Bad Pork Chops Turned Into A Delicious Stir-Fry

I bought some good-quality pork chops for a Christmas dinner and put too many in the roasting pan. They didn't get a chance to caramelize and I overcooked them.  They were tough and dry and a huge disappointment.  I had a few left over and decided to try to revive them in another dish.  This attempt was a success!

ON THE CUTTING BOARD:

















Cooked pork chops cut into cubes, clementines, rosemary, garlic, ginger, scallions, red pepper, green pepper, parsley, turkey stock (in freezer and saved from Thanksgiving)

STEP ONE:





Heat a T. of olive oil in a wok or large skillet and add peppercorns. Allow them to sizzle for a minute and add the scallions, garlic, ginger, red pepper, one T of chopped rosemary and a pinch of salt.  Stir on medium high heat for a few minutes until they soften.

STEP TWO:



Cook some rice or quinoa or a combination which is what I did here.

STEP THREE:



Add the clementines and stir fry until they start to char a little.

STEP FOUR:





Add the pork and continue to cook for a few more minutes. Pour in the stock and simmer for another few minutes.

STEP FIVE:






Spoon pork mixture on grains, top with chopped parsley and serve with a salad. I had pea shoots, tomatoes and arugula on hand and threw it all together with a champagne vinegar dressing.

ALLA VOSTRA SALUTE!  WISHING EVERYONE A TASTY, ADVENTUROUS AND DELICIOUS 2017.

CLAMS, SHRIMP AND NOODLES

I love cherrystone clams, especially cooked with white wine.  I found beautiful clams the other day and paired them with some shrimp. Here's the simple, quick recipe, about 35 minutes from start to finish.

ON THE CUTTING BOARD:



Cherrystone clams, shrimp, fettuccine, tomatoes, garlic, fresh oregano, Italian parsley, escarole, bay leaves, white wine, butter, olive oil, black pepper, sea salt (just pretend it's there)

STEP ONE:



Roast the tomatoes in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes. Cook the pasta, drain, drizzle with olive oil and set aside.

STEP TWO:




Pour 3/4 cup of water and a cup of white wine in a pot. Add a bay leaf, a tablespoon of chopped oregano, few peppercorns and a pinch of sea salt and reduce to about a cup. Steam clams until they open. Turn off the heat and let them sit while tomatoes finish cooking. Drain and set aside.

STEP THREE:



Chop about 4 cloves of garlic if you're a garlic nut! The implement pictured is a boon to the cook. I found it in Alaska as I watched an Inuit woman scraping salmon with it. It is also fantastic for chopping just about anything.  It's called an Ulu.  So chop the garlic and saute in olive oil until soft but not golden, just a few minutes. This will give a robust garlic flavor to the dish.

STEP FOUR:



Steam the escarole and add to the pasta with the roasted tomatoes. Drizzle olive oil on top. Add a couple pinches of sea salt. Gently toss.

STEP FIVE:



Saute the shrimp in a little butter or olive oil (or both) and add to the pasta with the clams. Dress with parsley and if you'd like a little punch, some red pepper flakes to taste.  A little bread on the side is a nice touch. And some lemon zest would be a tasty addition too.

ALLA VOSTRA SALUTE!

MOVE OVER TURKEY!

I cooked for 17 this Thanksgiving with a lot of help from my family and friends. I was responsible for the turkey, dressing, ham, rutabaga and the gravy.  Everyone else brought delicious sides and great desserts: key lime, apple and lemon meringue pies and a delectable cheesecake baked by a friend of a guest who is a pastry chef in a downtown restaurant.  We had plenty of food and plenty of leftovers too even after I distributed care packages to people.  After four days of eating turkey and ham sandwiches along with turkey soup, I was ready to start rummaging through the fridge to see what I could turn into a delicious meal. This reminds me to post a recipe for turkey stock/soup next Thanksgiving!

We had quite a bit of the Iberico chorizo I bought for a charcuterie platter and some gouda and cheddar cheeses along with some asparagus, red pepper, tomatoes, black olives, onion and some fresh thyme and rosemary. I had been to a salon earlier in the day and saw a recipe for a galette (which is really just a fancy word for flatbread) in Food and Wine magazine.  I liked the simple recipe for the pastry so I copied it. The topping wasn't to my liking since I'm not a big butternut squash fan, so I used what I had on hand to create my own.  Here's what I've got:

ON THE CUTTING BOARD:



Iberico chorizo, tomatoes, black olives, red pepper, onion, garlic, asparagus, gouda cheese, cheddar cheese, crushed red pepper, fresh rosemary, fresh thyme, butter, flour, sea salt, pepper, ice water

STEP ONE:



Measure 1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour into a bowl. Add 1/2 tsp. sea salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper and mix together.

STEP TWO:



Grate 3/4 stick of butter into the flour.  Grating the butter is an easy way to get it integrated into the flour without cutting cubes or using a food processor.  Just make sure the butter is very cold or frozen before you grate.  Gently toss into the flour.

STEP THREE:



Add about 1/3 cup of ICE WATER (very important for a good pastry) to the flour until it lumps together and you can manipulate it into a ball. Wrap in plastic and set in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

STEP FOUR:



Cut up onion, garlic and red pepper and fry in a T. of olive oil until almost soft.  Add some fresh thyme, a little rosemary and crushed red pepper to taste.

STEP FIVE:



Add the asparagus and cook for about 5 minutes.

STEP SIX:





After an hour, take out the dough and a piece of parchment paper.  Roll out the dough to about a 14-inch round.

STEP SEVEN:



Sprinkle gouda cheese on the pastry.

STEP EIGHT:









Place the cooked vegetable mixture on top of the cheese and then add the chorizo, fresh tomatoes, black olives and cheddar cheese (or any type of cheese you have on hand). Fold up the edges of the pastry to form a crust. Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 35 minutes. Keep a watch on it. You don't want it to get too brown. When it's golden, take it out.

STEP NINE:





Remove the flatbread from the oven. Can garnish with a spring or two of rosemary or thyme. I forgot to do that, but I think it would be a nice touch. I'm a salad nut, and this dish definitely begs for one. I made one with red leaf lettuce, avocado, cucumbers and clementines. I dressed it with a sherry vinaigrette.   ENJOY!


ALLA VOSTRA SALUTE!