May 7, 2024

Oven-Roasted Pork Chops with Lemon-Caper Sauce

November 1, 2013 by

 

Where others have a sweet tooth, I have a sour tooth.  I’ve been known to use only vinegar, and skip the oil, when dressing my salad.  I eat cornichons like other people eat bon-bons.  So when I saw this recipe for Oven-Roasted Pork Chops with Lemon-Caper Sauce, I knew I was going to like it.

Using a recipe from my Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook (which I highly recommend!), I made a few changes to work with what I had.  If you don’t have a shallot, feel free to use a red onion – just mince as finely as possible.  These pork chops were easy, quick, and nearly fool-proof.  They were tart and tangy (but not pucker, so if you are not a sour-lover like me, you won’t be put off.)

Oven-Roasted Pork Chops with Lemon-Caper Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 4 pork chops, about 1 1/2 inches thick, trimmed of excess fat
  • 2 tablespoons oil or bacon fat for cooking
  • 1 medium shallot, minced
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
  • 2 tablespoons capers, drained
  • 3 tablespoons butter

 Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 450*F.  Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat, and brown the pork chops on one side, for about 2 minutes.  Flip and brown the other side, another 2 minutes.
  2. Transfer the chops to a foil-lined baking sheet or large, wide baking dish (so they aren’t crowded or touching each other.)  Roast in the oven until the internal temperature reaches 140*F on a thermometer, about 15 minutes, turning them over halfway through cooking time.  Remove from the oven, place on a platter, and cover with aluminum foil. Let the chops rest for about 5 minutes, and check to make sure the internal temperature has reached 150*F.
  3. While the chops are in the oven, add the shallot to the skillet you cooked the pork chops in, and cook over medium heat until softened, about 30 seconds (about 2 minutes if you are using an onion.)
  4. Increase the heat and add the broth, stirring to scrape up any bits stuck to the pan.  Add the lemon juice and capers and cook until the sauce reduces to about 1/3 cup, about 4 minutes.
  5. Off the heat, whisk the butter into the sauce, and pour over the pork chops.

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

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Meatloaf

September 27, 2013 by

Meatloaf Slices Resized

 

This Meatloaf started out following one of Martha Stewart’s recipes, but over the years I’ve kind of made it my own.  I think what makes this a great meatloaf is that it’s not actually baked in a loaf pan.  It’s a freeform meat sculpture!  But making it on a sheet pan instead of in a loaf pan lets the fat drain away, and all the sides get nice and crusty.  It’s easy, it’s a crowd pleaser, and it doesn’t take long to put together.  Let’s get into it!

Meatloaf

Ingredients:

  • 1 small onion
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 2 stalks celery
  • 1 carrot
  • 4 slices bacon
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herbs, or oregano
  • 2 pounds ground beef
  • 2 eggs
  • a big squirt of ketchup (maybe 2 tablespoons)
  • a big squirt of yellow mustard (maybe 2 tablespoons)
  • 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce, your choice (Sriracha or Tabasco, whatever you have)
  • 1/3 cup coconut flour (you could use 1/2 cup bread crumbs if you like, or even ground oats)
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 tablespoons ketchup
  • 3 tablespoons mustard
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar

 

Let's bake this bad boy!

Let’s bake this bad boy!

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400*F.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
  2. Add the onion, garlic, celery, and carrot to the food processor and blend until combined and kind of pureed.  You don’t want any big chunks.  Empty the veggie puree into a very large mixing bowl, then add the bacon to the food processor.  Blend until ground and add to the veggie puree.
  3. Add the rest of the ingredients—up through the salt and pepper—to the mixing bowl.  Mix with your hands until combined.  Dump out the meatloaf mix onto the baking sheet and form a loaf with your hands.  You want it to be long and flat, kind of like a loaf of French bread.  Smooth it out and make it even.
  4. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining ketchup, mustard, and brown sugar.  Frost the top of the meatloaf with the ketchup mixture.
  5. Bake for one hour, or until internal temperature reaches 165*F.  My kids eat this with lots of additional ketchup!
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Korean-American Pork Ribs (Dwaeji Galbi)

September 20, 2013 by

 

Korean-American Pork Ribs

Mmmm, ribs!  I love them so, especially when they’re sloppy and tangy, even though I hate getting messy.  My mother-in-law made her version of this Korean dish – and while they were tasty, and chewy, they were too spicy for my taste, and WAY too hot for the children!  I wanted the best of both worlds:  tangy American-style, and spicy Korean-style.  I think I made it work.  These are my Korean-American Pork Ribs!

I found the rack of ribs really cheap at my Korean grocery store.  And instead of using the traditional Korean hot chili paste (gochujang), I used a chipotle in adobo sauce.  It added just the right amount of heat without being overwhelming, and also gave everything a smoky flavor that you can’t get without a real wood chip smoker.  Everything else is pretty easy to find at the store.  If you have any leftover ginger, peel it and freeze it.  It will keep forever in there, and will be easier to grate when it’s frozen.

Koreans eat these as snacks or with lots of vegetable ban chans.  They’re also a bar food favorite, so try these with a cold beer, if you like!

Korean-American Pork Ribs  (Dwaeji Galbi)

Ingredients:

  • 3 pounds pork ribs
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1- or 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 1/2 onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
  • 1 chipotle in adobo sauce (or more if you want it spicy!)
  • diced green onion and sesame seeds, for garnish

Directions:

  1. Cut the ribs apart into individual pieces.  Place in a very large bowl.
  2. In a food processor or blender, add sugar, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, onion, garlic, ketchup, mustard, and chipotle.  Blend until smooth.  Pour over ribs, toss to coat, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours – overnight, if you can.
  3. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 400*F.  Place a baking rack over a baking sheet lined with foil (this make clean up much easier!)  Bake for about 45 minutes, turning the ribs and basting then with leftover marinade every 15 minutes.  Garnish with diced green onions and sesame seeds.

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

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Salad Nicoise

August 16, 2013 by

Salad Nicoise small

 

Salad Nicoise sounds fancy, doesn’t it?  It makes me picture Paris fashion, little bistros with snooty waiters, and dining on vin and fromage by candlelight.  In reality, Salad Nicoise is just a dressed-up tuna salad!  This is one of my favorite dinner salads, combining satisfying protein, crunchy vegetables, and a few extra surprises.

Nothing too exotic to buy at the store here.  You probably don’t have Nicoise olives at your store (I’ve never seen them grocery shopping around Los Angeles), but you can easily find a jar of juicy black Kalamata olives.  I use romaine lettuce (it’s my absolute favorite!) but you can use any green lettuce, and I’ve eaten this on baby spinach too.  You don’t want to use anything too bitter, though, so stay away from a salad mix that has a lot of frisee, arugula, or escarole.  I didn’t have any in my fridge, but a couple of teaspoons of minced parsley would be nice sprinkled over the top.  You can use this as a jumping off point, and add in other ingredients you like:  tomatoes, diced bell pepper, pistachios, or capers.  Let your imagination run wild, French-style!

Salad Nicoise

(Makes 2 dinner salads.  Serve with bread and white wine if desired.)

Ingredients:

  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or wine vinegar (red or white is fine) plus one tablespoon reserved for potatoes
  • a pinch of sugar or one drop of honey
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 5-oz. bag of salad mix or 2 heads of romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
  • 3 or 4 hard-boiled eggs
  • 2 cans tuna, drained
  • 1 large red- or white-skinned potato (Russet potatoes aren’t as nice and fall apart – save them for baked potatoes)
  • 8 oz. fresh green beans
  • 1 jar kalamata or other large black olives
  • salt and pepper
  • optional:  minced parsley, basil or tarragon to sprinkle over top

Directions:

  1. Make the vinaigrette:  In a small container with a lid, add the mustard, 2 tablespoons lemon juice or vinegar, pinch of sugar, and olive oil, and shake to combine.  (The pinch of sugar offsets the mustard and vinegar – you don’t need to add it, but I think it mellows out the dressing a little.)
  2. Boil a large pot of water on the stove.  Wash the potato and green beans.  Chop the potato into one-inch chunks, and cut the green beans into one-inch pieces.  Add to the boiling water and simmer the potatoes for about ten minutes, then add the green beans and cook for 3 minutes more.  You should be able to just pierce a potato with a knife or a fork, but you don’t want the potatoes to break apart.  When the potatoes are done and just cooked through, drain the water, and sprinkle with the reserved tablespoon of vinegar.  Set aside.
  3. While the potatoes are cooking, make a bed of the lettuce in 2 large salad bowls.  Peel the hardboiled eggs and slice into quarters, lengthwise.  Drain the cans of tuna and flake with a fork.  Layer the tuna and eggs over the lettuce.
  4. Top the tuna with green beans, potatoes, and olives.  Season with salt and pepper.  Drizzle with the dressing and optional chopped herbs.

 

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

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Thai Coconut Chicken Soup (Tom Kha Gai)

July 12, 2013 by

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

I am convinced that every culture, every civilization, has a chicken soup recipe.  Nothing else satisfies or feels so much like a hug to the tummy like a big bowl of chicken soup made by someone you love.  If you are like me and are a frugal girl, you buy a whole chicken at least once a week.  I remove the breasts and legs and cook them one night, then cook the carcass for broth and about two cups of shredded chicken left on the body.  If you have a chicken body and the desire to try something new, read on – here comes Thai Coconut Chicken Soup, also known as Tom Kha Gai!

Now that you know how to make coconut milk from scratch, you’ll need about 2 cups of homemade coconut milk, or you can use one can of packaged coconut milk.  There are a few other unusual ingredients for this recipe:  ginger, cilantro, and fish sauce.  Ginger really isn’t that out of the ordinary, and goes great in smoothies and peach dishes; but if you aren’t going to use it soon, you can peel whatever is left and freeze it to use later.  Cilantro shows up in many different cuisines, so if you don’t want to waste half a bunch of cilantro, you have many options (like Mexican or Indian food), or try this  and  this.  Fish sauce is a savory liquid distillation of anchovy, sugar and salt.  If you can’t find it, you can still make the soup, but fish sauce is the secret ingredient that really brings everything together.  It keeps in the fridge forever, and is a great flavor booster for clam chowder or a substitute for anchovy paste (think Caesar salad.)  The only other ingredients you need are a chicken, some limes, and mushrooms.  Thai restaurants use straw mushrooms, and you can find them in a can, but I used dried shiitake mushrooms here, and they’re delicious.  You could also use cremini mushrooms.

Try this with Jasmine rice and a green salad for a light but satisfying dinner!

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup (Tom Kha Gai)

Ingredients:

  • 1 chicken body, breasts and legs removed (or use two cooked chicken breasts, diced, plus 3 cups of chicken broth)
  • 1 large piece of ginger, 2 or 3 inches long, peeled and bashed with the handle of your knife
  • 1 can coconut milk, or about 2 cups homemade coconut milk
  • 1 ounce dried mushrooms, broken into little pieces, or 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, chopped
  • 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon or so fish sauce (to taste – if you don’t have fish sauce, use salt)
  • 2 limes, juiced

Directions:

  1. In a large pot, cook the chicken carcass with 4 cups of water and the peeled, bashed ginger, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken to a large bowl; shred meat from bones and set aside. Strain the broth into another bowl, discarding ginger. Wash the pot and return to stove. Over medium low, add the dried mushrooms to the chicken broth and cook ten minutes. (If using fresh mushrooms, add them in Step 2.)
  2. Add back the chicken to the broth, and pour in coconut milk (and fresh mushrooms, if using).  Cook until simmering.  Add chopped cilantro, fish sauce, and lime juice, and stir to combine.  Taste for seasoning – may need more salt, or you may like more lime (you can add the zest of the lime too, if you want a stronger citrus flavor.)  Serve hot with more chopped cilantro.  You can also stir in a little hot sauce or chili flakes if you like!

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

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Balsamic Roasted Chicken by Dana Kim

May 17, 2013 by

Balsamic Roasted Chicken

 

I had a hard time figuring out what to call this recipe.  In my head, I call it “Quarter Cup Chicken,” and you’ll see why when you look at the ingredients; but that wasn’t very descriptive.  This is one of those everyday, basic dishes that you end up falling in love with for its simplicity and ease of preparation.

I didn’t have any on hand this time around, but I like to add in quartered onions and baby potatoes, cut in half.  The onions get soft and smooth, the potatoes get a little roasted crust, and they both play nicely with the chicken.  Feel free to make this recipe with all drumsticks, or all breasts—whatever you like best.  Just make sure you use bone-in, skin-on chicken.  Also, dried rosemary works fine…but fresh rosemary really makes this dish sing!

Balsamic Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary needles
  • 1 chicken, cut into pieces (or any combination of bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces)

Directions:

  1. In a large Ziploc bag, add the soy sauce, vinegar, honey, oil, and rosemary.  Squish around to combine, then add the chicken pieces.  Squish around some more, making sure all the chicken pieces are coated in the marinade.  Refrigerate for 1 – 8 hours.  (You could do this in the morning and cook it at night, but I wouldn’t let it marinate overnight, or the chicken might break down too much.)
  2. Preheat oven to 400*F.  In a large Dutch oven or roasting pan, empty the bag – get all the marinade in there too!  You can add quartered red or white onions, halved baby potatoes, 2-inch chunks of regular potato, or even large chunks of sweet potato.  Toss to coat everything.  Bake for 45 minutes, or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 170*F.

That’s it!  I served this with roasted Brussels Sprouts and Korean Pear.

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipes, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

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