Grilled Pork Chops with Roasted Yellow Pepper Sauce and Black Olive Tapenade

Flush from the success of the Shrimp with Toasted Almonds and Garlic Confit, I continue my experiment in cleaning out the refrigerator. We had some beautiful bone in pork chops that desired a turn on the grill.

It was a wonderful Friday night. Groom mixed some Silver Bullets (shaken, not stirred) to celebrate two more days of work before ten glorious days at the beach and once again I turned to the fridge to decide what to do with those porkers.

I remembered a Bobby Flay recipe from years ago that used roasted yellow pepper sauce with a pork tenderloin, so it stood to reason that this would work beautifully with the chops.

And it did.

Silver Bullets ..love these Martinis!

Fill a shaker with ice and one cup Grey Goose Vodka.
Then 3 capfuls of Bombay Sapphire Gin.
And finally 1 capful Noilly Prat dry vermouth.

Put the top on and shake your groove thing around the kitchen along with the martinis.

Strain into up glasses, plop an oversized green olive in it, and enjoy.
Makes three martinis.


Grilled Bone In Pork Chops with Roasted Yellow Pepper Sauce and Black Olive Tapenade
Adapted from Bobby Flay’s From My Kitchen to Your Table

Black Olive Tapenade

¼ cup toasted pine nuts
1-¼ cup pitted Nicoise olives
1 tbsp garlic confit (or 4 fat garlic cloves, peeled)
4 anchovy fillets
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Put pine nuts, olives, garlic, anchovies and olive oil in food processor and pulse off and on til thick but not mush. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper.

Makes about 1-½ cups.

Roasted Yellow Pepper Sauce

2 yellow bell peppers, charred, seeded and coarsely chopped
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 tbsp garlic confit or 5 fat garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
Good pinch Spanish saffron
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp coarse Dijon mustard
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

In blender, combine peppers, vinegar, garlic, saffron, honey and mustard and blend. With motor running slowly add the olive oil until it emulsifies. Season to taste with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Makes about 1-½ cups.

The Chops

2 good sized bone in pork chops, about 1-½ inches thick
1 tbsp sweet Spanish paprika
1 tbsp ground ancho chili powder
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mix the spices together and rub on both sides of the pork chops. Grill chops 5-6 minutes per side.

Plate with the Roasted Yellow Pepper Sauce on the bottom, chop and top with a spoonful of the Tapenade.

You will have extra sauce to save and use another time!

Grilled Pork Chops with Roasted Yellow Pepper Sauce and Black Olive Tapenade

Shrimp with Toasted Almonds and Garlic Confit

Vacation is getting closer and therefore dinner at the Red Brick Ranchero has become more of what needs to be used before we leave instead of what do you think about having such and such. And then going to the store to get such and such.

So creativity is at a high point around here. It’s truly a time of standing in front of the fridge and keeping fingers crossed that you have the makings of a wonderful dinner.

I had some garlic confit I had made last weekend thanks to the wonderful blog by Ann called A Chicken in Every Granny Cart.

Garlic confit is one of the easiest things to make and makes a huge difference in the flavor of the foods you are preparing, each time adding a depth of flavor that is you just don’t get with fresh garlic. The flavor is sweeter, smoother, more adult is the best way I can think to describe it. And it works in many dishes.

You can make the confit and use it immediately. An extra bonus is the garlicky olive oil ready to use in salad dressings, or a fast saute of chicken, or drizzled over a gratin before baking.

Or this quick shrimp and toasted almond sauce that is to die for with a bit of Papardelle.

What was I worried about?



Garlic Confit

Remove the tough papery outer skin of the garlic. Leave the thin casing on the cloves.
Place in small saucepan and cover with extra virgin olive oil.

Bring to a simmer and then reduce heat to the lowest setting. Partially cover and let cook about 25-30 minutes or til you can pierce easily with tip of a knife.

Remove cloves to a plate and let cool. Cool the oil as well. Squeeze garlic out of casings into small jar.

Save oil in jar to use as you would regular olive oil.

Keep confit in the refrigerator.

Makes about 1 cup.

Shrimp with Toasted Almonds and Garlic Confit

12 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1 tbsp garlic confit
2 swirls garlic oil
Good pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
½ cup white wine
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
Papardelle , cooked

Heat garlic oil in large heavy skillet over medium high heat and when shimmery cook the shrimp until they turn pink and remove from the pan.

Add white wine and reduce by half. Add garlic confit and red pepper flakes and cook for a minute. Add the shrimp and almonds and stir til combined..

At this point you can add the pasta to the pan and toss.

Season with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve.

Serves 2.

Shrimp with Toasted Almonds and Garlic Confit

Seriously Chocolate Cupcakes

There are times that call for serious chocolate.

Birthdays, engagements, funerals, Mondays, 4:00 in the afternoon.
The need for serious chocolate must be addressed.

How to address it?

Well, you could go to the grocery store and get some dark chocolate M&Ms and eat them immediately in the car on the way home from the store, that might solve your problem.

You could buy something decadent in the freezer section..gelato or some Ben and Jerry’s.

Or you could make these cupcakes.

I’ll take door number three, Monty.

I was looking for something to do for my mother’s birthday. Cupcakes are all the rage right now and I thought that would be a good thing to do for dessert.

Easy, can be done ahead and seriously chocolate.

I found it.

Flourless. Excellent. More room for chocolate.

This makes a boatload of cupcakes. I made 12 in the muffin tin and poured the rest in a heart shaped silicone pan and made one big heart shaped “cupcake” for the birthday girl.

Who loves you, Nanny!!!!

Seriously Chocolate Cupcakes
Adapted from a Michael Chiarello recipe for Molten Chocolate Cupcakes


8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
One good grind of black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon gray salt


Preheat the oven to 300.

Line the cupcake pan with paper liners and spray the liners with vegetable spray. Break up the chocolate and put it into a bowl.

Combine the butter and cream in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. When the cream mixture comes to a simmer, pour it over the chocolate and stir gently to melt the chocolate.In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, mayonnaise, cornstarch, cinnamon, black pepper and salt just until the sugar has dissolved.

Pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and gently mix just until combined. (Mixing too much will prevent the eggs from rising in the oven.) Scoop about 1/4 cup of the batter into each mold, it should come about 3/4 of the way up the sides.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Do not over bake. Cool the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar.

Makes 12 cupcakes and 1- 8 inch heart shaped cake or probably 24 cupcakes.

Seriously Chocolate Cupcakes

Steelhead Trout with Braised Fennel and Sweet Red Onion

I have become a big fan of trout.

I didn’t know that it is a member of the salmon family. Makes sense when you think about it. The sweet buttery taste and the ability to adapt to lots of recipes is most definitely a characteristic of this fish. Steelhead trout starts out as a freshwater fish and moves to life in the ocean at maturity, feeding on tiny shrimp, and coming back to the freshwater after several years to “swim upstream and spawn.”

Interesting tidbit here, they can do this more than once.

I love a fish with a plan.

Perfectly Seared Steelhead Trout Fillets

Preheat oven to 400.

Heat a cast iron skillet on top of the stove. Add a good swirl of extra virgin olive oil.
Put two nice sized fillets of steelhead trout in the pan skin side down.
Cook until skin is crispy, takes about three minutes or so.
Put the pan in the oven for 5-7 minutes til trout is done.

Serves 2.

Braised Fennel with Sweet Red Onion

1 bulb fennel, sliced about ¼ inch thick julienne
½ large sweet red onion, sliced thinly
½ cup plus chicken stock
2 tsp sherry vinegar
Juice of one blood orange
2 tbsp finely diced blood orange zest
A couple of good swirls extra virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat a large cast iron skillet over moderate heat and add a couple of good swirls of extra virgin olive oil. When the oil shimmers, add the red onion and the fennel and let them cook a good while, about ten to fifteen minutes til they are golden and caramelizing. Add the sherry vinegar, the blood orange juice and turn up the heat.

Let that cook down a bit and then add the chicken stock., turn the heat down so the mixture bubbles along, reducing as it goes and add the zest. Season with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Serves 2.

Steelhead Trout with Braised Fennel and Sweet Red Onion

Grilled Pork Chops with a Sherry Vinegar, Blood Orange, Harissa, Fresh Mint and Nicoise Olive Sauce

A week or so ago, Claudia of cookeatfret fame posted about a combination of foods that intrigued me. She used pita bread with green olives, goat cheese, dark wildflower honey and harissa and called this The Moroccan Trifecta. I followed her instructions and ate that for lunch.

I didn’t have pita bread, I had semolina.

It didn’t matter. It was spectacular.

We’ve eaten fish a lot in the past few weeks.

I was ready for a pork chop..bone in grilled out. I started thinking about Claudia’s post and the flavors involved and this wonderful sauce is the result, almost a vinaigrette but not quite.

Perfect to drizzle over the grilled pork chops…paired with baked sliced sweet potatoes drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and seasoned with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper.

I left out the goat cheese. It didn’t need to be in this.

The name is a bit long.

My picture is not the best.

But the recipe is.

Sherry Vinegar, Blood Orange, Harissa, Fresh Mint and Nicoise Olive Sauce

1/3 cup sherry vinegar, reduced to less than a quarter cup
½ cup pitted sliced Nicoise olives
½ cups fresh mint, chiffonaded…which means rolled up and thinly sliced
2 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp harissa
¼ cup blood orange juice or orange juice
1 tbsp grated zest of blood orange
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine in bowl and set aside.

Oven Baked Sweet Potatoes

Preheat oven to 400.
Cut one large sweet potato in half lengthwise and then cut into thick slices.
Drizzle with olive oil and season with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Probably takes 10-12 minutes if you pay attention!
Cook til golden brown.. flip once.

3 large bone-in pork chops seasoned with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Grill the pork chops 6 per side.

But I must tell you, these were huge porkers.

And yes we ate every bite.

But it was Wednesday.

Serves 3.

Grilled Pork Chops with a Sherry Vinegar, Blood Orange, Harissa, Fresh Mint and Nicoise Olive Sauce

Goan Shrimp Curry

It’s been one of those days.

One of those Tuesdays that turns into a Monday that doesn’t stop.

For hours. Plans have to be changed. Lunch is postponed til tomorrow.

Circling buildings waiting to pick up paperwork. All before 10 am. Difficult sellers on loan closing postponing dinner til late.

Coming home. Wanting direction. Not wanting to create your own thing. Want to eat something someone else created.

One pot. One article. NYTIMES March 2008. Goan Shrimp Curry by Suvir Saran and Hemant Mathur, Devi. I didn’t read the article. All I wanted was their food.

Now, I want more.

ASAP.

Look at the picture. I stopped in mid bite and took a pic of dinner.

That tells you something, doesn’t it.

Goan Shrimp Curry
Adapted from Suvir Saran and Hemant Mathur, Devi

March 2008 NYTimes

1 lb 21-25 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
Several swirls of extra virgin olive oil
A good shake of crushed red peppers
1 inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
1 small red onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
3 cups canned chopped tomatoes, with juice
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 14 ounce can coconut milk
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro.

1. Place shrimp in a gallon-size resealable plastic bag, and add 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper and cayenne. Mix well and refrigerate.

2. In a deep skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat, combine oil and chilies and stir 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and cook for 1 minute longer.

Add ginger, onion, 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt and sauté until onion is soft and translucent, 5 to 8 minutes. Add garlic, ground coriander and turmeric and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.

3. Reduce heat to medium-low and add tomatoes. Stir, scraping sides and bottom of pot, for 1 minute. Increase heat to medium-high and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often.

4. Stir in curry powder and cook for 1 minute. Add coconut milk, bring to a boil, and add shrimp. Bring to a simmer and cook until shrimp are opaque, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in cilantro. If desired, serve with rice.

Yield: 2-3 servings.

Goan Shrimp Curry

Braised Carrots with Red Wine and Orange

We’re old movie buffs.

I’ve never really understood the terminology, but that is what we are.

We love them. It was Bette Davis’ 100th birthday and Turner Classic Movies was celebrating this amazing actress all day long. Now Voyager, All About Eve, the perfect movies, familiar enough to be able to read and do other things while watching, stopping to say the famous lines out loud to each other when the time came.

I decided to have Groom grill lamb chops for dinner but I wanted something different than asparagus or potatoes to go with them. I had marked a recipe from Patricia Wells’ Provence Cookbook that braised carrots with onion and tomatoes. Carrots, as you know, just get sweeter as you cook them and these are browned and then braised with tomatoes and onions for an hour. A little fresh mint at the end as a garnish and carrots will take on a new dimension.

Familiar ingredients with a twist.

Braised Carrots with Red Wine and Orange

adapted from Patricia Wells' Provence Cookbook

1 pound carrots, peeled and trimmed
A couple of swirls of extra virgin olive oil
4 fat cloves garlic, peeled and halved
1 large sweet yellow onion, sliced very thinly
½ cup red wine
1 14 oz can san Marzano plum tomatoes, drained and chopped
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
Bouquet garni made with l three inch piece of the green part of a leek, celery leaves and fresh thyme tied with twine
2 Clementine oranges, chopped as best you can, rind included (you can use 1 small orange instead of the Clementines, which are very small)
A little freshly chopped mint and Italian parsley

Heat a large cast iron skillet over moderate heat. Add a couple of swirls of extra virgin olive oil. When hot, but not smoking add the carrots.

Season with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook uncovered for twenty minutes, rolling the carrots around so they brown evenly.

Remove carrots from pan. Add the onions and cook til golden brown. Then add the remaining ingredients and put the carrots back in the pan on top of the onion mixture. Cover and cook on low for one hour, check on it to be sure the braising mixture does not burn. You can add a bit more wine as you go, if the mixture becomes too dry.

Remove bouquet garni and serve sprinkled with fresh mint and Italian parsley.

Serves 3 generously. Goes wonderfully with lamb chops!

Braised Carrots with Red Wine and Orange