Pork Chops - Thick Cut and Succulent

Thick pork chops can be tricky to cook on top of the stove. If they are done on the inside, they are burnt on the outside. If you cook them forever slowly, they are actually dry and tough. A few years ago I finally found the trick to great chops, done perfectly and juicy on the inside. The trick.... your oven.
Buy thick center cut pork chops, preferably ones that haven't been cyro-vacced. If you have a store where the butcher cuts meat ask they cut them for you.
I like to use different sauces on the chops. Some ideas if you don't want to make one are, China Blue-Red Pepper Flake, Bronco Bob's-Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce, House of Tsang's Szechuan Spicy Stir Fry Sauce.
Preheat oven to 350. Heat empty oven proof skillet over medium heat. Add a little salt to the pan. (Don't salt the meat, it is alread salty.) Add chops. Cook first side til golden brown and meat lifts easily. Turn just once and top only the meat with the sauce.
Place in oven making sure not to spill the sauce onto the pan for it'll burn and make clean up a bear. Finish in the oven for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven keeping the pan level. Let rest for 5 minutes. When serving the plates, again keep the meat level so sauce doesn't run off. All of these sauces are particularly good when lemon is used in an accompanying dish, broccoli with a squeeze of lemon or lemon rosemary risotto.
You will never have bad chops again!

Shrimp Rice Paper Wraps

I have been wanting to try to make rice paper wraps for a while but thought I'd only find the wrappers at an Asian market and we don't have one on the northside of the lake. I was wrong and found packages of 12 wraps at World Markets. I need to make these often to improve my technique but the flavors were very good together.
I easily made a peanut sauce begining with 1/3 cup Peanut Butter. Add to it 1 tsp Sesame Oil, 4 Tbl Rice Vinegar, 1 Tbl Soy Sauce (use Gluten Free Soy for Gluten Free twist), 1 tsp Freshly Grated Ginger, 4 Tbl Olive Oil, dash of Red Pepper Flakes, S&P to taste. Mix together with a wire whip and set aside. This will taste better if it is room temperature. If you make it the day before, make sure it warms up before serving.
I bought 24 Shrimp anticipating 2 shrimp per wrap. I paid about $12 for the shrimp. Thread them onto a skewer lengthwise so the shrimp is straight. I grilled mine plain but you can brush them with Olive Oil to keep them moist. They cook in a bout 1-2 minutes and can be cooked before the prepping since you want them cooled by the time you make the wrap.
You can find Nishiki rice everywhere. Cook 1 Cup Nishiki in 2 Cups Water over medium heat. Lid needs to stay on the pot. Once it is boiling, give it 1 stir and turn it down to low. Let cook about 10 minutes and turn off heat to allow it to steam. After 10 minutes place in clean wooden bowl and add 2 tsp Rice Vinegar and cover with a damp towel. Let steam for about 15 minutes before using.
Having the tool to prep the vegetables properly is key. You need either a mandoline or a knock off variety, (Bed Bath and Beyond), or to be extremely talented with a chef's knife. I used a V-Slicer which I have owned for about 15-20 years. Peel 1 thick Carrot and 1 Cucumber. Remove the ends from the carrot and run it lengthwise over the blades making long strands. Remove the seeds from the cucumber and run it lengthwise over the blades making long strands. Boil a small amount of water and once boiling, add a handful of Snow Peas. Cut the into thin strips lengthwise. Remove clean Cilantro leaves from stems and set aside in a bowl.
For wrap, boil water in a tea kettle. Add 1/4 cup hot water to a large flat (pasta plate works) and add 1 rice paper. Move it around and turn it over, all in about 15-20 seconds to become soft and pliable. Place on a clean dish towel and quickly assemble your wrap using all of the ingredients including the cilantro leaves, keeping everything more or less in the center of the wrap. Fold in the sides and fold up the bottom. Wrap keeping it as tight as possile. It will stick to itself. Cut on a diagonal and serve with peanut sauce. Experiment and keep your preferences written down in a kitchen journal.

Homemade Tortillas for Quesadillas and Fajitas

Making this tortilla recipe was easy, fun and delicious! It was a bit sticky on account of our humidity and I had to add a bit more flour in order to roll it out. I don't have lard in my pantry so I substituted Crisco. I actually never photographed my fajitas (cause I ate it!)but the same ingredients were used to make the quesadillas.
Using pastry blend, mix 2 Cups Flour with 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder and 1 tsp Salt. Using pastry blend, cut in 3 Tbl Crisco. Add 3/4 Cup Warm Milk. Stir together and knead gently for a few minutes. It's a very soft dough. Cover with a damp towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
While dough is resting, on stove, preheat skillet over medium heat while preheating outdoor grill. Season a 1 1/2 lb Sirloin Steak with S&P. Julienne 1 Large Bell Pepper and 1 Onion. Add Olive Oil and lightly brown vegetables.
Next, make a quick Pico de Gallo. To a bowl add, 1 Diced Large Tomato, 1/2 Red Onion, finely died and a minced Jalapeno Pepper. Add the Juice of a Lime, 1 pressed Clove of Garlic, Chopped Cilantro and S&P to taste. Place Sour Cream in a separate bowl.
Divide dough into 8 equal balls and let rest for 10-15 minutes. Grill steak to medium rare or medium.
Preheat griddle top to 350. Using as little flour as possible, roll out dough to thin rounds. The dough is stretchy so you have to roll it quite thin to get it to stay. I used a pastry cloth to help with this.
Add a small amount of Olive Oil to griddle and cook 2 tortillas at a time, browning dough lightly on each side. If you cook these too dark, they will not bend easily for fajitas. As they are done, place on plate with a paper towel in between to keep hot and prevent moisture from making them soggy.
Let steak rest and slice very thinly. Let each person top their own fijitas.
With leftover ingredients, make quesadillas. Preheat skillet and butter 1 side of the tortilla and place in pan buttered side down. Top with grated cheese, steak, peppers and onion and cheese again. Add another totilla buttered side up. Cook both sides until golden brown. Cut into wedges and serve with sour cream, guacamole and salsa.

Divine Angel Food Cake, a No-Fat Food

The angel food cake is in the oven! When it's time to eat it, we'll pick some fresh blueberries to serve with it. A homemade cake begins with lots of egg whites. I save mine in the freezer in a 2 cup storage container and add to them every time I only need yolks. About 3 times a year I get to make a cake! This Angel Food Cake recipe is from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook and I have made a change, I use 2 cups of egg whites rather than her suggested 1 1/2 cups.

Preheat oven to 350. Sift together 4 times, 1 Cup Cake Flour with 3/4 Cup Caster (Superfine Sugar) and set aside. Add 2 Cups Room Temperature Egg Whites and 1 Tbl Warm Water and mix on low speed until frothy.  Add, 1/2 tsp Salt, 1 tsp Cream of Tartar, 1 tsp Vanilla and beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. While on medium speed, begin adding 3/4 Cup Caster Sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Increase to high speed and mix until peaks are stiff and not dry.

Remove bowl from mixer and stift 1/6 of the flour/sugar into the whites and fold after each addition. Do this 6 times.

Add batter to a clean tube pan and flatten out the top. Insert a knife into the middle of the batter and run it through the batter making a circle around the tube to remove large air bubbles.



Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown.
Turn upside down and let cool. Remove from pan after about an hour. You can glaze this cake, eat it plain or with fresh berries. It is so good. Like my Mom always said, there is nothing like a homemade Angle Food Cake and there isn't.

Simple Pita Crackers

Humus is made so much better when served with these simple freshly baked crackers. These whip up so quickly you'll be hard pressed to ever buy pita chips again.

Preheat oven to 350. In the meantime, cut pita bread into narrow wedges. Brush with Olive Oil and top with various seeds and kosher salt. Pictured you see Poppy, Caraway and Sesame Seeds. Bake for 6-8 minutes. These are soft on the inside and crisp on the outside. Serve warm with freshly made humus. See my Humus recipe under Snacks or Appetizers!