For the Love of Beets!

Beets. I’ve hated them since I was a kid. My mother would sometimes serve us beets out of the can with our dinner and I hated them. We weren’t allowed to leave the table until we finished our supper and I was so stubborn I’d sit there all night refusing to eat those nasty, slimy red discs.  And then, as an adult, I tasted roasted beets and my worldview on beets forever changed! I joined a CSA last year and we had beets galore. My favorite way to cook them is on the grill but roasting them is also delicious. Roasting them with oranges is something I haven’t done before. The smell of these 2 roasting was heavenly.

I pulled this recipe from the October 2011 issue of Real Simple. It’s a keeper.

Pork Chops with Roasted Beets and Oranges

Hands-on Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 pound beets, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch wedges

4 tablespoons olive oil

kosher salt and black pepper

2 oranges, cut into large chunks

6 cups baby arugula (5 ounces)

4 bone-in pork chops (1 inch thick; about 2 pounds total)  (I used 2 boneless pork chops)

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme

Directions

1. Heat oven to 450° F. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the beets with 3 tablespoons of the oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Roast until beginning to soften, 13 to 15 minutes. Add the oranges to the baking sheet and roast, tossing once, until the beets and oranges are tender, 15 to 17 minutes more. Add the arugula and toss to combine.

raw beets before going into the ring of fire

beets + oranges = great combination!

2. Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Season the pork with the oregano, thyme, and ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper and cook until browned and cooked through, 7 to 9 minutes per side. Serve with the beets and oranges.

My version next to the magazine photo

What I did differently:  I roasted the pork chops instead of pan-frying them. Just add them to the oven with the oranges.

What I will do differently in the future: peel the oranges

Old Bay Wings

Old Bay Wings

I was born and raised in Maryland, home of Old Bay Seasoning. Old Bay is typically used on seafood (crabs & shrimp) but is SO good on virtually everything else. Chicken, french fries, baked potato, deviled eggs, macaroni & cheese (trust me on this), popcorn, you name it! It’s hard to describe, but it’s a little bit spicy, a little bit salty, and a whole lotta delicious.

I’ve perfected my Old Bay wing recipe over the past few years. It’s so easy – all you need is wings, Old Bay, an oven and a grill. These wings are perfect any time of year. Even though we live in Colorado, we are able to grill out year-round on our deck.

Served with cole slaw (the Barefoot Contessa’s recipe is my favorite) and a cold Heavy Seas Pale Ale (brewed in Maryland), dinner doesn’t get much better.

Ingredients:

Wings (I buy a bag of frozen wings at Costco)

Old Bay

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°.  Place frozen wings on a cookie sheet and bake for approximately 20 minutes.

Put wings in a bowl and cover generously with Old Bay, using as much or as little as you wish.

Heat grill (we use a gas grill) to about 350°-400°.  Place wings on grill and grill for approximately 6 minutes. Flip wings over and grill for another 6 minutes. Remove from grill and sprinkle more Old Bay on the wings.  Serve with ranch or bleu cheese dressing.

ENJOY a little taste of Maryland!

My Sous Chef

This is my daughter, er, dog Murphy. She isn’t allowed in the kitchen so she patiently lies on the floor at the entrance to it, hoping some treats will be thrown her way. She’s always in the way when I need to put something in the trash, but she doesn’t seem to care.

We try hard not to give Murphy too much people food but there are certain things she can’t resist, like fruits & veggies. As sure as Pavlov’s dogs salivated at the ringing of the bell, as soon as Murphy hears a knife hit the wooden cutting board she comes running in for treats. Her favorite vegetable is cucumber. Carrots are a close second. Her favorite fruit is cantaloupe, but she loves strawberries and mango, too. 

We adopted Murphy from the Humane Society of Boulder Valley and she is the love of our lives. Mutts are the best!

Feed Me!

Red Beans & Rice

My family is from the South. I love southern food, especially from the New Orleans area. Whenever I visit New Orleans, one of the first dishes I eat is Red Beans & Rice, washed down with an Abita beer. This recipe from Emeril Lagasse is easy, delicious, spicy and the perfect dish for a Mardi Gras supper. I don’t follow any of the directions listed below, I just throw everything into my slow cooker before work and my house smells like southern hospitality when I get home in the evening. Sprinkling some essence on the dish “kicks it up a notch”.  BAM! (I know, how lame was that??)

Ham Hock, Red Beans and Rice

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients

1 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup chopped celery

2 tablespoons minced garlic

8 ounces andouille sausage, cut into 2 ounce links

2 bay leaves

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon salt

1 ham hock, about 1 pound

1 pound red beans, soaked and drained

8 to 10 cups chicken stock

2 cups cooked white long grain rice, warm

Garnish: 2 tablespoons chopped green onions and Essence, recipe follows

Crusty loaf bread

Directions

In a stock pot, saute the onions, celery, and garlic for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the sausage, bay leaf, black pepper, thyme, cayenne, and salt, saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the ham hock and beans. Cover the mixture with the stock. Bring up to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook the bean mixture for 2 hours or until the beans are tender. Mash 1/4 of the mixture against the side of the pot with a spoon. Reseason with salt and pepper if needed. Remove the ham hock and slice the meat off the bone. To assemble, spoon the warm rice onto the serving bowl. Ladle the bean mixture right over the top. Garnish with green onions, Essence and crusty bread.

Essence (Emeril's Creole Seasoning):

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Yield: 2/3 cup

Cranberry-Stuffed Pork Chops with Roasted Carrots

Here’s another one from Real Simple (September 2009). I had all of the ingredients on-hand and made this for a weeknight supper.  I’d give it an OK. The roasted carrots & onions were the best part of the dish. I must have over cooked the pork chops a bit because they ended up dry and quite frankly a bit bland. Life’s too short to eat dry pork!!

Cranberry-Stuffed Pork Chops with Roasted Carrots

Serves 4

Hands-On Time: 15m

Total Time: 35m

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds carrots, thinly sliced

1 small red onion, sliced

3 tablespoons olive oil

kosher salt and black pepper

1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped

2 tablespoons apricot preserves

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

4 1-inch-thick bone-in pork chops (about 2 1/2 pounds) (I used boneless chops)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F. On a baking sheet, toss the carrots, onion, 2 tablespoons of the oil, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper.

Before going into the oven...

2. Roast, stirring once, until tender, 25 to 28 minutes.

...Coming out of the oven (the onions look a bit overcooked - ok BURNT - but they tasted good)

3. Meanwhile, combine the cranberries, preserves, and coriander in a bowl. Using a paring knife, cut a 3-inch-deep pocket in the side of each chop; stuff with the mixture.

4. Heat the remaining tablespoon oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat.

5. Season the pork with ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper and brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side.

6. Transfer pork to oven (on the rack above the carrots) and roast until cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes. Serve with the carrots.

By Sara Quessenberry,  September 2009

Broccoli even Non-Broccoli Lovers will Dig!

I love broccoli.  Cooked broccoli. For whatever reason, I can’t stand the stuff raw. Normally I’m quite boring and just steam it and sprinkle some S&P on it and voila, easy side dish.  That gets old. So here is a recipe from one of my all time favorite people and writers – Kim O’Donnel. She used to write for the Washington Post for years and I still follow her now that she’s in Seattle. For those of you vegetarian-types and meat eaters like me who try to eat veg once or twice a week, she has a great cookbook: “The Meat Lover's Meatless Cookbook: Vegetarian Recipes Carnivores Will Devour”. 

Roasted Broccoli Pick-Up Sticks

From “A Mighty Appetite for the Holidays” by Kim O’Donnel

1 pound broccoli florets, separated

1 inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled and diced

1 clove garlic, minced

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon cayenne or paprika (I use cayenne. Smoked paprika would also be terrific)

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

Black pepper to taste

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl. With your hands, mix to combine until broccoli is well coated. Place broccoli on a baking sheet and into the oven.

Roast until fork tender (about 12 minutes). Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 4 side-dish servings or 12-15 cocktail party servings.

The Binder from Which I Cook

My Binder

So this is my binder of recipes. I’ve been collecting recipes since the early- to mid-90’s. I pull them out of newspapers, magazines, and now the world wide interwebs. I have quite a few cookbooks at my disposal, too, but I always reach for my binder when looking for dinner inspiration.  The binder also used to have tabs for dessert, breads, and drinks; but those were moved to their very own binder a few years ago.

The tabs in my binder are:

n     Appetizers

n     Grains

n     Legumes

n     Meats

n     Vegetables

n     Pasta

n     Soups

Notice there isn’t a seafood tab. I don’t eat it. Considering I was born and raised in Maryland, it makes no sense, but I just don’t like it. I tell people it’s a birth-defect. And quite frankly, living in Colorado is great for a non-seafood person like me. I’m happy with my meat and veg. I do have a few seafood recipes that I’ll pull out for the boyfriend and keep those in my meat section.

I’m not sure how many recipes I have, but my hope is to attempt to make MOST of them in 2012. I’ve been banned from having the same experiment with my dessert binder. We’re training to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and a different dessert every night won’t exactly help. I envision making most of my vegetable & grain recipes this summer once my CSA starts and the vegetables are fresh and plentiful. Counting down the days to summer!!

My big-ass binder