Pork Chops with Bing Cherry Salsa

This recipe was in a magazine add for Turning Leaf wine. For some reason I cut it out of the magazine- and I'm glad that I did. This recipe is fancy-looking and will impress dinner guests. And it's pretty simple to make too. Double bonus!

INGREDIENTS

4 center-cut pork chops (bone in)

1 small garlic clove, minced

2 scallions, white and green parts, sliced thin

1 cup pitted Bing cherries, cut into quarters

1 tsp minced fresh jalapeno chile

2 tsp chopped cilantro

1 ½ tsp sugar

3 TBS balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper

Olive oil, for brushing

DIRECTIONS

Allow pork chops to come to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

Make Salsa: combine garlic, scallions, cherries, jalapeno, cilantro, sugar and vinegar together in bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Pat pork chops dry and season generously with salt and pepper. Heat grill to high heat. Lightly brush the pork chops with olive oil and grill about 4 minutes on each side, or until just firm and barely pink inside.

Serve pork chops hot, topped with salsa.

VERDICT

I've never made "bone-in" porkchops before, but they seemed to hold the moisture in much better than traditional boneless chops. And the tenderloin part of the cut was REALLY good too!

The salsa doesn't taste like cherries to me, the cilantro and balsamic vinegar are both really overpowering flavors. But it is delicious.

Cabo Chicken

Ah, summertime.

Most of my new recipes from here until September will be things done on the grill. Yes, it might get monotonous, but our summers are so short here in Upstate New York! Today's recipe is quick and easy. Sure, you could just as easily use a bottle of marinade, but with a recipe this fast and fresh you're not going to want to take the easy way out.

INGREDIENTS

½ cup fresh lime juice (5-6 fresh limes) I cheated- I used a bottle of lime juice. Same thing.

¼ cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp crushed red pepper

Salt

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

DIRECTIONS

1. In a bowl, whisk together lime juice, olive oil, garlic, crushed red pepper, and 1 tsp salt. In a large zip lock bag place chicken and lime marinade. Seal bag and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight, turning bag several times.

2. Preheat broiler, setting rack 4 inches from source of heat, or prepare outdoor grill for direct grilling on medium.

3. Remove chicken from marinade, discard marinade. Place chicken on rack in broiling pan or on hot grill rack, and cook 12-15 minutes or until juices run clear.

VERDICT

Quick, easy, and the chicken is SO tender. I don't know if it was the cooking or the juices, but it was delicious.

Momofuku's Milkbar Compost Cookies

Momo... what?

Allow me to explain. I've watched "Regis & Kelly" religiously twice in my life. First when I was on maternity leave with my son, and again this winter when home on maternity leave for my daughter. On one of the shows they learned how to make cookies from a famous NYC bakery called Milkbar... and I've been dying to try these myself ever since.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter (that's two sticks, unsalted)
1 cup granulated sugar3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 Tbsp corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs1 3/4 cups all purpose flour2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsps Kosher salt
1 1/2 cups your favorite baking ingredients (options: chocolate chips, Raisenettes, Rollos, Cocoa Krispies)
1 1/2 cups your favorite snack foods (chips, pretzels, etc.)

For my recipe I used just about everything of value I could find in my cupboard. Ok, I might have gone out and bought Fritos especially for this recipe, but the rest I had in my pantry. For sweets I used M&M’s, Reeses’ Pieces (ok, I might have gone out to buy them too), and white chocolate chips.

For salty, the Fritos and Goldfish.

And I threw in half a cup each of Rice Krispies and oats too (I wanted to give these things SOME nutritional value!)

DIRECTIONS:

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugars and corn syrup on medium high for two to three minutes until fluffy and pale yellow in color.

So… I don’t have a stand mixer. They’re stinkin’ expensive. I could have put one on my wedding registry, but that would be greedy, you know? The most expensive item on our registry was the Wedgewood china, and that was something we could use. And we’ve used it… not at all. So maybe the stand mixer would have gotten more use. Regardless, I put my poor electric mixer into use for this recipe.

On a lower speed, add eggs and vanilla to incorporate. Increase mixing speed to medium-high and start a timer for 10 minutes. During this time the sugar granules will fully dissolve, the mixture will become an almost pale white color and your creamed mixture will double in size.

Umm… 10 minutes? Really? I made it for 9 before my poor little overworked hand mixer started smelling like something was burning. Maybe there’s something to be said for that big expensive stand mixer.

When time is up, on a lower speed, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix 45 - 60 seconds just until your dough comes together and all remnants of dry ingredients have incorporated. Do not walk away from your mixer during this time or you will risk over mixing the dough. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.

On the same low speed, add in the hodgepodge of your favorite baking ingredients and mix for 30 - 45 seconds until they evenly mix into the dough. Add in your favorite snack foods last, paddling again on low speed until they are just incorporated.

Cover dough and put in the refridgerator for at least 1 hour, and up to 24 hours. There are lots of comments out there about people who didn’t cool the dough long enough and the cookies spreading like crazy. I know the dough looks delicious, but be patient!

Heat the oven to 400 F. Bake 9 to 11 minutes. While in the oven, the cookies will puff, crackle and spread.

At 9 minutes, the cookies should be browned on the edges and just beginning to brown towards the center. Leave the cookies in the oven for the additional minutes if these colors don't match up and your cookies still seem pale and doughy on the surface.

Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pan before transferring to a plate or an airtight container or tin for storage. At room temp, they'll keep five days.

VERDICT:

Let me start by saying that Kelly Ripa does NOT eat these cookies. 2 bars of butter? 2 cups of sugar? A cup and a half of sweets? That woman does not stay 90 pounds by eating these cookies.

The cookies are good, I just don't know if they're worth all the work. But maybe with that stand mixer it's not so bad. The crunch from the Fritos and Goldfish is really interesting. I'm definitely going to try the real thing when we head to NYC next. Until then... I'll probably make them again, for no other reason than I can tell people "I put FRITOS in my cookies!!"

Note: These cookies get even better- and crispier- as the days go on.

Glazed Shrimp and Asparagus

A new recipe- finally! If you really want to know why it takes me so long to upload new recipes, this is one of the reasons: Yup, that's a pound of pasta all over the floor. But on to this week's (or is this the only new recipe this MONTH?) recipe:

INGREDIENTS

• 4 ounces uncooked whole wheat angel hair pasta
• 1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/3 cup water
• 1-1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1-1/2 teaspoons honey
• 1-1/2 teaspoons peanut or canola oil, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 pound uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2- to 3-in. lengths
• 1-1/2 teaspoons minced fresh gingerroot
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1-1/2 teaspoons sesame seeds

Cooking tip: (yes, you are actually going to learn something on this blog! Well, aside from what I've already taught you- go easy on shots of Absolut when the recipe calls for vodka IN the pasta... and lock your pantry door to keep kids from spilling an entire box of pasta on the floor)

This is asparagus. Obviously. And unfortunately the picture doesn't really show what I was trying to get a picture of. This asparagus is beginning to grow flowers. When the asparagus is over-ripe (or has been sitting in your refridgerator for too long) it begins to grow shoots out of the top. When it does this it tastes gross! So don't eat it.

There, don't you feel smarter today for reading this blog? No? Really? Ok, whatever, lets get on to the directions.
DIRECTIONS

Cook pasta according to directions. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch, water, soy sauce and honey until smooth; set aside.

In a large skillet, stir-fry shrimp in 1/2 tsp peanut oil and sesame oil until shrimp turn pink. Remove and keep warm. Stir-fry asparagus in remaining peanut oil for 2 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic, pepper flakes and sesame seeds, stir fry 2 minutes longer. Stir cornstarch mixture and add to the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until sauce is thickened. Add shrimp and heat through. Draid pasta and serve with shrimp mixture.

VERDICT

As soon as I got out the dark sesame oil, ginger root, and soy sauce, Mark said "oh, another Asian dish? Great."

I think there was sarcasm in his voice.

He thinks that all recipes with those ingredients taste the exact same. I disagree.

But I did agree with him that this recipe was less than amazing. It wasn't bad... it just wasn't great. Personally I don't make very good dinners with raw shrimp. They always turn out chewy. And the asparagus really wasn't a good compliment.

I probably won't make it again. But there's nothing stopping you from trying this while asparagus is in season!