Chorizo-style Pork Chops

I'm a bit of an early bird.  I love getting up early, even on the weekends, and seizing the day.  By 11 pm on a weekday, I'm already asleep.  It's a little bit of a struggle, since most of my friends aren't exactly excited when I call them at 9 am on a Saturday to go to the farmer's market.  I can't understand why...the morning is always so gorgeous and sunny!

Sometimes on the weekend, I'll try to quietly entertain myself for an hour or two and let the Monkey Scientist sleep a little later before I wake him up.  I'll read a book on my iPad or, lately, brainstorm recipe ideas.  A few weeks ago, lying in bed on a Saturday morning, I had the inspiration for this dish.  Yes, I was thinking about pork chops at 9 am on a Saturday.  I might like food a little bit.



If you didn't notice, I have been a little bit obsessed with chorizo lately.  I would love to eat it fried up for dinner, but pork sausage isn't exactly the healthiest protein in the world.  So I wanted to create a pork dish that could serve as the main course while incorporating all of those spicy, warm chorizo flavors into it. I decided the best way to do this was to make a marinade with all of the ingredients that go into my favorite chorizo sausage (except the ground pork) and smother some boneless pork chops in it.



Do you know what gives chorizo that unmistakable red/orange oil?  I couldn't quite figure it out until I started making this recipe.  It's dried chiles!  If you live in DC, you can find dried Mexican chiles in the produce section at most Giant supermarkets.  The best place for dried chiles though is the new Georgetown Safeway.  The Monkey Scientist stopped by there and found a wide selection at very reasonable prices.



This recipe turned out better than I ever expected!  The sauce was amazing - I could have licked it off the plate.  It did have a solid kick to it - which we love - but you could tone it down by using milder chiles and less cayenne.  It wasn't exactly the same as eating chorizo, but it certainly was healthier.  Except for the whole frying in bacon fat thing - but that was totally worth it. We didn't grow up eating pork chops, but they're fairly inexpensive and super easy and quick to make.  We ate it with my favorite brussels sprouts recipe - I'll share it with you later this week.  This was one of my favorite meals to date!



Chorizo-style Pork Chops
adapted from Homesick Texan and Simply Recipes

Ingredients
3 dried New Mexico chiles (or other Mexican dried chile peppers)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 small onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon oregano
3/4 teaspoon cayenne
2 teaspoons salt
4-6 boneless pork chops (about 3/4" thick)
1-2 tbsp bacon fat (or olive oil)

Instructions
1. Rinse the dried chiles, and then remove the stem and seeds. Heat the chiles for a couple of minutes on each side in a cast-iron skillet on high heat. Remove from skillet and let soak for half an hour in water.
2. After chiles are moist, drain the water and place the chiles and vinegar in a blender or food processor, also adding the diced onion and chopped garlic. Puree until a smooth, bright red paste is formed (can add a splash of water or vinegar if it's too dry to blend). It will look like ketchup.
3. Combine the remaining spices in a separate bowl.  Rub the pork chops in a heavy coat of the spice blend.  Place them in a Ziploc bag, then add in the chile mixture.  Seal the bag, then shake to coat the pork chops and place in the refrigerator to marinate for about 2 hours.
4.  Heat a skillet over medium high heat until hot.  Add the bacon fat (fry up some bacon, remove it and leave the fat behind) or oil and then the pork chops.  Do not crowd the pan.  Cook for about 2 minutes on each side, until you see a brown sear around the edges (it won't turn very brown because of the marinade).  Juices should run clear and there should be no pink inside when done. Serve immediately.

Hot Cocoa Mix in a Jar

This post is going to be a short one, but I wanted to share a great gift idea with you.  I made these cocoa jars to bring to my bestest friend and the Monkey Scientist's parents while I was visiting Chicago a couple weeks ago.  I think they're the most adorable gift to send for the holidays!



Of course, you can also make this mix and store it to have your own cocoa all winter long!  I had tons left over and I've been keeping it in a jar on my counter to make hot cocoa whenever I like.  You just mix it with hot water, or even coffee if that's your kind of thing, and it's ready! It's absolutely delicious - creamy and frothy and chocolately and sweet.  The best drink on a cold winter's day!



Hot Cocoa Mix in a Jar
adjusted slightly from Whole Eats & Whole Treats

Ingredients

3 cups powdered sugar
2 1/2 cups powdered milk
1 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp fine salt
1 bag mini marshmallows

Instructions
Put all of the ingredients through a fine-mesh sieve. You will have to smoosh the powdered milk through with a spoon. This breaks up those lumps of milk and makes a nice uniform looking powder.

Fill a glass jar nearly to the top with mix, leaving about 1" of space at the top.  Fill the rest with mini marshmallows and put on the lid.

Instructions for making cocoa: 
Fill mug 1/3 of the way (or less for weaker hot cocoa) with the mix. Add a little bit of boiling water (or coffee) and stir or whisk. Fill the rest of the way with more water/coffee.

Roasted Pumpkin and Lentil Soup with Chorizo

Finally the fall is here!

You know how I know?




I made soup!  I haven't made soup in months!  And my soup, it has PUMPKIN it in!  It truly is October, even if it feels like April outside.  (Although I'm sure when I'm in Minneapolis in a little over a week, I'll freeze my little tushy off!)




I came up with this soup on my own, though I consulted all sorts of recipes for ways to roast pumpkin as well as techniques for preparing lentils, meats, or squash in soup.  Everyone has their own ways of doing it - roasting the pumpkin or not roasting, pureeing or leaving everything whole, and even timing varied widely.  In the end, I just did what worked best for me.



I really enjoyed making my own recipe for this soup. I had a vision of exactly what I wanted, and I accomplished it.  I was hoping for a soup that was spicy and savory, yet sweet, and full of protein so that it would be filling.  I love lentils, but I'd never tried to use them in soup and I'm so happy with my results!




If you're interested in making your own soup recipe, check out this guide on Simple Bites.  It's definitely a skill worth learning.  Homemade soup is so much tastier and healthier than anything out of a can!  Almost any seasonal produce can go right in!  I love any excuse to use my immersion blender, so squash in the fall makes my favorite soups.



This soup came out so amazing.  I brought some leftovers to work and everyone was wandering towards me, asking what they smelled.  It was very filling and the flavors were complex.  I'm not sure how I feel about the pureed meat (that sounds disgusting) but honestly it didn't bother me in the final soup.  I actually love the texture of the blended soup.  If you're not into that sort of thing, you can probably just add it in at the end, after you blend the lentils and squash, or leave it out all together (although in that case, I'd add some chiles to increase the spice level).  I thought it was just perfect as is though!




Pumpkin and Lentil Soup with Chorizo


Ingredients
1 small pie pumpkin
1 1/2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp cinnamon sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb chorizo, casings removed and crumbled
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp all spice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 cups lentils, rinsed and sorted
7 cups vegetable or chicken stock

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with tin foil.
2. Cut pumpkin in half and remove seeds and stringy insides.  Slice into 2-inch wide crescents.
3. Spread butter, maple syrup, and cinnamon sugar over the foil on the baking sheet.  Rub the pumpkin on both sides in the butter mixture.  Arrange in a single layer and bake 20-30 minutes, turning them over halfway through cooking time.  When they're cooked, remove and discard skin and chop pumpkin.
4. Heat the oil in a dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the chorizo and cook thoroughly. Remove to a separate bowl with a slotted spoon.
5. Add the onions, garlic, and ginger to the pan.  Season with salt, pepper, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves.  Allow to cook until soft, about 10 minutes.
6.  Add pumpkin, then lentils, then stock.  Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to low and simmer until lentil are tender, about 30 minutes (may take more or less time depending on the type of lentils used).
7. Puree using an immersion blender.  Serve immediately (just don't burn your tongue!)

Kibbee-style Bulgar Salad

I have been literally itching to make kibbee for weeks.  Mom and I went out for lunch back home in NH, where the fattoush salad is out of this world.  I live for it.  We went to a restaurant where I'd never been before, and I was about to top my salad with lamb kabob when saw a strange new meat option - Kibbee. I'd never heard of it before, but I'm always one to try new things.  Especially when the waitress described it as "kind of like meatloaf, but with pine nuts, and better..."



I died.  It was like a pine nutty, lamby, flat, baked slice of heaven.  It was so savory I nearly forgot about the citrusy, sumac-covered, crunchy salad below.  As soon as it was gone from my plate, I was on my phone, googling recipes.  I picked up some bulgar at the Christmas Tree Shop (yes, I do just love a bargain) to drag back to DC with me.



And then, I forgot about it.  Until one morning, while digging in the back of my cabinet, I saw the bulgar and remembered.  The urge was back - I had to have kibbee.  Tonight.



Again, I scoured the web for recipes.  There were all sorts of variations - some with tons of spices like allspice, fresh mint, cumin, cinnamon or even hot sauce, others had feta, some mixed the bulgar with the meat and some layered them.  I decided I would combine them all and see what worked best for me.



Unfortunately, it really didn't work out for me.  It became a big mess instead of a nice slice.  Regardless, the taste was really fantastic and it made a great salad.  I like using bulgar in "pasta" salad because it is so healthy, so this seemed like the obvious route to me.  Regardless, this is not my last try making kibee!!



Kibbee-style Bulgar Salad


Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large Vidalia onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb ground lamb
1/4 c fresh chopped mint
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp all spice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 c bulgar
1/2 c pine nuts
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Saute garlic and onion until soft, about 8 minutes.
2. Add ground lamb, mint, cinnamon, all spice, and nutmeg and cook until brown (doesn't need to be cooked through).
3. Meanwhile, soak bulgar in warm water 15-20 minutes.  Drain and squeeze out excess water.
4. Combine bulgar, lamb, and pine nuts in a bowl.  Grease a baking pan well with oil.  Press mixture into pan.
5.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until cooked through. Serve on its own with roasted squash or over baby spinach.

Seafood Paella

This weekend, my friend and I were supposed to go apple picking, but the weather simply did not cooperate!  It was cold (in the 40s!) and rainy, just awful.  Apple season is early and short down in DC which means we might never get to go now, big bummer.



Instead of letting the weather get us down, we decided to get the best ingredients we could find and make paella.  Her mom gave her a nice big paella pan - although after it was all made it ended up being smaller than we expected - and she had a cookbook and a recipe in mind.  We set to work scoping out the best place for all of our ingredients.



For the vegetables (onions, bell peppers) we went to the Mount Pleasant farmer's market.  For the seafood, we drove all the way down to Southeast DC to visit our favorite place, the Maine Avenue Fish Market.  Now I can't say for sure that the quality there is better than the supermarket (it's not like they're pulling fish out of the Potomac, or at least I hope not, but the selection is the best in the District and the fish never smells like it isn't fresh.

The prices are reasonable as well for most things, although shrimp were fairly expensive (even though they had endless varieties!).  I was able to get my fish carcass there for $1 - a nice salmon head, fins, tail and bones.  My friend thought I was kidding when I suggested we get it, but I most certainly was not!  Making the homemade fish stock was the most exciting part of the day (for better or for worse)!



Sorry, I had to re-post that one.  I'm sticking by my Halloween excuse.  I love it.

After the fish market, we hiked back up to Giant to get the rest of the groceries, and ended up stopping at World Market as well for saffron ($4.99 vs $19.99 at Giant - probably because it was from India not Spain).  I have to admit the question I've gotten most when I tell people I made paella is "where'd you get the saffron?"  I know it's always expensive, but are there quality differences as well? I thought the less expensive World Market saffron worked just fine!



When assembling I realized there was no way I was going to fit the rice and stock in the paella dish without major overflow.  I halved the rice (and the stock, of course) and made these changes in the recipe below.  I like my paella with lots of seafood and a little rice, so feel free to double it again if your pan is big enough.  Just make sure you double both the stock AND the rice (should be a 2:1 ratio).



Overall, an awesome recipe and a very fun day.  My friend and I are New England girls, so of course we love almost any seafood dish, but the Monkey Scientist loved it as well.  It's loaded with filling seafood and the rice soaks up the flavor of everything. It was definitely missing a flavor element though, so next time I'd probably add a hot pepper or two (anything from jalapeno to habanero, depending on your tolerance for heat) when I add the onions.  Maybe even some Old Bay, this is DC after all!



Seafood Paella
adapted slightly from Paella Paella

Ingredients
8 oz mussels
8 oz clams
5 tbsp olive oil
8 oz fish (use any white fish that is sturdy)
8 oz squid, sliced into rounds
2 small (or one large) onions, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 small red bell peppers, diced
1 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes, drained then chopped
1 cup rice (any short grain)
2 cups fish stock
1/2 tsp saffron
salt and pepper, to taste
8 oz uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined (save the shells!)

Instructions
1. Scrub the mussels and clams thoroughly, removing all beards and barnacles.  Soak in water to let any sand fall to the bottom of the bowl.  Discard any that fail to close when tapped sharply.  Set aside.
2. Heat 4 tablespoons olive oil in a paella pan over medium heat.  Add the fish and squid and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, until they start to brown.  Transfer to a plate.
3. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the paella pan and cook the onions, garlic, and peppers until tender and starting to brown.  Mix in the tomatoes and continue to cook for another 8 to 10 minutes.
4. Add the fish, squid, and rice to the paella pan.  Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.  Stir in the fish stock, saffron, salt, and pepper, and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
5.  Add the shrimp, mussels, and clams and continue to cook over low heat until all the liquid has been absorbed, 20 to 30 minutes depending on the type of rice.  Discard any mussels or clams that have failed to open.  Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

Fish Stock

In high school, I spent a lot of time over at my best friend's house, where her mom was always cooking up some sort of stock.  Usually it was a leftover chicken carcass boiling away on the stove with carrots, onion, and celery. The freezer was full of the stuff, and any time they wanted to make soup (or her mom's gravy) they'd pull out a tupperware, defrost on the stove, and it'd be ready in no time.

I loved this idea!  I am always spending way too much money on stock full of totally unknown ingredients.  I had only every tried making shrimp stock before, but it was so easy that I wanted to try again.  I stayed in my seafood comfort zone, but I will definitely be venturing out to chicken or beef stock next time!



Now I admit, making stock is scary. Mostly because of that scary word I used a minute ago.  You know, carcass.  But think of it as being resourceful.  Using the whole animal, not just the parts you eat directly.  And better yet, think of it as the easiest step you can take for better food at a lower cost.

There's much more to tell about how I ended up with this giant fish carcass (the story is coming, I promise) but let's just say I only paid $1 for it and it made enough fish stock for cioppino, shrimp risotto, and much more - including the recipe that's coming up later this week.  It's chocked full of flavor - definitely try it out.  And don't be scared of the picture with the fish head floating up - I just did that for effect... it is almost Halloween after all!



Fish Stock


Ingredients
20 cups water
1/4 c white wine
1 fish carcass (everything but the filets - head, bones, fins etc)
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp herbes de provence
3 small carrots, cut in thirds
1 large onion, quartered
shells from 1/2 lb shrimp
2 lemons, quartered (skin on)

Instructions
1. Bring all the ingredients to a boil in a large stock pot.
2. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, 30 minutes.
3. Remove fish head, veggies, and lemons using tongs or a slotted spoon (it's nice if you use a pot with a strainer insert and then you can pull that out and dump it).  Run through a mesh strainer to remove any remaining solids.  Use within 3 days or freeze.

Honey Cookies

Now I know I'm way late for Rosh Hashanah, but I debated whether or not I'd share these, since it isn't my favorite recipe of all time.  However, they are parve and do not contain eggs, so I thought they may excite those of you with egg allergies out there.

You could use butter, of course, but to keep them parve I used Fleischmann's margarine.  Growing up my mom always called this "Dad's butter" because my grandfather is highly allergic to dairy and we always used it when we baked for him.  Every time I see the silver foil wrapper I think of him.

The margarine creams well enough, although it doesn't get that sugary crunch like when you cream sugar and butter.  Maybe the honey affects this as well.  Additionally, the recipe doesn't call for any eggs (even egg replacement) which is unique for me in a cookie recipe.

The dough itself is good enough.  It rolls out quite nicely so that you can cut it into any shape you like.  I loved this adorable apple shape for the Jewish New Year - it's a fun riff on "apples" with honey!  The apples are a little sticky so it may help to cut them right on the parchment paper or silpat where you're going to bake them. I didn't find a fantastic way to make this work but you probably can!

I have to admit, these cookies come out really dry.  They'd be good for sandwich cookies - spread the middle with apple jam, cream cheese frosting (if you didn't need them to be parve of course!), or you could dip them in chocolate.  I think it would help cut the dryness.  They do have a wonderful honey flavor, which you can alter using different types of honey.  It's a very easy recipe for a last minute parve dessert!

Honey Cookies

adjusted slighty from Chick in the Kitchen

Ingredients

2 sticks margarine, room temperature (I used Fleichmann's)
1/2 c. white sugar
4 Tbsp. honey (I used clover honey)
1½ c white flour
1 c whole wheat flour

Instructions
1. With a hand mixer, cream margarine, sugar, and honey in a large bowl. (If you spray your measuring spoon lightly with non-stick spray first, the honey will slide right out.)
2. Slowly add flour, continuing to mix, until dough is smooth. Form into a large ball and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 300° F.
4. Cut dough into thirds, and work with each piece individually. Roll out to 1/2-inch thick on top of waxed paper or foil. Cut out cookies with a glass or cookie cutter, and place on a non-stick baking sheet.
5. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until cookies are golden and edges have just begun to dark. Allow cookies to cool — they will harden as they do so. Use a flat, stiff spatula to remove them from the baking sheet.

My apologies to the vegan community - these cookies are not vegan - obviously veganism is not my fortay!