Meaty Monday: Pork Chops with Smoked Paprika, Roasted Peppers & Braised Onions

A break in the heat means a wonderful dinner
that's not grilled, for a change!

Cook the onions until they turn gold and translucent...
they get sweet!

Smokey, juicy pork chops, oh, deliciousness!

Yep, this is a rerun. But Chuck has been complaining that we haven't had this is a long time and I've been working and gardening, working and gardening. Last time I made this was last summer when I told you all about it, and it's a perfect dish for a Meaty Monday because you can have it on the table in about a half hour, and for much of that time, the food is in the oven.  So you can sit and have that much deserved beer. Sadly, we are not having the little cool-off we had last year...but we do have air conditioning...

We must be having a blip in our oven-like summer. Suddenly for the last couple of days, it's actually been nice. Like "my shirt isn't stuck to my back" nice. Nice enough for a hot dinner from the oven. A lapse in the heat and humidity. Even though I go from my air-conditioned job to my air-conditioned car to my air-conditioned home, I'm just not that motivated to turn on the oven. Not when it's just plain hot-hot-hot. But I am really tired of grilled this and that.

Even though I do love summer, it made me very happy to make a deeply smoky, spicy, oniony base for some nice, thick bone-in sirloin pork chops. Without having to think about how much it might heat up the kitchen. I miss the savoryness of cooler weather foods. Just not the cold weather. This Spanish-inflected dish doesn't take that long in the oven, so you really could consider it for just about any time of year.

We enjoyed our chops over simply sauteed mushrooms and spinach for a grain-free, gluten free and Paleo dinner. And best yet, since we were just two at dinner last night, there are leftovers for today. When the heat comes back this afternoon, I'll just have to reheat. For now, yippee! for the nice blip in the weather and a flavorful baked dinner.

Note: Smoked Spanish paprika (pimentón) comes usually in either mild or hot, but be careful. Even the mild can pack a wallop at the two tablespoons used in this recipe. Use your discretion.

Pork Chops with Smoked Paprika, Roasted Peppers and Braised Onions
Serves 4

4 bone-in sirloin pork chops 1/2" to 1" thick
salt, fresh ground pepper
2 T olive oil or coconut oil
4 cups sliced onions (about 3 large)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2T smoked Spanish paprika (pimentón, see note)
1 12-oz. jar fire roasted red peppers, drained and coarsely chopped
1 cup dry Sherry or white wine
Salt and pepper to taste
chopped parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spray a shallow baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Salt and pepper the pork chops on both sides lightly. Heat the oil in a large nonstick pan, and quickly brown the chops on both sides, remove from pan and set aside on a plate.

Add the onions to the oil and stir well to cover with the oil, salt lightly and cook about 5 minutes until the onions begin to brown a bit and turn golden. Stir in the garlic and the smoked paprika and mix well. cook for about a minute, then add the roasted peppers and the wine. Bring to to a simmer, cover the pan and turn down the heat. Cook for about 5 minutes until the unions are nearly translucent.

Place the pork chops in the prepared baking dish, then removing the cover from the pan, and stirring up all the juices, pour the onion and paprika mixture on top of the pork chops. Taste the juice for seasoning.  Bake in the oven uncovered, about 20 minutes until they are cooked through.

I like this with sautéed spinach and mushrooms, or this cauliflower puree. If you like potatoes or a grain, go for it.

Quick, Easy, & Gluten Free: Homemade Polenta in the Microwave

For years I made polenta the traditional way. Cornmeal stirred for a long time in a big pot. It's how my Grandma taught me. One day I noticed, in a cookbook by Barbara Kafka, a method for making polenta in the microwave, read it over and mentally filed it away for nearly 10 years. Couldn't be as good as Grandma's, I reasoned. 

And then, in the late 90's when I had to produce a gluten free Italian meal for a friend with celiac disease, with less than a half hour to spare, I remembered. Somehow the neurons in my brain sent me back to Kafka's book "Microwave Gourmet Healthstyle Cookbook". And there it was. Soft Microwave Polenta. I was saved, because it was fast, easy and crazily delicious. No sweating over a steaming pot of bubbling cornmeal for too long. While I quickly cooked up some Italian sausage from the Italian Market down on 9th St. and added a couple of jars of tomato sauce from last summers garden, my polenta cooked away happily in the microwave with almost no attention from me. And it was good, really good. No gluten, and no sweat. Sorry Grandma.

Honestly, I haven't made polenta any other way since I found this recipe, and I have fooled with it a bit (or a lot) over the years. While we don't eat a lot of grains at our house, this is so good as the base for so many saucy dishes, and as a hot cereal, that when I need a tasty go-to, this is it. nice as the base for vegetarian  and vegan stews, using just olive oil, and water or vegetable stock. I use Bob's Red Mill Cornmeal / Polenta, and have noticed that in a thick, broad pottery casserole dish it takes a few minutes longer to cook than in a 2-quart heatproof glass batter bowl. I also use an 1100 watt microwave to make this while the original recipe from 1989 uses a smaller wattage machine. Your cooking timing may differ, depending on your microwave and container. 

Such good polenta, you may be able to fool an Italian Grandma!
Just don't tell how you made it...

Oh, and check out the little bonus recipe below to make a single serving of fresh, homemade polenta...try it with a bit of butter and maple syrup for a quick breakfast...

And a note to Ms. Kafka: Please, if you ever decide to reissue either Microwave Gourmet or Microwave Gourmet Healthstyle Cookbook you will make one of your big fans VERY happy!


Microwave Soft Polenta
Adapted from Barbara Kafka


Ingredients:
3 qt. microwave-safe container  
3/4 cup Polenta or Cornmeal  
4 Cups water, any stock, or replace 1 cup of water with milk  
1/2 tsp. Salt
2T extra virgin olive oil, butter, truffle butter or any delicious fat you like
Black pepper to taste
(Parmesan, Gorgonzola or Romano)

Instructions: 
Mix the dry polenta into the water with the salt. Microwave on High, uncovered for 6 - 8 minutes. Stir. Microwave 6 - 8 more minutes. Remove from the microwave, stir in the olive oil or butter, the black pepper, and cheese if using. Cover and let stand, 3-5 minutes before serving. Serves 4.

Looks easy; it is, and relish!

Single serve Polenta

Ingredients:
3/4 cup water or ff stock  
1/4 Cup Polenta or cornmeal  
1/4 teasp. salt

Instructions:
Place all in 2-3 cup microwave safe container. ( I use a 2- cup Pyrex glass measuring cup) Mix well. Microwave on High 3 minutes. Stir. Cook on High about 2 minutes longer, let stand for a minute or so...enjoy. 1 serving.

My favorite, and available just about everywhere.

A Summer Lapse: Pork Chops with Smoked Paprika, Roasted Peppers & Braised Onions

A break in the heat means a wonderful dinner
that's not grilled, for a change!

Cook the onions until they turn gold and translucent...
they get sweet!

Smokey, juicy pork chops, oh, deliciousness!

We must be having a blip in our oven-like summer. Suddenly for the last couple of days, it's actually been nice. Like "my shirt isn't stuck to my back" nice. Nice enough for a hot dinner from the oven. A lapse in the heat and humidity. Even though I go from my air-conditioned job to my air-conditioned car to my air-conditioned home, I'm just not that motivated to turn on the oven. Not when it's just plain hot-hot-hot. But I am really tired of grilled this and that.

Even though I do love summer, it made me very happy to make a deeply smoky, spicy, oniony base for some nice, thick bone-in sirloin pork chops. Without having to think about how much it might heat up the kitchen. I miss the savoryness of cooler weather foods. Just not the cold weather. This Spanish-inflected dish doesn't take that long in the oven, so you really could consider it for just about any time of year.

We enjoyed our chops over simply sauteed mushrooms and spinach for a grain-free, gluten free and Paleo dinner. And best yet, since we were just two at dinner last night, there are leftovers for today. When the heat comes back this afternoon, I'll just have to reheat. For now, yippee! for the nice blip in the weather and a flavorful baked dinner.

Note: Smoked Spanish paprika (pimentón) comes usually in either mild or hot, but be careful. Even the mild can pack a wallop at the two tablespoons used in this recipe. Use your discretion.

Pork Chops with Smoked Paprika, Roasted Peppers and Braised Onions
Serves 4

4 bone-in sirloin pork chops 1/2" to 1" thick
salt, fresh ground pepper
2 T olive oil or coconut oil
4 cups sliced onions (about 3 large)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2T smoked Spanish paprika (pimentón, see note)
1 12-oz. jar fire roasted red peppers, drained and coarsely chopped
1 cup dry Sherry or white wine
Salt and pepper to taste
chopped parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spray a shallow baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Salt and pepper the pork chops on both sides lightly. Heat the oil in a large nonstick pan, and quickly brown the chops on both sides, remove from pan and set aside on a plate.

Add the onions to the oil and stir well to cover with the oil, salt lightly and cook about 5 minutes until the onions begin to brown a bit and turn golden. Stir in the garlic and the smoked paprika and mix well. cook for about a minute, then add the roasted peppers and the wine. Bring to to a simmer, cover the pan and turn down the heat. Cook for about 5 minutes until the unions are nearly translucent.

Place the pork chops in the prepared baking dish, then removing the cover from the pan, and stirring up all the juices, pour the onion and paprika mixture on top of the pork chops. Taste the juice for seasoning.  Bake in the oven uncovered, about 20 minutes until they are cooked through.

I like this with sautéed spinach and mushrooms, or the cauliflower puree recipe I posted last week. Gut if you would potatoes or a grain, go for it.

If Your Mama Likes it Hot: Chile-Baked Portabella Mushrooms with Eggs & Cheese

But where's my Mother's Day Margarita?
Oh, wait, it's not actually Mother's Day yet...

Old school Mother’s Day food is always such a yawner. Dainty stuff.  Little fruity pancakes or cute little muffins with flowers in a basket. Oh, PULEEZE. I just saw a Mother’s Day spread in a blog that had more flowers in it than the last funeral I went to. Give your mother REAL FOOD. After all, real work requires real food, and being a mom is real work.

Now, my idea of a Mother’s Day breakfast or brunch will involve some good food, and even a Margarita, or a hard cider. I filled a couple of big portabella mushrooms with a chile sauce, cheddar cheese and eggs.  A solid meal if you serve a nice bit of cornbread on the side and even a few slices of good, double smoked bacon. Ate it myself. Oh, mama!

These portabellas can really pack a wallop, depending how hot that chile sauce is under the innocuous looking eggs and cheese. The homemade hot pepper sauce I use in mine is medium hot; it’s derived from a recipe of Heidi’s over at the blog 101 Cookbooks called “A Tasty Frittata Recipe” that my friend Kasha and I have been making for a few years. Depending on the kind of peppers you use, and how many, the heat will vary. Make it hotter if your Mom can take the heat. Also, don’t expect the eggs to stay neatly in the mushrooms. They won’t, some will ooze into the bottom of the pan. It’s OK, this isn’t a beauty contest, and the fresh salsa can hide a lot of sins.

Minus any grain or meat side dishes, this will be a perfect choice for either a grain free, gluten free or vegetarian Mom.

Note: the sauce makes about a cup, and it keeps beautifully in the fridge for a couple of weeks, if it lasts that long. Freezes well, too. I eat this stuff on just about everything.

Chile-Baked Portabella Mushrooms with Eggs & Cheese

Serves one, easy to double, triple or quadruple.

For the Green Chile Sauce:

1 small bunch of cilantro, washed, dried

3 garlic cloves, peeled

2 large, green jalapenos, whole with top cap cut off

Big pinch of salt

Juice of a lime

½ teaspoon of smoked paprika

½ cup safflower oil or olive oil

Whirl everything in your blender or food processor, except the oil until finely minced and then drizzle in the oil. You may need a bit more oil to achieve the consistency you like.

Oiled and ready to pop in the oven.

The actual recipe part:

2 portabella mushrooms, about 4” diameter

Oil for pan and rubbing the mushrooms

4 heaping Tblsp of the green chile sauce above

3 oz. thin sliced very sharp cheddar cheese

2 eggs

1 cup fresh salsa, homemade or bought

Preheat the oven to 425°F.  Oil a shallow table-to oven baking dish that can hold the two caps side by side comfortably (we always want our mushrooms comfy). Cut the stem out of the mushroom, and scrape out the gills. Wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp paper towel. If you can, carve a little more out of the mushroom where the stem was to make the well big enough to hold the goodies. Just don’t cut through the cap. Oil the mushrooms inside and out and place dome up in the baking dish and cook for 8-10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and lower the heat to 400°F.

Easy on the inside cheese, you need to leave room for the egg.
You can top it up with as much cheese as you want!

Carefully flip the mushrooms cupped side up and put 2 T of the Green Chile Sauce into each one, then a thin slice of cheese. Carefully crack a egg into each one, and don’t worry if some of the egg white slides into the baking dish. Evenly distribute the remaining cheese over the eggs, leaving some of the yolk showing. Replace in the oven and bake 8- 10 minutes until the egg is done as you like and the cheese has melted. Remove, top with the fresh salsa and serve to Mom, with love.