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).    

Thyme-Roasted Sweet Potatoes / Pork Chops with Mango-Basil Sauce

I had this one lonely mango leftover from my first box of CSA organic fruits and vegetables. Should I eat it as a snack? Or should I do something special with it?

I hopped on the internet and found this recipe for pork chops with mango-basil sauce and knew it was meant to be. I had all the ingredients handy -- even pork chops in the freezer -- except for the basil. Had to go to three different stores looking for it! Am I the only one cursed with bad herb luck? It's almost laughable sometimes when I scour the produce sections for something like fresh marjoram and there's none to be found. The next weekend I'm right back at it looking for basil, but there's nothing but marjoram on the shelf.

It always seems to work that way for me.

Mango puree:

It gets all cooked up with garlic and jalopeno and thinly-sliced basil leaves (which I finally found). Then stir in some soy sauce, chicken broth, and brown sugar. I had high hopes for it -- it smelled divine. But when I sampled it, there was something lacking. Like one note missing from an otherwise flawless tune. I had another sample spoon. Hm. There was something missing. Maybe the culprit was my chickening out and not adding the entire diced jalapeno -- it was an extra large jalapeno and it just seemed like too much to add to a single pureed mango!

Not knowing what else to do, I threw in a couple more tablespoons of brown sugar and soy sauce and...

Perfection!

   

Next time, I'll have to make it as written and see what I think. But for now I was very pleased with the results.

I teamed the chops up with some thyme-roasted sweet potatoes. They were heavenly, tossed with olive oil, garlic, fresh thyme leaves, and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes, then roasted in the oven. They were even better when dipped into some of the aforementioned mango sauce. The pork chops and sweet potatoes were a great combination, sweet and flavorful, one soft, one chewy... the leftovers I had for lunch the next day were even better.

I think the only member of the household not happy with these recipes was the pooch...

I thought for sure the pork chops I pulled out of the freezer had bones but I grabbed the boneless ones by mistake. I must have bought those during my pre-pooch days. Now, my trips to the meat department involve me poking hunks of meat to see if there are bones inside for the dog to gnaw on after dinner. She's given me an all new perspective on the meat department.

Here's the pork chop recipe exactly as written. If you make it this way, with the whole jalopeno, you'll have to leave a comment and tell me how it turned out.

Pork Chops with Mango Basil Sauce

Serves four

1 small mango, peeled, pitted

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 jalapeño chili, seeded, minced
1/3 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
3/4 cup canned low-salt chicken broth
1 1/2 tablespoons golden brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce

4 6- to 8-ounce center-cut pork chops (about 1 inch thick)

Puree mango in processor. Set aside 1/2 cup puree (reserve any remaining puree for another use).

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and jalapeño, then basil; sauté just until basil wilts, about 1 minute. Add broth, brown sugar and soy sauce. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low and simmer 3 minutes. Gradually whisk in cup mango puree. Simmer until sauce thickens and coats spoon, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Prepare barbecue or preheat broiler. Brush pork with 2 teaspoons oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill or broil pork until just cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to plates.

Rewarm sauce over low heat, stirring occasionally. Drizzle over pork.   

Thyme-Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Serves 3 to 4

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch-thick rounds
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup fresh thyme leaves, plus 6 thyme sprigs for garnish
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 450°F. In large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and toss. Arrange potato slices in single layer on heavyweight rimmed baking sheet or in 13x9-inch baking dish. Place on top rack of oven and roast until tender and slightly browned, about 40 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature, garnished with thyme sprigs. 

Potato Soup

I'm taking part in Nablopomo this month, attempting to write a post each day during the month of November. At first, I thought I'd try a new recipe each day and post about it, no matter whether I thought it was good or bad. Then I reconsidered and decided to crack open my three-ring binder full of favorite recipes and post a different one each day. Usually on this weblog, I focus on trying out new recipes rather than shining a spotlight on my favorites that I make again and again.

Here's recipe number one...

This is a very simple potato soup that I make on a regular basis. It's especially good this time of year, when there's loads of locally-grown potatoes on the grocery store shelves, freshly dug from the rich soil here in the valley. It's like a cross between a soup and a chowder. I fill it with fresh vegetables -- would it be harping on the whole organic thing to encourage you to use as many organic vegetables as possible?

No?

Well, might as well add some organic chicken broth while you're at it. Organic milk wouldn't hurt either. And before you know it, you have yourself a $30 pot of potato soup.

Well... not quite that expensive. Totally worth it.

The soup is really good without it, but if you want to be really naughty you can stir in cheese and ham. It starts out brothy, leading you to wonder if you'll have to throw half of the soup into the blender to puree. But as it simmers, it thickens up nicely and before you know it you have yourself a big bowl of soup perfect for this time of year.

Potato Soup

Serves four to six depending on how big the bowl

2 T olive oil

2 carrots, chopped

One stalk of celery, chopped

1/2 c onion, chopped

1/2 t dried thyme

3 T flour

2 c chicken broth

2 c milk -- 2% works fine, I haven't tried it with skim

2 good-sized potatoes, peeled and diced

1/2 c frozen or fresh peas

1/2 c frozen or fresh corn

Optional:

1 c shredded cheese

1/2 c chopped ham

Chopped fresh parsley

Heat oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add carrot, celery, onion, and thyme. Saute for 5 minutes or so, until vegetables are soft. Sprinkle flour over veggies and stir for two minutes. Gradually stir in broth, then milk. Add potato, peas, and corn, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until potato is soft, about 20 minutes.

To make it naughty, you can add the cheese, stirring until cheese is melted and smooth. Then stir in the ham.

Sprinkle with parsley, salt and pepper.

Turkey Shepherd's Pie

Weekends, lovely weekends. I spent mine winnowing clothes from my closet and listing a whole bunch on eBay (so I can go out and buy something new?). Buying new work clothes for the husband. Oh, and a new cellphone too -- note: cellphones and the washing machine do not mix. Laughing, as he takes his new work clothes out of the dryer and snuggles up with them happily and warmly on the couch like a kid who insists on sleeping with his new shoes resting on his pillow. Apparently, new Carhartts for him, it's like new cashmere for me.

What an appropriate time of year to cook up something like a shepherd's pie. This recipe is from that library book I keep talking about -- one of these days I'll move on to the second book I checked out, but not quite yet. I'm still lingering over this one.

I just looked shepherd's pie up at Wikipedia and, boy, did I ever open a can of worms, wiggly and wriggly enough to rival even the pasty/pastie post a few days ago -- Finnish, Cornish, Irish, English, they all lay claim to cooking up the pasty first. Well, there's no controversy over where the so-named shepherd's pie comes from -- it's a traditional English dish, traditionally made with lamb. Meat and vegetables on the bottom. Mashed potatoes on top. Roasted in the oven. A good way to make leftovers more appealing. Just as good when starting from scratch. What's not to like about the shepherd's pie?

So the British have their sheperd thing going on and people all over the world riff on the pie and give it a new name. In North America, it's traditionally made with ground beef and corn and called a cottage pie or a cowboy pie. The British concur -- if it's made with beef, it's a cottage pie. If it's made with fish it's called a fisherman's pie. If it's made with a cream sauce then it's an admiral's pie (I think the admirals are onto something -- must look up a recipe for that). French Canadians have their own version called a pâté chinois. And then you have your shepherdess pie which is vegetarian.

To further muddy the waters, my shepherd's pie is made with ground turkey. Certainly not a sheherd's pie to a traditionalist but don't knock it till you try it. Ground turkey is less expensive than lamb, and less fattening than beef. It's packed with lean protein and vegetables.

The filling:

The cheesy mashed potatoes:

Assembled and sprinkled with more cheese and ready to go in the oven:

All finished:

Twas good! Here's my version of Art Smith's recipe -- I cut the recipe for the filling in half but made a whole recipe of mashed buttermilk potatoes, added some rutabaga because I had one in the fridge, added cheese to the mashed potatoes and sprinkled more on top for good measure... there are endless possibilities for this recipe! And call me crazy (go ahead) but I think boiled cubes of rutabaga taste pretty good all on their own. A few made it into the frying pan. I scarfed down the rest.

Turkey Shepherd's Pie

Serves four

2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

1 small rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

1 pound ground turkey

1 cup chopped onion

1 carrot, peeled and cubed

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

Two roma tomatoes, chopped

1 c frozen peas

1 t chile powder

1/2 t cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 c buttermilk

1 c shredded Cheddar cheese

Bring a pot of salted water to boil and add rutabagas. Cook until just tender. Remove from pot  with a slotted spoon and add potatoes to same boiling water, cooking until just tender. Drain in a colander and set aside. I boiled the rutabagas separate from the potatoes because they're kind of hard to tell apart if they're all thrown together -- I wanted the rutabaga in the filling and the potatoes mashed. I chopped the rutabagas into smaller chunks once they cooled off a little.

Meanwhile, cook turkey in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until turkey  loses its pinkness, about 7 minutes, breaking up meat with your spatula. Add onion, carrots, celery, and garlic and cook until vegetables soften, about 5 minutes. Sitr in tomatoes, peas, rutabaga, chile powder and cumin and bring to a simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spoon turkey mixture into a large pie plate. Mash the potatoes with buttermilk, add some shredded cheese and season with salt and pepper. Spread mashed potatoes over turkey and sprinkle with more cheese. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until cheese is melted and browned.