Pork Chops in Mulberry Sauce

Ah, the mulberry. Mulberry bushes are an absolute blight on my property. I have spoken at length on the mulberry in my post about making Mulberry Jam. The bushes are just as out of hand as they were when I wrote that post a couple of years ago, and now we have discovered we have a bush that produces WHITE mulberries! We thought they were unripe regular mulberries, but it turns out we are very stupid. Anyways, I have been looking at things to do with our regular load of mulberries (we are getting over a half pound daily), and I found an old Pol Martin recipe that used blackberries with veal chops. I modified it and here we are. The Wife and I were both really surprised at the flavor. We expected it to be noticeably sweet, but it turns out to be very subtle and a great compliment to the pork. This sauce would also work great with chicken. Give it a try and tell me what you think! Or don't I haven't really posted in like three months so you don't really owe me anything. As always, notes are in blue.

Pork Chops with Mulberry Sauce

Ingredients

• 4 pork chops, about 4 ounces each
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup mulberries, stems removed (have fun with that. I recommend using fingernail clippers to just snip them off)
• 1-1/2 cups beef stock
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (we used Pinot Grigio. If you can't or don't use wine, just bump the beef broth up to 2 cups)
• 1/2 teaspoon Bavarian Seasoning from The Spice House (if you don't have access to it, just season with salt and pepper to taste)
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 2 tablespoons cold water

Directions

1. Heat oil in a pan. Cook chops on medium-high heat for about 3-4 minutes per side. Remove to a plate and keep them warm.
2. Add the wine to the hot pan to deglaze the pan (scrape up all the good bits that are at the bottom of the pan). Add the onion and mulberries and cook  on high for about 3-4 minutes. 
3. Add the beef stock and seasoning. Lower to a simmer and cook for about 5-7 minutes. 
4. In a small cup, mix the corn starch into the water. Pour the mixture into the sauce. Turn off heat. Stir until sauce begins to thicken.
5. Serve the pork chops and cover with a spoonful of the sauce and berries.

Good times!

BONUS! Here's the video of the recipe!

Braised Chicken and Tomato

     The early 1990's must have been an interesting time to cook. Based on cookbooks from the era like my well-worn copy of Pol Martin's Supreme Cuisine, everything looked like a hot mess. Lots of earth tones and frightening sauces. I love that sort of shit. This recipe comes from the aforementioned book and is super easy to make. It turns out a really nice sauce that's good over rice or egg noodles. Give it a try and relive the days of grunge rock, Tamogotchis and Hypercolor shirts! As always, notes and changes are in blue.

Braised Chicken and Tomato
via Pol Martin's Supreme Cuisine

Ingredients

• 3-4 pounds chicken, cut into sections, washed and skinned
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3 tablespoons butter (I wound up using 5 for reasons still not entirely understood)
• 2 dry shallots, peeled and chopped (None on hand. I used one chopped red onion)
• 1/2 pound fresh mushroom, cleaned and halved
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
• 3 plum tomatoes, quartered
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken stock, heated
• 1-1/2 teaspoon basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• (I substituted the previous 6 items with one quart of my own garlic basil canned tomatoes and 1/2 cup water. Nothing really groundbreaking, my canned stuff pretty much had everything they asked for all in one)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F (180C, Gasmark 4)
2. Dredge chicken pieces in flour
3. Heat butter in ovenproof pan (I used my trusty cast iron enameled Dutch oven) over medium heat, Add chicken pieces and sear on all sides for 8-10 minutes.
4. Add shallots (or onions), garlic, mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes. Season and cook 6 minutes over medium heat (since I used my own mix, I added the onions and mushrooms for 4-5 minutes, then dumped my canned tomatoes in)
5. Incorporate wine, chicken stock and basil (I skipped this part since I was kind of doing my own thing at this point). Bring to a boil. Cover and cook for 25-30 minutes in the oven.

Good Times!

Golden Molasses Pear Cake

     Let us once again go back to the carefree days of the early 1990's for this recipe from Pol Martin's Supreme Cuisine. This recipe uses molasses, which is one of those ingredients I continually forget is in my pantry. It also originally called for apples, but I was looking for a way to use up some pears I had canned, so changes were made. The cake turned out rich and mellow.

Like Barry White's voice in cake form. 

     Anyways, if you'd like to try a cake that's a little different from your normal frosted variety, this is a nice change of pace. As always, any notes or changes are in blue.

Golden Molasses Pear Cake
via Pol Martin's Supreme Cuisine

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 3 apples, cored, peeled and diced small (I used about 2 cups of my own pears canned in bourbon syrup. Everything is better with booze)
• 1 tablespoon grated orange rind (I had no oranges on hand when I made this. I used 2 teaspoons of dried orange zest)
• 1-1/2 cups pastry flour (I'm guessing that's the same thing as regular flour, because that's what I used and everything worked out fine)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• pinch salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300F. Line bottom of 9" springform cake pan with waxed paper. Butter paper and sides of pan (It's a circle. Technically it only has two sides: the inside and the outside. Just the inside of the pan, please).
2. Place all eggs in a bowl (Protip: Take the eggs out of the shells first). Add brown sugar and molasses. Beat 3 minutes with electric hand mixer (or by hand if you're feeling particularly industrious). 
3. Stir in fruit and orange rind.
4. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together. Place in sifter and re-sift over cake batter while incorporating with a wooden spoon (pretty sure Pol Martin was drunk at this point. How am I going to re-sift over the cake batter when I haven't actually made the cake batter yet? Is this some sort of quantum theory experiment? Is the cake existing in multiple states? Is this Schrödinger's Cake? You know what else? I used a silicone spatula here. Screw you, Pol Martin)
5. Pour batter into cake pan and cook 60-65 minutes or until cake is done (unless you want to just stop before then and serve a half-cooked cake. Seriously, did nobody proofread this recipe?)
6. Cool in pan slightly before unmolding. Finish cooling on wire rack. Serve with whipped cream (I did no such thing. YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME, POL MARTIN!)

GOOD TIMES!!!

Far Breton

     Every now and then it's fun to put together a recipe that really looks like it took a ton of work. This dessert from Pol Martin's Supreme Cuisine is one of those recipes. This is a really fancy looking baked custard that has never failed to impress every time I've served it. The thing is, Far Breton is super easy to make. If you have a Kitchenaid or electric mixer, it's almost embarassingly easy. I've even managed to buy a sifter so the dusting of sugar doesn't look like absolute shit anymore! As always, notes or changes are in blue.

Far Breton
via Pol Martin's Supreme Cuisine

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons rum
• 1/4 cup marmalade
• 1/2 cup sultana raisins (those of us that don't poop money call sultanas "golden raisins")
• 2 cups milk
• Pinch salt
• Icing sugar (I hope that confectioner's sugar is the same thing, because that's what I used)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a baking dish (about 12"x8"x2") 
2. Place eggs and sugar in bowl; beat together. Add flour and salt; beat to incorporate.
3. Add rum (make sure to have a little rum yourself. You know, for quality assurance), marmalade and raisins; beat well. Pour in milk and beat to incorporate.
4. Pour batter into baking dish and bake 50-55 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool in baking dish and serve cold. 
5. Cut into squares and sprinkle with icing sugar (use some form of sifter or it will end up looking like mine. That's what happens when you just grab a fistful and throw it). Serve with maple syrup, if desired (We desired it)

Good times!

Caribbean-Style Pork, Zucchini and Apples

     I was a bit surprised at how positive the response was to this when I posted it to my Facebook page. This recipe came about simply because we were looking for a quick and easy way to burn through some more zucchini. I found the original in Pol Martin's Supreme Cuisine. The recipe was simple, but seemed like it would be lacking in the taste department. It struck me that the sweetness of the apples would play well with the She Simmers sauce I posted recently. I got a little aggressive with the sauce and used 3 tablespoons of it in the recipe. It was right on the edge of too hot for the wife, but she powered through it. The play of the spices in the sauce with the sweetness of the apples is great. The zucchini basically just sits in there and soaks up flavor. This would do well over a bed of rice or with some crusty bread. I imagine a nice bottle of Red Stripe beer would work well, too! As always, the original recipe is posted in its entirety with any changes or notes in blue.

Caribbean-Style Pork, Zucchini and Apples
formerly Pork Sauteed with Zucchini
via Pol Martin's Supreme Cuisine

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced (I cut those pieces in half again. I like smaller pieces of zucchini)
• 2 celery stalks, sliced 
• 2 apples, cored, peeled and sliced in wedges (the recipe doesn't specifically mention the type of apple, but I think sweeter is better for what we're doing here)
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
• 8 pork cutlets, trimmed of fat and cut in strips (we used 5 boneless chops; about 1.5 pounds. Sliced pork loin would work and a pack of pork tenderloins would be good, too)
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
• salt, pepper, paprika
• 2-3 tablespoons She Simmers or other Carribean-style hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold water

Directions

1. Heat half of oil in frying pan over high heat. Add vegetables, apples and garlic; season well (nothing like a vague recipe instruction. "Season well?" Do they mean don't make a mess? I don't cook that way, so I assumed they meant use a heavy hand. I don't do that with salt, so I used maybe 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper and 1/2 teaspoon paprika) Cook 3 minutes.

   

   One of these days I'll remember to not overfill the pan.

2. Turn vegetables over and continue cooking 3 minutes over medium heat. Remove vegetables and apples from pan and set aside.
3. Heat remaining oil in pan over medium heat. Add meat and cook 2 minutes on each side (I may have gone a little longer since I like a bit of a sear on my meat). Season with salt and pepper (I didn't put any salt in with the meat, but I did add a little more cracked pepper and another 1/2 teaspoon paprika.)
4. Return vegetables and apples to pan with pork. Add parsley, season lightly with paprika (here's where I changed things up. I left out this last bit of paprika and dropped in 3 tablespoons of the hot sauce. You may want to use less if you are feeble. Also, this recipe produces a fair amount of water from the apples and veggies. I made a corn starch slurry and mixed it in at the end. It thickened the water into a nice sauce). Cook 2 minutes to reheat, serve.
5. Accompany with boiled new potatoes (I did no such thing) 

No new potatoes were available, but I did have a couple old ones I baked!
Good Times!

Shrimp Lafayette via Pol Martin

     We love shrimp. We are never without a couple of pounds in the freezer. The are low in calories and so versatile. More often than not, when we're trying to figure out what's for dinner and we're feeling lazy, we end up making some sort of shrimp dish.  There's just so much you can do. Appetizers, entrees, even children's toys!

Not monkeys, SHRIMP! I know, right?

     This particular shrimp recipe comes from my close, personal friend, Pol Martin* and his quintessential 1990's-era cookbook: Pol Martin's Supreme Cuisine. This is a great mid-week meal. The ingredients are simple and should be in most kitchens at any given time. It also comes together quickly, probably about 45 minutes or so start to finish. It does have a bit of heat, so if you are of weak constitution you may want to back off on the peppers on this recipe. As always, changes and notes appear in blue.

Shrimp Lafayette
via Pol Martin's Supreme Cuisine

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 green peppers, chopped (my wife isn't a huge fan of green peppers, so we used red)
• 1 tablespoon chopped jalapeno pepper (if the heat is going to be an issue, you could probably get away with poblano.)
• 4 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, blanched, peeled and chopped (didn't blanch the garlic. Don't judge me.)
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (if you're considering omitting this AND the jalapeno, don't tell me. Just make sure you're strapped securely into your high chair, you big baby.)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/4 cup shrimp stock (If you bought tail-on shrimp, you can make basic shrimp stock. Take the tails and boil them in some water. PRESTO! Low-rent shrimp stock!)
• 1-1/4 pound fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined (we used tail-on frozen. We survived.)
• salt

Directions

1. Heat half of butter in a cast iron pan over medium heat. Add onion and both peppers, Cook 10 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally.
2. Add tomatoes, garlic, spices and brown sugar. Mix well and cook 10 minutes over low heat.
3. Add shrimp stock and continue cooking 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Have a nice glass of wine. Go ahead, you deserve it.
5. Heat remaining butter in frying pan over medium heat. Add shrimp and cook 3-4 minutes. Mix once during cooking.
6. Add shrimp to tomato mixture, mix and let simmer 2 minutes over low heat. Serve over hot pasta (we used farfalle. Bow-tie pasta is awesome.)

Good times!

*I totally don't know Pol Martin. I'm not even sure if he's still alive.

Monday Recipe: Oven Gratin Potatoes via Pol Martin

     You can't go wrong with potato dishes for a kitchen on a budget. There's just so many different ways to make them. They can be side dishes or the main dish. One of my favorite ways to have potatoes is as a gratin. It's a great side for just about any meat. This particular recipe comes from a Pol Martin cook book that I go to quite often. It's a fast and easy recipe that we doctor up with some melted mozzarella across the top.

Oven Gratin Potatoes
(vial Pol Martin's Supreme Cuisine)

Ingredients

• 2 large potatoes, peeled and sliced, set in cold water
• 1/4 teaspoon savory
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella 
• salt
• butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Drain potatoes and dry well. Place in bowl.
3. Mix savory, cayenne, white pepper and parsley together. Add to potatoes and mix.
4. Rub baking dish with garlic clove. Butter dish generously and arrange potato slices in layers. Season with salt, if desired.
5. Mix eggs, milk and cream together. Pour over potatoes. Bake in oven for 40-50 minutes. Add shredded mozzarella during last 10-15 minutes of cooking. 

Good times!