Batter-Splattered

Grilled Monster Pork Chops with Tomatillo and Green Apple Salsa

I saw these tomatillos, piles and piles of them, at the market and that got me to thinking, what was that recipe?

The one I made a long time ago?

And for some misguided reason I never made again?

That recipe with the tomatillo salsa?

With the green apples?

And the pork chops?

And when I took the salsa to work with me the next day and I opened the tupperware container, a few minutes later a co-worker called me up to ask what was that divine smell? I have this vent-from-hell in my office ceiling that pumps everything from my office into everyone else's office.

Tomatillo salsa = good. Nail polish remover = not so good.

The salsa is so good. It's like summer in a bowl. Cilantro, granny smith apples, tomatilloes, cumin, honey, garlic... Spread on top of pork chops marinated overnight in a simple rub made of coriander, cumin, s&p, and olive oil. With each bite, you get some salsa and the rub and the pork.

Mmm.

And even though the thermometer was a boiling at 67 (aha), I cranked up the oven and roasted some potatoes sprinkled with rosemary and salt and pepper. You could just as easily grill these in a foil packet with the chops.

Grilled Monster Pork Chops with Tomatillo and Green Apple Salsa

For pork chops
3 tablespoons ground coriander
3 tablespoons ground cumin
2 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 1/2 tablespoons black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 (2-inch-thick) loin pork chops (each about 1 lb)

For tomatillo and green apple sauce
1/2 lb fresh tomatillos (about 5), husks discarded and tomatillos rinsed
2 Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro sprigs
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup apple juice
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon mild honey
1 teaspoon minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo

 Marinate chops:
Stir together coriander, cumin, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, then add oil and stir until combined well. Rub spice mixture all over chops. Let chops marinate while making sauce and preparing grill.

Make sauce:
Simmer tomatillos and 3 cups water in a 2 1/2- to 3-quart saucepan, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until tomatillos are just soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and cool 15 minutes.

While tomatillos are cooling, core apples and cut into 1/4-inch dice. Purée tomatillos with remaining sauce ingredients except apples in a food processor. Transfer to a bowl and stir in apples.

To cook pork using a charcoal grill:
Open vents on bottom of grill. Light charcoal (80 to 100 briquettes) in chimney starter. Leaving about one quarter of grill free of charcoal, bank lit charcoal across rest of grill so that coals are about three times higher on opposite side.

Charcoal fire is medium-hot when you can hold your hand 5 inches above rack over area where coals are piled highest for 3 to 4 seconds. Sear pork on lightly oiled grill rack directly over hottest part of coals, uncovered, turning over once and, if necessary, moving around grill to avoid flare-ups, until well browned, 10 to 12 minutes total. Move pork to coolest part of grill, then cover with inverted roasting pan and grill, turning pork over once, until thermometer inserted diagonally into center of each chop (avoid bone) registers 150°F, 10 to 12 minutes total. Transfer pork to a cutting board and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 15 minutes (temperature will rise to 155°F).

To cook pork using a gas grill:
Preheat all burners on high, covered, 10 minutes. Sear pork on lightly oiled grill rack, covered with lid, turning over once, until well browned, 10 to 12 minutes total. Turn off 1 burner (middle burner if there are 3) and put pork above shut off burner. Reduce heat on remaining burner(s) to moderate and grill pork, covered with lid, until thermometer inserted diagonally into center (avoid bone) registers 150°F, 12 to 16 minutes. Transfer pork to a cutting board and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 15 minutes (temperature will rise to 155°F).    

ow, my grilling arm

My other half has been getting up in the morning at the same time I do. It's unusual and mildly annoying because I have to stumble over him in the kitchen when I’d ordinarily have the joint all to myself. And he's discovering all sorts of things about me. Things that amuse him.

For instance, he thinks it’s hilarious that I blow dry my hair in the morning with my eyes closed, standing there half-asleep. And because the hair dryer is so loud, I can’t hear him coming. And he thinks it’s doubly hilarious to sneak up and poke me in the stomach to startle the bejeezus out of me.

It was mildly funny the first time he did it last week.

This morning when he did it, I had both arms up over my head, drying the back of my hair, and when he poked me I jumped so hard that I kinda sorta popped my shoulder out of joint.

Yeah.

Neat.

My arm was stuck up in the air like one of those Sesame Street puppets that can't pick up the fruit and I couldn’t bring it back down till I reached the other arm up and yanked it back in place. It didn’t hurt very much but it revolted me to the point where I had to go collapse on the couch and moan somewhat coherently about 'my grilling arm.'

You see, I'm looking forward to grilling alot of stuff this summer.

Alot.

And that was the arm I plan to use for skewering, flipping, and basting.

I even went to the market on Sunday and loaded up on large quantities of meat to stick in the freezer. You wouldn't believe how much meat I got on sale for $20. I could barely carry it to my car. I felt like such a drooling carnivore.

My latest project: grilled pork chops with a maple-cranberry glaze.

You toss together a rub with paprika and chile powder and dry mustard and four (count them: four) kinds of salt -- seasoned salt, celery salt, sea salt, and garlic salt. That's alot of salt so I cut it way back. Good thing, because they were still a bit too salty for my taste but oh-so-good. The glaze has cranberry sauce and juice, maple syrup, triple sec, dijon mustard and grated orange peel.

Really good.

Oh, and we both agreed that there will be no more stomach-poking. Mostly because that night we watched Fight Science and I learned some moves that could really put a hurtin' on belly-pokers.

 

Grilled Pork Chops with Maple-Cranberry Glaze

Serves 8

Spice rub
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon paprika (hot and smoked, Pimentón de la Vera, if you can find it -- I couldn't and used regular paprika)
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon ground chipotle chile powder or ancho chile powder   

Glaze
3/4 cup jellied cranberry sauce (about half of one 16-ounce can)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup cran-raspberry juice
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon triple sec or other orange liqueur
1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
8 3/4-inch-thick center-cut pork rib chops

For spice rub: Mix all ingredients in small bowl.

For glaze: Mix first 8 ingredients in small saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, whisking until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

Do ahead: Spice rub and glaze can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and store spice rub at room temperature. Cover and refrigerate glaze. Rewarm glaze just until pourable before using.

Spray grill rack with nonstick spray and prepare barbecue (medium heat). Sprinkle spice rub generously over both sides of pork chops (about 1/2 tablespoon per side), pressing to adhere. Place pork chops on grill, cover, and cook 5 minutes per side. Brush generously with glaze. Move to cooler part of grill and continue to grill, uncovered, until cooked through, brushing frequently with glaze, about 3 minutes longer per side. 
   

Moosetroganoff

If there's anything my other half loves more than red meat it's big fat noodles (culinarily-speaking, of course). I don't like to think about it but I'm pretty sure he ate five full servings of this, polishing off whatever was left in the pan after I scooped out my meager bowl-ful.

It was just that good.

I used moose for this because I'm dealing with a big freezer-ful of it and the husband swears he's bringing home another ungulate this fall so I better make some room. If you do your meat shopping at the store you can, of course, use beef.

 

Moosetroganoff

Serves six

3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup beef broth
1 pound of moose or beef, trimmed, sliced 1/4 inch thick across the grain, then cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup thinly sliced shallot
3/4 lb cremini mushrooms, trimmed and halved (quartered if large)
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Accompaniment: buttered wide egg noodles

Melt 1 1/2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over moderate heat and whisk in flour, then cook roux, whisking constantly, 2 minutes. Add one cup of broth (reserve the rest for later) in a slow stream, whisking constantly, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, 3 minutes. Pour into a bowl, scraping pan clean, and keep warm.

Pat beef dry and season well with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon oil in skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides. Sauté beef in two batches until browned but still pink inside, about 1 minute. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon.

Heat remaining tablespoon butter with remaining tablespoon oil in same skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté shallot, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and sauté, stirring occasionally, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated and mushrooms are browned, about 8 to 10 minutes. Return meat with its juices to skillet and stir to combine, then transfer to a platter.

Whisk sour cream into the sauce, then whisk in the mustard, dill, salt, and pepper. Pour sauce over beef and reheat, slowly adding more broth if you wish to make it a little saucier.

Serve over buttered egg noodles..

  

Pork Roast -- not for vegetarians

My love for roast recipes runs deep.

I'm always a little disappointed by all the recipes posted at epicurious that call for beef tenderloin, filet mignon, and all sorts of other expensive cuts of meat. Why would I want to chop up a filet mignon and hide it inside stir-fry?

It's because they don't want to marinate anything overnight. They want instant satisfaction in the tenderness department. Not me. Tell me how to make shoe leather taste good and I'll be forever in your debt. I love the idea of buying a cheap cut of meat and marinating the hell out of it then roasting it till it falls apart from the tender tenderness of it all.

Which brings me to this pork roast I bought the other day for $1.19 per pound. A great big old hunk of meat for $5.00. Actually, my mom was the one who pointed out the great deal. Her email, sent separately, all alone, and not really a postscript at all:

"P.S. Pork shoulder roasts are a $1.19 at Carrs. Mom."

Reminds me of this website, which collects up reader-submitted funny emails from their moms. Have you read it? It's really good, although I've received much much (much) funnier emails from my mom. I don't dare submit them though because I'm pretty sure she'd kill me if she found out. My current favorite posted on the site is:

"I was in the car listening to the radio, and who is this 'shorty' they keep talking about in rap songs?"

Anyway, this roast recipe I tried out called for lots of good things like fresh sage and rosemary.

And don't you just love it when meat comes all wrapped up in netting? It always seems so fancy to me.

And let me tell you, after a couple of hours roasting time, I poked a thermometer into this roast for the first time and juice shot out of it like a geyser.

It was awesome.

But then I worried all the juice had shot out of it and what I'd be left with was shoe leather. I worried on that for quite awhile -- this recipe calls for about 6 hours of roasting so I had plenty of time to fret. But it was all for naught because this was an extra specially good roast. We barely needed a knife to slice it and scarf it down.

And what was even better: putting the leftovers on the grill the next night to blacken them just a little here and there.

Pretty tasty stuff, I tell you.

I got the original recipe here. It's for a pork roast with salsa verde except I came home from the market realizing I didn't buy any of the ingredients needed for the salsa, so I skipped it entirely and went straight for the roast. You mix freshly minced garlic and freshly chopped sage and rosemary and rub it all over with salt and pepper and olive oil.

Next time, I'll have to add in the salsa.

Pork Shoulder with Sage and Rosemary

6 to 8 servings

6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 8-pound whole bone-in heritage pork shoulder roast (Boston butt)

Position rack in lowest third of oven; preheat to 450°F. Mix garlic, sage, rosemary, coarse kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper in small bowl. Brush oil all over pork, then rub spice mixture all over. Place pork on rack set in roasting pan. Roast 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 300°F and continue to roast until instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 185°F, about 6 1/2 hours. Remove pork from oven; tent with foil to keep warm. Let rest 15 minutes. Cut into 1/2-inch-thick pieces and serve.

Splat! or in the alternative, pastrami and spinach omelets

It was a very good winter for me as far as slip-and-falls go. The snow. The ice. It all conspires against me to sweep me off my feet at least a time or two each year.

But not this year! It was unprecedented coup for me in the taking-a-tumble department.

So you can understand my shock the other morning when I climbed off my commuter van into fat, swirling snowflakes (thinking to myself, "But I'm wearing my floaty cotton spring top!") that were quickly piling up on the ground from a surprise blizzard that certainly was not blizzarding at my house a mere 40 miles away. I took four steps and...

SPLAT.

I slid sideways, like I always do (in years past, of course, not this year). The sliding sideways is good, in a way. It's quick, like a sneak attack. You're down before you know it and looking around to see who saw and wondering if they'd be willing to come over and check your butt for bruising. It's much better than that backwards fall where you're airborne for what feels like an hour before WHAMMO! landing on your back, maybe cracking your head on the sidewalk (been there, done that) (in years past, of course).

But the bad thing about the sideways slide onto the sidewalk is that I get covered in snow from head to toe. But only on one side. Which is funny looking when you finally peel yourself up off the ground. If I was amused. Which I wasn't.

Luckily I had a civilized breakfast to get to, once I dusted all the snow off my clothes, my hair, and my pride.

A pastrami and spinach omelet. Leftover from the night before's dinner. So simple. So good.

I got some beautiful looking pastrami for sandwiches...

...but then got to wondering what else I could do with it. Not that there's anything wrong with a pastrami sandwich. Then I found this recipe for pastrami and spinach omelets and thought, "Now, doesn't that look like a nice and easy dinner."

I'm not much of a fan of breakfast. It's too much for so early in the morning. Toast and coffee will do it for me. But I am a fan of breakfast food. It makes the perfect dinner, in my opinion.

This recipe makes four big omelets so you need alot of eggs. And alot of spinach. A heapingly piled skilletful. So much spinach it's like a mountain, enough to make you wonder what you've done but don't worry: it'll soften up and cook down. Toss it with chopped pastrami, some salt and pepper, and some cheese. 

And before you know it, you'll have one of these on your plate:

The leftovers are excellent too.

Pastrami and Spinach Omelets

Serves four

5 tablespoons olive oil
2 (5-oz) bags baby spinach
1/4 lb thinly sliced pastrami, coarsely chopped (3/4 cup)
1 oz finely grated parmesan (1/2 cup) (I added some feta cheese too)
12 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Add spinach all at once and cook, stirring, until wilted, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a colander and drain, pressing lightly. Toss spinach with pastrami, 1/4 cup cheese, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl.

Whisk together 3 eggs and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl until blended. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in an 8-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking. Add whisked eggs and cook, lifting up cooked egg around edge occasionally to let raw egg flow underneath, until omelet is set but top is still slightly moist, about 1 to 2 minutes. Spoon one fourth of spinach mixture over half of omelet and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon cheese. Fold other half of omelet over filling using a heatproof rubber spatula and transfer to a plate. Keep warm, covered with foil.

Make 3 more omelets in same manner with remaining eggs, salt, oil, spinach mixture, and cheese.

April? or in the alternative, Forever Roasted Pork

So one day, a friend is telling me that she packed her skis away for the season, and we're taking the dogs for a little hike in the late afternoon sunshine (are those some happy looking dogs, or what?)...

... and my husband is selecting logs for people to sit on around the firepit this summer, and I'm remarking that finally all the ice has melted in the backyard ...

... and then?

It snowed all weekend long. Look at those forlorn, snow-covered logs around that firepit.

Snowing. All weekend. After months of nary a snowflake.

Will wonders never cease.

I'm not letting it get me down though. This snow is history as soon as the mercury crawls back up on the thermometer. Maybe it will even tamp out some of the fires that have been sparked lately (I was gonna climb that butte the day it caught fire).

Sunday was the perfect day to stay home, get a little painting done, and visit with Mom. She brought along some of her dried tomatoes and red and green bell peppers:

She used these to make a big pot of baked beans for lunch.

She was the queen of the dehydrator when I was little. She even built her own dehydrator -- a big wooden box on stilts with lots of mesh trays that slid out.

There was so much dried fruit and vegetables around back then, to this day I can't even look at a dried banana slice. Take it away.

But some time has passed and I was happy to get the dried tomatoes and bell peppers and will use them with pride.

As if a big pot of baked beans wasn't enough, I also had a big old pork roast roasting away (crocking away?) in the crock pot on the counter. The market had shoulder roasts on sale and I always feel such a sense of accomplishment when buying a huge hunk of meat for a scant $4.

Four dollars!

I modified a recipe for Forever Roasted Pork that I found on Michael Chiarello's website -- I want one of everything that man sells in his online shop.

I sauteed some onions with fresh sage leaves:

And made a rub of pepper, coriander, and fennel seeds.

And rub-a-dub-dubbed the pork all over:

That bone was supposed to be for the dog. I picked this roast out especially with her in mind but when we sliced into the roast we found the bone was a little too small and pointed to give to her.

She'll never know what she missed.

I was so full of beans by the time this roast was falling-apart-tender that I didn't eat too much of it that day, except to nibble a bit here and there. But we really dug in at lunchtime today. I shredded the cold pork, stirred in a little bit of my favorite barbecue sauce and some shredded cheddar cheese, then warmed it up a little and put it between two toasted pieces of bread. I wish I would have had an avocado to slice and add to the mix but I'm avocado-less at the moment.

But I can't complain.

Forever Roasted Pork

Serve six

2 medium onions, peeled and thinly sliced

2 T extra virgin olive oil

1 - 1 1/2 t finely chopped fresh sage leaves

1/2 c chicken broth

4 lb pork shoulder or leg

2 T fennel seeds or ground fennel

2 T dried coriander powder

2 T pepper

Salt and pepper

Preheat the crockpot while you're chopping and slicing and sauteing.

Saute the onions with a pinch of salt and pepper in the olive oil in a large skillet for one minute or so, then add the sage. Saute for about three minutes, then add the onion mixture to the crockpot and pour the broth over the onions.

Stir the fennel, coriander and pepper together to make a rub. Rub the roast generously with the rub ingredients and place the roast on top of the onions in the crockpot. Cook for six hours or more (I switched it back and forth from high to low occasionally) until the roast is falling apart tender.