Salt and Pepper Pork Chops with Steamed Beet Greens

Oh Pork. Chops. You're so nice and easy. So quick and cheap. So beautiful and delicious. Beautiful with steamed beet greens and the beets they came with. Creamy new potatoes boiled with carrots. Buttered. Salted. Peppered...
In all seriousness though, Mary's recipe for salt and pepper pork chops is amazing. One of my favorites for sure.
And all the produce you see in this picture is from the sample bag of my future CSA packages. How exciting. And delicious.

Salt and Pepper Pork Chops
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
1 tablespoon granulated sugar (I used light borwn sugar cuz it was easier to get to at the time)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 pounds boneless thin-cut pork loin chops
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Mix ingredients together. Marinate for 5 minutes or overnight. Cook for 10-16 minutes depending on thickness.

Steamed Beet Greens
Cut the stems off of beets, steam until wilted, toss with one minced garlic clove, butter, salt and pepper. Make a nice bed for any vegetable to lay on top of.

Roasted Garlic Burgers With Peppercorn Chevre

This is definitely one of my favorites. These burgers ooze with flavour. Ooze? Really? But they do.

Roast the garlic. Mix with extra lean ground beef(No need to mash roasted garlic. It comes apart in the mixing process. And leaves pockets of warm sweet roasted goodness in the burger) Coat patties with salt and pepper. Cook on BBQ or however you like. Add a tablespoon or so of peppercorn goat cheese in the last few minutes. (Peppercorn goatcheese can be bought at the grocery store or you can make your own by rolling the goat cheese in coarse ground pepper.)



Source:Photos:Shawn Campbell

Ashorizo Lasagna

This lasagna was delicious. The lower layer consisting of spinach and leek with a textured cheese mixture. While the middle layer combined chorizo, garlic, peppers, onion, mushrooms and tomato sauce. Then came the light layer of bechamel sauce and mozza. I was hesitant to add this layer but couldn't help think of the spinach and how nicely it would accomodate it. The small amount of bechamel sauce was barely noticable but helped balance the spice of chorizo with the tang of the tomato sauce. It was a genius blend of ingredients and I recommend you try it immediately. You want it. You want to make it and feed it to your family.

Bottom Layer:
1 Large container of cottage cheese
3 T. chopped leek
1 egg
Parmesan cheese
Mozza cheese
fresh spinach

-Mix cheeses, egg and leek with a bit of salt and pepper to taste. Spread over a layer of no boil lasagna noodles in a 9 x 13 pan. Lay fresh spinach on top 2 leaves thick. Then another layer of noodles before adding to second layer. The chorizo layer.

Second Layer-Chorizo Layer:
1 jar of Ragu sauce
2 Chorizo sausages, sliced or diced or however you like it. I sliced mine and then cut it in half for a chunky style.
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 diced onion

I was trying to speed things up so I didn't even cook the tomato sauce. I cooked the the chorizo, mushrooms, onion and garlic and simply added it to the cold tomato sauce. Spread into the lasaagna dish and lay another layer of noodles on top.

Third Layer-Bechamel Layer:
2 T. butter
2 T. Flour
1 Cup milk
salt and pepper
1/2 t. nutmeg
Mozza
Parmesan

-Melt butter, whisk in flour, gradually add milk, stirring contantly over med high heat. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg.
-Pour over lasagna, top with tonz of mozza and parmesan.
-Bake at 375 for 40 minutes. Place a baking sheet underneath in case it drips. let cool for 10 minutes.

Photos:Shawn Campbell

Super Soft and Supple Pita Bread

Yes, I said supple. I know it's creepy. Well I'm creepy, but the bread is not. The bread is super soft and supple.
It's delicious, warm, crispy, soft and perfect for my Proscuitto Chicken Ceasar Sandwich.
I can't wait to make a bunch of crazy dips in my food processor as a present for this bread. I'll dedicate them to this bread.

-Place 2 cups all-purpose flour in a bowl and stir in 1 1/4 cups boiling water.
-Stir until smooth, Cover and let sit 1/2 an hour.(Mine didn't really get "smooth"...but it started to stick together like a dough would stick together)-In a separate bowl combine 1/4 cup potato flour(Or flakes or buds)and 1 cup all-purpose flour with 1 1/4 t. salt, 2 T. vegetable oil, and 1 t. instant yeast.
-Add to the cooled flour/water mixture. Stir together. Will seem dry at first, but will eventually start to come together.
-Knead for several minutes(I did it by hand but you can use an electric mixer or bread machine). The dough will remain soft and somewhat sticky.(Mine wasn't sticky)-Put the dough into a greased container, let rise, covered for 1 hour or longer.
-Divide the dough into 8 pieces, form into balls. Cover for 15-30 minutes.
-Flatten each piece into circle. About 5 inch diameter. Then roll them out to about 7 inch diameter.
-Heat a skillet over medium heat. NO OIL. Dry fry till brown underneath-about 1 minute. The bread will puff a bit. Turn over, and cook till the other side is brown. About 1 minute.
-If big bubbles develop, prick with a skewer. Flatten with the pressure of a flipper.
-As the breads come off the skillet-stack them on top of eachother to keep soft and moist. You can use them for dipping in hummous or make sandwiches or wait until they cool and bag them in plastic.
Source:King Arthur Flour

Photos:Shawn Campbell

Ashparagus 'n Leek Phyllo Pizza Pie

Oh my god. Delicious. Make it. Holy.

-1 Package Phyllo Dough
-1 bunch of asparagus
-3 T. thinly sliced sundried tomatoes in olive oil
-1/4 Cup sliced leek
-1/4 Cup feta
-1 Cup mozzarella
-1 Cup parmesan
-Melted butter (For in between phyllo sheets)
-1/4 Cup sour cream
-1 T. Lemon juice

Pre heat oven to 375.
Lay one layer at a time phyllo onto baking sheet. Brush melted butter and sprinkle parmesan between each sheet. (Save some parmesan for topping)
-Phyllo should be about 7-9 sheets thick.
-Once all the layers are in place, slightly curl any overhanging edges in to form a bit of a crust. (If there are any)
-Place in middle rack for 10 minutes.

-Mix sour cream and lemon juice. (I would also add chopped chives but didnt have any on hand)
-Slice asparagus length wise in half.Steam asparagus, coat in olive oil, salt and pepper.
-Thinly spread sour cream mixture on cooked phyllo crust.(Think Pizza Sauce)
-Sprinkle mozza, sundried tomatoes, feta, leek and steamed asparagus.
-Top with remaining parmesan.

-At this point, you want to put back in the oven and cook for another 10 minutes on middle rack.
-Let cool 6 minutes before cuting into squares and serving.


Photos:Shawn Campbell

Wonton Soup

-My Wonton Recipe
-Chicken broth or chicken soup base
-Chopped brocolli
-Chopped carrots
-Chopped Cauliflower
-Chopped green onion
-Rice Noodles(Optional)

Boil Wontons in water until they float to the top. In a separate pot heat chicken stock or chicken soup base until boil. Add wontons. Add brocolli, cauliflower and carrots about 5 minutes before ready to serve so they stay crisp. Garnish with green onion.

Photos:Shawn Campbell