Grilled Pork Loin Chop

It's time to start this blog back up again. I'm pretty sure that I can't commit to the daily posts like I used to be able to manage, but blogging seems like a better use of my time than checking out People.com multiple times a day. I am going to try hard to post photos of the dishes that I make, although I don't have one for today's post.

Sunday night, I followed a recipe from the Weber's Real Grilling cookbook. Ben got the book several years ago, and we've not used it much. We grilled the Pork Loin Chop with the Mephis Dry Rub and Sassy Barbecue Sauce. Oh...My...Goodness....delicious! While the pork was moist and tasted great, it was the barbecue sauce that really made the whole dish. The sauce, appropriately named "sassy", was served warm. I don't think I would have ever thought to do that on my own, but I will be heating up my barbecue sauces frequenly now. Here's the recipe:

PORK LOIN CHOP with MEMPHIS DRY RUB and SASSY BARBECUE SAUCE

Ingredients:
Sauce:

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 tbs molasses
• 1 tbs white wine vinegar
• 1 tbs Dijon Mustard
• 1 tbs light brown
• 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
• 1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Rub:

• 1 1/2 Tsp whole black pepper corns
• 1 1/2 tsp mustard seed
• 1 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp granulated garlic
• 1 tsp granulated onion
• 1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
• 6 bone in pork rib chops, 10 to 12 ounces each and about 1 inch thick
• Canola Oil

Directions:

1. To make the sauce: In a small heavy bottom saucepan, whisk the sauce ingredients with 1/2 cup water. Bring to boil over med heat, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. To make the rub: In a spice grinder, pulse the peppercorns and mustard seed until coarsely ground. Place in a small bowl and add the remaining rub ingredients, mixing well.
3. Allow the chops to stand at room temp for 20 to 30 min. before grilling. Lightly brush or spray the chops on both sides with oil and season with the rub, pressing the spices into the meat. Grill over Direct Med Heat until barely pink in the center of the meat, 8 to 10 minutes, turning once. Remove from the grill and let rest for 3 to 5 min. Serve with warm sauce on the side.

While I would love to report that my kids ate the pork chops too, they did not. Kyle doesn't eat meat very often. It seems crazy that Ben and I could have a child who doesn't like meat, but that is our reality. Katie had meatballs and peas. Kyle ate bread and peas.

Saturday, 3/19/2011

Our church potluck group, The Crock Pots, gathered tonight at Tom and Cherie's house.  Ben made BBQ country style pork ribs this afternoon for us to take.  While delicious, the pork was not as good as the first time he made it.  We think it had to do with the BBQ sauce.  We used Stubb's Spicy Bar-B-Q sauce, which was definitely spicy.  In fact, Tom and Cherie's daughter, Katie, was brought to tears when she tasted it.  We didn't know to warn her that it was spicy.  Tom made fantastic fondues tonight- cheese fondue for the appetizer and chocolate fondue for dessert.  Laura and David brought a tasty green salad.  It was a great meal:)

We had a small group tonight, just six adults, two kids, and one babysitter.  It was the perfect group size for carrying on one conversation.  When you get more than six people talking, the conversation splits into smaller groups.  We gathered at 5:30 and were sad to leave three hours later to take the babysitter home. 

Tuesday, 2/22/2011

Tonight Ben and I finished the BBQ country style ribs he prepared yesterday.  I put them into a foil-lined baking pan, covered them with foil, and baked for half an hour in the toaster over set to 375 degrees.  They were as delicious tonight as they were last night.  Definitely a recipe worth repeating over and over again.  YUM!!!

Katie wasn't at all interested in the pork.  She ate some cubed chicken and half of a banana instead.  The good thing about her not liking the pork was that there was more for us:)  I definitely didn't want to share. 

Monday, 2/21/2011 Guest Blogger

Ben prepared a delicious meal for us last night, the 19th, and has offered to blog about it.  Thanks Ben! 

In light of the fact that I was able to fully enjoy a three-day holiday weekend and Sarah was, shall we say, not so lucky, I was bestowed the responsibility of producing a fine family meal for dinner on Monday.  Adding to the challenge, Sarah requested I prepare a couple of pounds of country-style pork ribs she purchased several weeks ago and stored in the freezer.

I’ve never prepared country-style ribs before.  In fact, I can only think of two times previously I’ve every prepared ribs of any kind.  So, I needed to find a recipe.  I learned that country-style ribs, which aren’t really ribs at all, are marbleized such that slow cooking is the ideal preparation to render tender results.  I settled on starting with a recipe for BBQ Country Style Ribs I found on www.allrecipes.com.  But, that wasn’t enough for me.  I had to go and read the comments and learn more from others’ experience.  The original recipe calls for cooking the ribs for two hours uncovered with lemon slices on top.  It seemed the folks that were happiest with the recipe raised the temperature, sealed them in foil, and added a little water.  If I remember my Alton Brown training correctly, I believe this changes the process from baking to braising.  I liked that, so I ran with it.
 
BBQ COUNTRY STYLE RIBS

Ingredients:
4 Country-style pork ribs
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 lemons, thinly sliced
Barbeque sauce
 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Line a shallow baking pan with aluminum foil up and around the edge of the pan to keep water contained. Place the ribs in the pan.
3. Spread minced garlic over the ribs.  I used the minced garlic you can buy in a jar at the grocery store. 
4. Cover the ribs with the lemon slices.
5. Pour about 1/16 of an inch of water in the pan.

6. Cover with aluminum foil and seal tightly to hold in the steam as the ribs braise.
7. Bake for two hours.
8. Remove from the oven and remove the foil cover, carefully, to avoid getting burned by the trapped steam.  

9. Remove the lemon slices and poor off the liquid.
10. Coat the ribs, liberally, on all sides with your preferred barbeque sauce.

11. Reseal the ribs in foil.
12. Bake at 275 degrees F for forty minutes.

After the second bake, I put the ribs back in the oven with the broiler on in an attempt to carmelize the barbeque sauce to give it a little crispiness and better presentation.  It didn’t work.  Instead, it made them look dry.  So, I flipped them over before I served.  I’d recommend skipping the broiling.
 

I served the ribs with a wedge salad with chopped bacon and blue cheese dressing for me and chipotle ranch dressing for Sarah.

The ribs were absolutely delicious.  It takes a while to cook them, but the actual time put into preparation is no more than 15 minutes.  Plus, country-style ribs are super cheap.  With the low prep-time, low cost, and excellent results, I’ll definitely be serving these again.  I think they’ll scale up well to large groups.  So, the next time we host a potluck, I think we have our meal.

Sunday, 2/6/2011

We had BBQ pork sandwiches for dinner tonight.  I reheated some pork roast, and then Ben added delicious habanero BBQ sauce I bought last fall at the Woodinville Farmers Market.  The sauce is a local brand: Kolander Grubb's.  The pork and sauce were placed on toasted Sandwich Thin buns. 

I gave Katie some couscous, pork, and a few slices of pear.  She ate the pears no problem, but only played with the pork and couscous.  Oh well. 

Friday, 2/4/2011

Katie and I picked Ben up from work today and headed to Cactus, our favorite restaurant on Alki beach.  I can't seem to stay away from their nachos with roasted corn, jalapenos, pico de gallo, charred tomato salsa, buttermilk crema, chicken, and chorizo.  Yum!!!  Ben had a pork dish off of the menus of specials for the evening.  The pork was extremely tender and was in a delicious sauce.  He didn't care of the carrot topping.  We got Katie a chicken quesadilla.  She ate some of it, but was more interested in coloring.  

The best part of the meal, not really, was when Katie leaned over in her booster seat to give me a piece of tortilla chip.  She fell over onto me, dragging her paper placemat and the bowl of salsa resting on it, into her lap.  I was blowing my nose at the time and couldn't do anything to stop her.  It makes me want to use high chairs until she can't fit anymore.  The benches in restaurant booths are just not stable enough for booster seats, at least not for our squirmy toddler. 

Thursday, 2/3/2011

Our good friend Kalena came over for dinner tonight.  She then stayed to watch Katie for us while we went to a play at our church.  Thanks Kalena!  For dinner I served a pork roast, roasted broccoli with garlic, and couscous.  It was a pretty good meal.  I used the same recipe for the pork that we use when we make BBQ pulled pork sandwiches.  I just stopped at the point we usually start pulling and adding BBQ sauce. The pork was actually a bit dry, which was surprising.  Usually the pork is super juicy.  It could have been cooked in the crock pot too long or simply wasn't as fatty of a cut.  Either way, it was better when we poured the pork drippings over the top:)

As for the broccoli...I had two helpings!   Katie licked a piece of broccoli and said "no like it."  I tried to get her to have some pork, but she only wanted couscous.  And, she ate it with gusto.  At least she got most of it in her mouth.  Couscous is one of the messiest foods to give a toddler. 

Sunday, 9/5/2010

Before I get there, I have to mention that we had a lovely brunch this morning with Matt, Jenna, Braelyn, and my Aunt Margie, Uncle Bill, and cousin Katie.  Margie brought a tasty french toast casserole, and we made a cheesy potato and ham casserole.  Sweet and savory!  It was also the perfect opportunity for family photos:)

Matt, Jenna, and Braelyn hit the road for Spokane around 11am.  We were able to put Katie down for a short nap before we went out to celebrate Spencer's birthday.  After a frantic 10 minutes at 1pm, we got out the door with a very sleepy Katie and headed to Pike Place Market, downtown Seattle.  We met Jennifer, Spencer, Karen, and Michel for a Savor Seattle food tour of Pike Place Market.  Yes, we did go on this tour when our friends Thad and Shannon visited last month.  It is that good:)  We stopped at the same places on the tour, but had a few different food items. Check out my previous post for descriptions and photos of most of the food.  Here are a few photos from today's tour.

Me and Katie sampling mini donuts at the market.

Waiting for our chowders.

Spencer, Jennifer, and Ben at the end of the food tour.

After the tour, we did a little shopping at the market and ended up at Mexico Cantina Y Cocina at Pacific Place Mall for dinner.  Ben and I shared a wonderful sandwich-- the Torta de Mexico.  It was a slow-roasted pork sandwich with smoky chorizo, melted provolone,and chipotle sauce.  It also came with a black bean spread which we ordered on the side so that Ben could use it.  The combination of the pulled pork and the chorizo patty was amazing!  We ordered a plate of fish and chips for Katie.  She didn't eat much, but I can honestly say I didn't expect to have such great fish and chips at a Mexican restaurant.  What a great day!  

Happy Birthday Spencer!!!

Saturday, 9/4/2010

Our dear friends Karen and Michel invited us all, Matt, Jenna, Braelyn, Ben, Katie, me, Jennifer, and Spencer, over to their home for dinner tonight.  Jennifer is in town to celebrate Spencer's birthday tomorrow.  They had a lovely spread of veggies, crackers, cheeses, cured meats, fresh berries, and wine ready when we arrived. 

For dinner, they roasted potatoes and carrots, had mixed salad greens and a variety of dressings, jalapenos bread, corn on the cob, and roasted pork tenderloins.  Everything was delicious!  At the end of the evening, we enjoyed a fantastic birthday cake for Spencer.  

Michel got the cake at a local French bakery.  The cake was chocolate; the filling was chocolate mousse; the outer frosting was unlike anything I have had before.  Without knowing for sure, I would say it was a French buttercream.  I think it was made with shortening, instead of butter.  All I know for sure is that it was fantastically delicious.  Ben had to share quite a bit with Katie...she loved it too!  Not only was it wonderful to the taste, but it was beautiful too.  I just love the lettering on the cake. 

Thursday, 8/26/2010

Ben and I had left over pasta tonight.  Katie gave it a try, but quickly pushed her plate aside.  Instead, I chopped up some left over pork tenderloin, nuked it, and then told her it was a burger.  It worked really well the other day when I gave her some ketchup to dip it into.  Today, despite the ketchup, she seemed to be wise to my "little white lie". 

I did make some cheese straws tonight, following a recipe from my Williams-Sonoma cookie press.  They turned out pretty good, but a bit on the salty side.  I used Parmesan cheese instead of the Parmigiano-Reggiano that the recipe called for.  I went for the cheese that was on sale.  Here's the recipe.

CHEESE STRAWS

Ingredients:
8 oz. Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, freshly grated
12 Tbs. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Directions:
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine the cheese, butter, egg, flour, salt and cayenne pepper and process until mixed.

Pack the dough into a cookie press according to the instructions and fit with the star-shaped cookie disk.  Holding the cookie press at an angle on an ungreased baking sheet, press the trigger twice, dragging the press away to make a 3-inch-long straw.  Space the straws 1 inch apart.  To make straws the length of the baking sheet, continually press the trigger and drag the press away, spacing straws 1 inch apart.

Bake until straws are lightly golden, 20 to 25 minutes.  Transfer straws to wire racks to cool.  Straws may be sotred in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Makes about 60 three-inch straws.

Sunday, 7/18/2010

We took a trip to Costco today. We didn't really need anything, but ended up getting a few things anyway--halibut, ground beef, eggs, foil, and pork tamales. The tamales were super easy to prepare and were delicious for our dinner. The pork was wonderfully seasoned to be a bit spicy. They were all prepared in corn husks. All we had to do was steam them for 10-12 minutes. Piece of cake! Plus, it gave Ben a chance to use our All-Clad steamer basket:) We've used the pasta insert numerous times, but this was the first time we used the steamer basket.

Katie threw a most spectacular tantrum after her nap this afternoon when we wouldn't give her a cookie before dinner. I made a double batch of chocolate chip cookies while she was napping, to take over to our neighbors. They welcomed their first son, Oliver, into the world over the weekend. When she came downstairs after her nap, she spotted the cooling racks full of cookies. She immediately began chanting "cracka, cracka, cracka", which is her way of saying cracker. We did our best to explain that she could have one after dinner. That didn't work.

There were huge alligator tears rolling down her cheeks. She flung herself onto the floor over and over again. She hit her diaper bag and pulled stuff out of it kind of violently. For a little while, we thought she might be having serious teething pain based on her irrational behavior. But no, she only wanted cookies. To be fair, I must note that we had a very busy morning and that her nap didn't start until after 2pm--about 4 hours later than normal. Anyway, she woke up on the wrong side of the crib without the patience to wait for a cookie. The funniest part of the story is that, when she finally finished dinner and got her cookie, she barely ate any of it. She was more interested in sharing it with daddy than actually eating it. Worked out fine for daddy:)

Saturday, 6/19/2010

Tonight I went out with a bunch of fun gals for Laura's bachelorette party. The party started in the blue room at The Capitol Club. It was a fun space for our group. I was the DD, so I only had two drinks throughout the evening. I started with a Lavendar Cocktail--Lavender Dry Soda and Bombay Sapphire served with a Lavender Sugar Rim. I appreciated the lavender flavor, but it was a pretty weak drink. For my second drink, I had a Blood Orange Margarita. It did have salt on the rim, but, strangely, the whole drink was more salty than sweet or sour.

We were there during happy hour, so I had a couple appetizers for dinner. I ordered pork skewers with fries. Unfortunately, they didn't use a very good cut of pork. It was not tender and required lots of chewing. The fries, however, were excellent. They were sprinkled with chili powder and were perfectly crispy. My second plate was ridiciously good and too rich to finish. It was peppercorn bacon, tempura battered and fried, with a chocolate chipotle dipping sauce. OMG...it was soo good and yet soo bad. It was literally too rich for me to eat more than one piece. I did taste some artichoke cheese dip and hummus that someone else ordered. Those were both delicious.

Ben tells me that Katie insisted on having a peanut butter and jam sandwich for dinner. You might be wondering "how does she insist?" Well, when you open up the refrigerator, she goes right to the jam jar in the door and then starts vigorously making the signs for peanut butter and bread. Ben had frozen grapes, almonds, and cheddar cheese. It was one of his staple meals as a bachelor.

Sunday, 4/4/2010

HAPPY EASTER!




















Christ the Lord is risen today. Let's celebrate with FOOD!

Our Easter menu today: Pork Roast, Mini Potatoes with Brie and Smoked Bacon, Grilled Asparagus, Corn & Carrot Muffins, Peppercorn rolls, Lemon Cake, and wine:)

I am blessed to have had my loved ones and friends with me today to share this meal: Ben, Katie, Jennifer, Spencer, LeeAnne, and Ken. Thank you all for helping to prepare it!

PORK ROAST
1 Boston butt or pork shoulder roast (anywhere from 2-6 pounds)
1 large onion, quartered and layers separated
Kosher salt, black pepper, and garlic powder

Coat the bottom of a crock pot with a generous amount of salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Set the pork roast inside and apply a generous sprinkling of the same three ingredients to the other sides of the roast. Don't worry, it would be hard to put too much on. Cover the roast with the onion layers. Set the crock pot to cook on low for 9-11 hours.

Pull out of the pot and enjoy! Just try to get it to the table without having a nibble;) This is how we start our bbq pulled pork. We just stopped before we added the sauce and cooked for another hour.

GRILLED ASPARAGUS
Preheat grill to Medium.

Prepare asparagus by cutting off the ends of the stems or by popping them at the natural break points. Wash and then toss in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Cook on Medium Direct for 8 minutes, turning to avoid burning. A little charring is ok.

MINI BAKED POTATOES W/ BRIE AND SMOKED BACON
kosher salt
20 new potatoes (we learned that new potatoes are not a certain variety, they are just young potatoes that have thinner peels)
5 slices thick-cut bacon
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 cup spring onions, chopped
4 oz. Brie
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 425. Place a thin layer of kosher salt on a baking tray. Place potatoes on top and cook for 30 minutes.
2. Allow to cool slightly. Slice off the tops of the potatoes lengthwise, and scoop out the middle with a teaspoon or melon baller.
3. Dice and fry bacon. Remove bacon, add diced onions to the pan and cook until soft, about 3 minutes.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients, including the reserved bacon, to the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Mix in with scooped-out potato.
5. Spoon into shells. Serve warm.

We were actually a bit apprehensive about this recipe. Ben and I have never been fans of Brie. But, we were willing to give it a shot. It was a recipe Ben's mom found in People magazine. It is an Irish dish made at the Clarence Hotel in Dublin, owned by U2's Bono and the Edge. The potatoes looked beautiful when done and were not bad, but lacked the strong flavors we expected. The Brie definitely wasn't a problem.

We had two breads and two wines with our meal. I bought peppercorn foccocia rolls and Ken and Lee Anne made yummy carrot and corn muffins. We opened another bottle of the Bogle Petite Sirah. And, Ken and Lee Anne brought a delicious bottle of 2003 Rosé of Sangiovese by Barnard Griffin. They said it was supposed to pair well with pork. We were all very thankful that it did!

And for dessert, a Lucious Lemon Daisy Cake. The recipe came with a beautiful Daisy Bundt Pan we received as a wedding gift. It has cream cheese in it which makes the cake very moist and creamy. The whole cake is glazed with a sugar, lemon juice, butter drizzle.

Happy Easter!

Monday, 3/29/2010

GRILLED PORK CHOPS

2 boneless porkchops about 1/2" thick
Liberally coat with Char Crust- Roasted Garlic Peppercorn
Spritz lightly with non-stick spray to keep the crust from burning

Grill on Direct Medium








ASPARAGUS with SHERRY-BACON VINAIGRETTE
from Weber's Real Grilling

1/4 pound bacon
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound asparagus
thinly sliced red onion (optional ingredient that I never add)

In medium skillet over medium heat, lay the bacon in a single layer and cook until crispy, 8-10 minutes, turning occasionally. Drain the bacon on paper towels, reserving the bacon fat in the skillet.

Pour off all but 3 tablespoons of the bacon fat and return the skillet over medium heat. Add the thyme and garlic to the skillet and let them sizzle for about 10 seconds. Add the vinegar, salt, and pepper, and then remove the skillet from the heat.

Remove and discard the tough bottom of each asparagus spear- cut or snap at natural breaking point. Put asparagus in a dish, pour the vinaigrette over the asparagus, and turn to coat evenly.

Finely chop the drained bacon.

Grill the asparagus over Direct Medium heat until browned in spots but not charred, 6-8 minutes, turning them occasionally. Plate the asparagus on a platter or plates and sprinkle with bacon. This is where you would add the red onions, if you like that kind of thing.

This asparagus dish is really easy to make and tastes delicious! Anytime bacon is added to vegetables I am happy:) I like that it cooks at the same grill settings as the pork chops. We found the Char Crust dry-rub seasoning a couple months ago and LOVE it. It doesn't look very pretty, but it does seal in the juices as it's marketing promotes. We've had it on steak, chicken, and pork. All have been great. And, I am really please with how many meals we have been able to make with just one package. I think this was our 4th time and there is still enough for at least 2 more meals.

Katie started her meal with raspberry pear yogurt. By the time she was done with that the grill work was done. She enjoyed asparagus tips and pork with us and then had to finish off with...cheese:)