Pan Sauteed Pork Chops with Braised Fennel and Gorgonzola

Simplicity is the order of the day around here. This time of year and the year that we are having dictates some sort of simplicity would be welcome anywhere.

And that is the beauty of this dish.

This easy method of cooking pork chops on top of the stove presented last year by Terry B of Blue Kitchen makes a flavorful chop.

The addition of braised fennel and salty sweet Gorgonzola run under the broiler at the last minute takes the chop to an elegant finish.

Easy.

Flavorful.

Delish.

Simple.


Braised Fennel with Gorgonzola
Adapted from Kitchen Conversations by Joyce Goldstein

A couple of good swirls extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp butter
2 small heads fennel, sliced thinly
1 tbsp garlic confit, smashed
A good splash dry white wine
½ cup homemade chicken stock
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 ounce Gorgonzola, crumbled


Heat a medium saute pan and add the swirls of extra virgin olive oil. And butter. Add the fennel and garlic confit. Cook over medium heat until golden, about 10 minutes. Add the wine and let reduce down, about five minutes. Add the chicken stock and cover the pan. Cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove top and let simmer until chops are done.


Pan Sautéed Pork Chops
Adapted from Blue Kitchen
1 tsp fennel seed, crushed
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 to 4 bone-in pork chops, about 8 ounces each
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 tbsp butter

Heat a large cast iron (or ovenproof) skillet to medium. Add olive oil. Terry says the oil will start to shimmer (and it does!), stir in fennel seed and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Pat chops dry and season on both sides with salt and pepper. Increase heat to medium-high and add the pork chops , directly on top of herb/garlic mixture. Cover pan and cook chops undisturbed for 5 minutes. Turn chops, cover pan, reduce heat to medium and cook until just cooked through, about 5 minutes for chops 3/4-inch thick.

When chops are done, put braised fennel on top and sprinkle Gorgonzola over the top. Run under the broiler until Gorgonzola melts, no more than five minutes tops.

Enjoy!!

Serves 2-4 depending on how many chops you cook!

One Year Ago on Feeding Groom

Pan Sauteed Pork Chops with Braised Fennel and Gorgonzola

Lamb Curry

I could tell you that I took a grand picture of this divine lamb curry elegantly served on fine china, possibly the best pic I've done yet, but it didn’t turn out and you would believe me.

But I didn’t.

I took pictures all the way up to when I added the stock and whisked in the Greek yogurt.


And it curdled.

Time stopped. Hysteria ensued.

Cats hid under the piano.

But wait, what would any self respecting food blogger do?

Adapt.

Talk about the incredible flavors this lamb curry has.

Cardamon, cinnamon, bay leaf, garam masala, ginger and garlic… spicy cloves, onion, tomato, smoky hot cayenne.

Talk the ease of prep. Slam bam thank you ma’am. Easy peasy. Cooks like a dream.

And vow to make again til the yogurt whisking becomes second nature.


Lamb Curry
Adapted from Sue L.’s 2002 version in Recipezaar

2 lbs boneless lamb, cut into nice chunks
A couple of good swirls extra virgin olive oil
1 large sweet yellow onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 large cinnamon stick
1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
4 whole cloves
1 tbsp ground cardamom
2 tbsp chopped fresh garlic
1 large spoonful garlic confit or 4 big fat cloves garlic, smashed
1 smallish green chile, seeded and chopped (I used jalapeno)
Splash of water
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp garam masala
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup chopped fresh tomato
½ cup Greek yogurt
3 cups chicken stock (if you have lamb stock or beef stock you could use it or just water)
Chopped fresh cilantro
Chutney

In a good sized Dutch oven, heat the swirls of extra virgin olive oil over medium high heat and add the bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon stick, cloves and peppercorns. When the bay leaves start to cook and release their aromas, reduce the heat to medium, add the onions and cook for about 15 minutes until the onions are golden. In a blender, put ginger, garlic, green chile, and a splash of water. Grind to make a paste.

Raise heat to medium high, add the lamb and the ginger paste and combine well. Season the lamb with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook for about 20 minutes. If the lamb starts to stick, add a bit of liquid to the pan. In my case it was a bit of Shiraz for lack of anything else nearby.

Add turmeric, garam masala, cayenne, tomatoes and coriander and another splash of nearby liquid (aka Shiraz) to keep from sticking and cook for five minutes. Remove lamb from pan and add the stock, raising the heat to high and reduce sauce down about half. Whisk the yogurt into the sauce, add lamb back into the pan and heat over low til flavors blend and you’ve quit freaking out over the yogurt curdling.

Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro.

Serve with jasmine rice, some wondrous homemade mango chutney and candlelight.

Serves 4.

One Year Ago on Feeding Groom

Lamb Curry

FG's Chicken Fajita Pasta

Comfort food.

Sometimes you need it because you’ve had a bad day at work.

Sometimes you need it because trying to create something exotic and grand to eat seems positively akin to having a bad day at work.

Then again, sometimes you need it because, well, it’s familiar, tasty, easy, and comforting.

Comforting because you’ll probably have the ingredients in your pantry and freezer.

A little Mexican, a little Italian, a lot of good.

Comfort food.



FG’s Chicken Fajita Pasta

1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp medium chile powder
1 tbsp Spanish hot paprika
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
1-½ tsp garlic powder
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into long strips
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into long strips
1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into long strips
1 medium Spanish onion, cut in half and then cut into strips
A couple of good swirls extra virgin olive oil
5 boneless chicken thighs, cut into strips
1 14 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
Penne for three people, ready to cook
Shredded sharp cheddar cheese
An avocado, peeled and cut up (if you like)
A handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
Your favorite salsa
Greek yogurt or sour cream

Combine seasonings in small bowl. Rub into the chicken thigh pieces and let sit while you cook the veggies. Swirl extra virgin olive oil in cast iron pan and when oil is wavy add the onion and peppers and cook until soft. Remove from pan and add a bit more olive oil. Add the chicken pieces and cook on one side til golden and turn and cook on the other side.

Start the pasta water and when boiling add the penne and cook 10 minutes.

When the chicken is done, add the peppers and onions back to the cast iron pan and the black beans. Let simmer until pasta is done.

Drain the pasta, reserving ½ cup of the cooking water. Add pasta to the chicken and veggie mix along with the reserved pasta water. Stir well and cover for five minutes over low heat to allow pasta to absorb the flavors.

Serve with shredded sharp cheddar cheese, avocado, cilantro, chopped tomatoes, your favorite salsa and a blop of Greek yogurt or sour cream.

Serves 3 generously.

One Year Ago on Feeding Groom

FG's Chicken Fajita Pasta

Chili Rubbed Short Ribs with Kale

The last weekend of November, cold and damp.

Warm, toasty fire.

Spicy smells in the kitchen for hours.

A good book.

An easy meal with inspiration from Bobby Flay.

Not a turkey in sight.

We’re thankful.

Chile Rubbed Short Ribs with Kale
Adapted from Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill Cookbook

1 Tbsp medium hot chile powder
1 Tbsp ancho chili powder
1 Tbsp chipotle chili powder
Two good pinches coarse salt
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp smoked sweet paprika
2 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
½ large red onion, coarsely chopped
½ large Vidalia onion, coarsely chopped
3 pounds bone in short ribs
3 large carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup red wine
4 cups chicken stock
6 sprigs fresh thyme
1 large spoonful garlic confit
1 bunch kale, chopped


Preheat oven to 325.

Mix together the chile powders, salt, cinnamon, paprika and pepper in bowl. Rub the spice mix into one side of the ribs. Heat a couple of good swirls extra virgin olive oil in Dutch oven until wavy. When wavy, add the short ribs to the pan and cook until a crust forms on all sides. Remove from pan.

Add the onions, garlic confit, carrots, and celery. Cook until golden and add the wine. Bring to a boil and reduce down til wine is almost gone and then add the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Add the ribs to pan and cover.

Put in oven and cook until meat is tender and falls off the bone. 2-2-½ hours.

Remove short ribs from pan and defat the sauce. Place over medium high heat and add kale. Cook for 15 minutes. Lower heat to medium and add short ribs back to pan, heat for about 10 minutes and serve. Wonderful with smashed potatoes.

Serves 4 generously.

One Year Ago on Feeding Groom

Chili Rubbed Short Ribs with Kale

Spinach Lasagna

I have a couple of dishes I used to make often.

Years ago.

Spinach Lasagna and Beef Stroganoff.

Both fabulous, but haven’t really come to mind to make in a long time.

You know how you find other things to cook and old standbys sometimes get lost in the shuffle.

Groom heard about my lasagna. Off and on, since we met, he has asked me to make it for him.

Sometimes not so subtle in his requests.

“ When are you going to make your lasagna?”
“I’m having knee surgery and I’ll recover faster if you make your lasagna, don’t you think?”
“We have some spinach, are you going to make lasagna? “
“Of course, if you’re not in the mood to make lasagna, I could eat Beef Stroganoff instead.”

I gave in.
I made it for him.

Now, I hear “When are you going to make it again. That was too good.”
“I’m feeling like having lasagna, what do you think?”

I froze enough to keep him at bay for a few meals.

He mentioned Beef Stroganoff today.

Help.


Spinach Lasagna
Most Liberally adapted from The Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas

Make sauce:

1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
½ large Vidalia onion coarsely chopped
1 large spoonful garlic confit
A couple of good swirls of extra virgin olive oil
Handful of fresh basil
1 tbsp dried Turkish oregano
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
2-½ cups San Marzano tomatoes and their juice , pureed in the food processor
1 glass red wine

Cover dried mushrooms with 1 cup boiling water and let sit for 20 minutes.
Strain through paper towel or cheesecloth, reserve broth and chop the mushrooms. In skillet heat the olive oil and when wavy add the onion. Cook, stirring until transparent and add the garlic confit.
Chop the basil and throw it in the pan with the oregano
Add the mushrooms, their broth, the tomatoes, to the pan and red wine (Beaujolais is the wine of choice for us) and simmer on low for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350.

Make filling:

1 medium Vidalia onion, chopped
1 small spoonful garlic confit
1-½ lbs fresh baby spinach, chopped
3 large eggs
1 lb whole milk ricotta
grate about a tsp of fresh nutmeg
coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ lb grated Parmesan Reggiana,
½ lb shredded whole milk mozzarella
1 pound lasagna noodles, uncooked

Put a couple of good swirls of extra virgin olive oil into a medium saute pan over medium high heat. When the oil is wavy, add the Vidalia onion and cook for about 8 minutes until soft and add the garlic confit. Lower the heat and cook for five minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
Chop the spinach. Whisk together the eggs and add the cheeses, nutmeg and coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the spinach and set aside.

Take a bit of olive oil and grease a large oblong pan or two small ones.
Put 3 dry lasagna noodles in pan. Then the spinach mix and then top with some tomato sauce. And repeat the layers until you have used all, ending with the tomato sauce.

Cut a piece of aluminum foil to cover the lasagna. Put olive oil on the side of the foil that will be closest to the lasagna. Bake for 45 minutes covered. Remove foil and bake for 20 more minutes or til lasagna is bubbling and hot through.

Big fat yum.

This is best the second day. It also freezes beautifully. To freeze, cut cooled lasagna into serving sizes. Wrap in plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil. Store in plastic freezer bags. When you’re ready for some faboo lasagna, take out of freezer and remove foil and plastic wrap. Preheat oven to 400 and cook for 45 minutes or til hot through.

Serves 6

One Year Ago on Feeding Groom

Spinach Lasagna

FG's Well Worth the Wait Chicken with Peppers and Turkey Sausage

The phoenix has risen from the ashes.

Well, not literally, but here we go.

Last night, I decided to cut up a whole chicken.

I saw this video...


and said to myself, “Self, you can do this if Groom sharpens that knife for you.”

He did, and I did.

Then I went to work on this recipe from Patricia Wells’ The Provence Cookbook, one of my faves.

Everything in this recipe is great.

Except one little bitty thing.

The directions.

I followed them.

Ended up with not what I was supposed to end up with. If that’s a sentence.

But that’s okay, where’s there’s a will there’s a way.

It might be a twenty four hour way, but it’s there.

And it worked. And was fabulous.


FG’s Well Worth the Wait Chicken with Peppers and Turkey Sausage
Adapted from Patricia Wells’ Fricassee of Chicken with Chorizo and Peppers


1 3-4 pound chicken, cut into 6-8 serving pieces (by you, if you wish)
Coarse seal salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp butter
A couple of good swirls extra virgin olive oil
1 large red onion, peeled, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 large Vidalia onion, peeled, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 large spoonful garlic confit
2 cups chicken stock
4 canned plum tomatoes, chopped
A couple of good squirts sun dried tomato paste ( I use the Amore brand in the tube. Great stuff!)
2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
2 green bell peppers, thinly sliced
2 large links turkey Italian sausage with fennel

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat and add a couple of good swirls extra virgin olive oil. When it’s wavy, add the butter. Season the chicken with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. As soon as the butter foams, add the chicken and brown until golden on all sides. You may have to do this in batches.

Remove the chicken to a platter.

Add the 2 large links of sausage and cook on all sides until brown. Remove from pan. Add the onions to the fat and let cook, covered until soft and golden. This should take about five minutes. Then add the garlic confit and cook about five more minutes. Return the chicken and sausage and any juices that have accumulated to the pan. Add stock, tomatoes and paste. Cover and cook over low heat, turning the chicken to coat with the sauce. Let this cook for about 25 minutes *. Add the peppers and cover and cook for 20 more minutes. Season and serve with rice or pasta.

Serves 4.

This was where the recipe detoured for me. After 25 minutes, there was a whole lot of stock left over. Liquidy. So, if this happens to you, remove the chicken and cook the sauce down uncovered over medium high heat. Or, you can do like I did. Take it off the heat, let cool and refrigerate until the next evening, defat the dish, reheat and serve over the rice. It was truly wonderful.


One Year Ago on Feeding Groom

FG's Well Worth the Wait Chicken with Peppers and Turkey Sausage

Lamb Shanks with Tomatoes and Olives

There’s something to be said about lamb shanks.

Talk about your cheap but effective meal.

They are highly impressive at table.

They make the house smell like you are flat in the middle of Tuscany, or Morocco or France, depending on how you are preparing them.

This is one of Bittman’s best.

Your guests will think you’ve outdone yourself.

Which, of course, you have!


Lamb Shanks with Tomatoes and Olives
Adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

A couple of good swirls extra virgin olive oil
4 lamb shanks, about a pound each
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 cups sliced red onion
A large spoonful garlic confit
A couple of sprigs fresh thyme
1/3 cup chicken stock
1 15 ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1-½ cups assorted olives, pitted
Chopped fresh Italian parsley

Heat a couple of good swirls of extra virgin olive oil in large Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add lamb and brown on all sides, season as you cook. Remove lamb and add the onions. Cook over medium heat until soft and goldenish, about 10 minutes. Add garlic confit and thyme and cook one minute then add the chicken stock and the tomatoes and stir. Add the browned lamb shanks and turn them once or twice, season to taste, cover and turn heat to low.

Cook for 30 minutes, turn the shanks and add the olives. Cook for an hour until shanks are very tender. Meat falling off bone is good sign!

Garnish with the Italian parsley and serve.

Serves 4.

Can be adapted to slow cooker with great ease! Fabulous with smashed potatoes.

One Year Ago on Feeding Groom

Lamb Shanks with Tomatoes and Olives