglaze 
                      the pan and allow to simmer for a couple of minutes.

     4:     Add the beef broth , simmer for a few more minutes and then stir in the sage.

Mashed Cauliflower

Ingredients:

     5 c.        Cauliflower, cut into bite sized florets
     1 c.        Beef broth
     1 c.        Water
     1 T         Kosher salt
     1 t          Pepper
     1 T         Chives, chopped
     1 T         Butter
     2 T        Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Directions:

     1:     Add the first 5 ingredients to a Dutch oven, cover and heat over medium heat until 
                      florets are very tender.

     2:     Tip from Chuck:  Here's where is got a little tricky.  Chuck used an immersion 
                      blender to mash the cauliflower but found it to be far too soupy and ended up 
                      using a strainer to thicken it up.  Might want to drain the caluliflower and then 
                      mash with a potato masher instead.

     3:    Stir in butter, Parmesan, and chives and you're ready to serve. (If it was thicker, we 
                      were also going to add a dallop of plain Greek Yogurt.)  
 

While we were eating, Chuck said he was curious on the nutritional content of this.  Because he would normally use pork and veal instead of the turkey, add more butter to just about everything, and potatoes instead of cauliflower, he wanted to know what kind of a difference he was really making.  I took on the challenge and looked up all of the items to put together an estimate.  Here's what I found:

                                           Calories                   Fat (g)                   Protein (g)               Carbs (g)

Meatballs (batch)                  1198                      26                         150                           64
                 (each)                       86                        1.9                        10.7                          4.6

Red Wine Sauce (batch)         515                      35.6                      15.8                          26.4

Cauliflower (batch)                267                      14.3                       13.8                         16.7

Pretty amazing, huh?  We each had 3 meatballs and 1/4 of the sauce and cauliflower.  Pretty darn good!