Pork Chops with Horseradish Cream Sauce

Pan-roasted Pork Chops
2- 2" bone in pork chops
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh cracked pepper
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
1 Tbl. olive oil
2 carrots- chopped
1 celery stick- chopped
1 bay leaf
2 c. chopped brussel sprouts

1. Preheat oven to 425. Bring the chops to room temperature and rub with the salt, pepper, allspice and marjoram. Heat a saute pan to medium high, add in the oil and when the oil's hot but not yet smoking, add the chops. Let brown on all sides.

2. Add the carrots, celery and bay leaf around the chops in the pan, then over that add the brussel sprouts. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, then remove and cover the pork. Pour out and reserve 1/4-1/2 cup of the pan juices. Keep roasting the vegetables for another 15-20 minutes until tender.

Horseradish Cream Sauce
1 c. heavy cream
1/4- 1/2 c. of the reserved pan juice (depending on how much you have, add in 1/2-3/4 c. chicken or beef stock)
1/4 c. grated horseradish
1/4 c. diced apple
2 Tbl. finely chopped scallions (original recipe calls for chives)
1/2 tsp dry mustard
Salt to taste

1. Combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan and let simmer over a low heat for 30 minutes. Taste for and add salt. You can serve with the apples and scallions for a chunkier sauce or strain them out with a sieve.

Kale and Almond Pesto

Kale and Almond Pesto

3 c. kale- roughly chopped

3-4 basil leaves

1/4 c. chopped parsley

1/2 c. roasted unsalted almonds

1 garlic clove

1/4 grated parmesan- plus extra to shave over

1 c. olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a food processor add in the basil leaves, parsley, almonds and garlic. Set a salted pot of water over medium high heat and once boiling, add in the kale. You made need to do this in batches. Blanch the kale for 1-2 minutes, then remove, drain and add to the processor (it’s ok if a little water from the kale gets in).

2. Add the grated cheese and then blend together. While blending drizzle the olive oil in through the top until it has a creamy consistency- you may not need all the oil, or you may need more. Taste for salt and pepper and then serve over pasta with some grated parmesan on top.

Turkey Chili Revisited

The past few days in NYC have been perfect chili weather. Cold, a bit dreary. The part of fall I tend to dislike the most as too many of these gray days have me wishing I could bottle the endless blue sky autumn days, have me thinking too much about what’s next to come. One or two gray days can be feasible though, finding someone special to cuddle under blankets with, watching old movies, making warm, hearty meals. But only one or two and then I get antsy, thinking this favorite season of mine has already come and gone. But for now I’m staying optimistic. We’ll have beautiful blue sky fall through November, at least.

But I digress. So on gray day #1 I made turkey chili. An all day project for a day I had nothing planned and where the weather outside was not one bit hospitable. I’ve posted my chili before but this time I made a few different tweaks in order to keep myself from having to venture out. The first change was no beer. It may sound like blasphemy but it’s true. My desire to stay warm and dry outweighed having beer in my chili and I can live with that. Second change was tomato paste, that just happened to be hanging out in my fridge, begging to be used. And it’s funny how two little adjustments can make something just that much different. In a good way. A great way actually. The addition of paste and lack of beer I think made it richer all around, there was still plenty of depth (I mean there’s bacon, molasses, ancho chile cacao all in here… on top of everything else) but with beer there probably would’ve been that extra hoppy layer. But it was a success, especially for a recipe that I considered pretty perfect from the start. The perfect meal to brighten up a dreary fall day.

Tomato & Ricotta Salad

It’s so hard to believe that fall is in full force. Although I love to dress for autumn this morning I decided to take advantage of the days when I can still wear peep-toe shoes and capris without risking a cold, as I feel those days will just become fewer and further between. I got back late last week from a week long Texas trip and Friday was off to the grocery to restock the shockingly bare fridge. We like to eat as seasonally as possible, and while I’ve been craving hearty stews and heavy braises lately, when I spied the still-heavily-stocked heirloom tomatoes it took such a strong will to not reach for one. To taste just one more juicy, sweet tomato before it’s time to call it for the season. While I’m sure a few good, late summer tomatoes can still be found, I’d rather it be at the farmers market than Whole Foods any day and may just have to take a lunch break this week to check out what’s currently at  the market (also craving a hearty lamb tagine, would love to grab ingredients for that as well for when the temperatures dip again later this week).

I love the simplicity of this recipe but also how decadent it can be at the same time. An overindulgent dollop of creamy, herby ricotta over silky sweet and juicy slices of tomato and a drizzle of spicy, bright olive oil to finish it off, it’s light and rich at the same time. The perfect transition food. From summer to fall. From light to hearty and so on and so forth. I’m sad to lose summer, but the wonderful thing about living in the Northeast is that every season is such a noticeable change, so while it's hard to say goodbye to sandals and skimpy dresses and the bounty of produce that New York has to offer in the summer, I’m so looking forward to pumpkins, to tall boots, warm scarves, and hearty stews. But until the warm days are officially gone, hand me a gorgeous, plump  tomato and let me enjoy the last trace of summer.

Cornflake Salmon

I'm going to clue you into a little known fact about me that most people don't know. I hate milk. More than just a casual dislike, everything about it is  disgusting, abhorrent, completely unacceptable. My family can attest to my numerous tantrums and dinner table bargaining as a child anytime I was faced with a tall, cold glass of... milk. Even now, when it’s easier to avoid, I still won’t go near anyone who’s recently drank it and will buy buttermilk or cream any day before I'll keep milk in my fridge (which are acceptable to me… go figure).

So needless to say, I don't eat much cereal. It's a wonder I'll even eat cereal in the first place, but it can be a filling (and economical) snack/lunch/light dinner. However, I'll only eat 2 kinds: grape nuts  and cornflakes... and dry of course. I even used to pick out the cornflakes from Honey Bunches of Oats, that's how much of a breakfast weirdo I am and how much I love those slightly sweet, light buttery flakes. And so it should come as no major surprise that outside of just snacking and coating chicken in, I try to find as many uses for cornflakes as possible, sometimes the more unorthodox the better.

Shishito Peppers

What a day and it's not even close to over. If you live in the NYC area or happen to be watching the news this morning you already know about the shootings near the Empire State Building, which happens to be a block away from my office. It makes me sad that there are people in the world who have no regard for human life and angry that these things happen at all, but with increased occurrence lately. And it serves to remind me how fragile a sense of normalcy can be. With everything under control outside by noon though I was antsy to get out of the office, anxious to continue back to the what I had planned for the day, and just clear my head away from midtown, especially before the claustrophobic evening rush.

I wandered down to the Union Square farmers market and took in the plethora of fresh vegetables and flowers, then turned North and wandered around Eataly. If you haven’t been, it’s worth a trip but go with a plan and don’t go hungry. I’d been treating myself to a weekly Friday Eataly excursion lately and have been surprising myself by getting out of there with less than $20 spent and some pretty good finds for dinner. Last week was perfect pillows of gnocchi, heirloom tomatoes and a surprise acquisition of shishito peppers. This week I walked out of there with a wedge of sharp Parmigiano Reggiano, nearly a pound of sugar snap peas (which I LOVE to snack on raw, but also for a mint pea pesto for dinner) and I basically cleaned them out of shishito peppers. All for a little over $12.

Tomatoes with Miso Dressing

It's hard to believe it's mid-August. I have so many trips and adventures planned for the fall through the winter that I'm so looking forward to but I've had to wake up and be in the moment. Summer is here right now, and it's a season I love but before I know it it'll be over. But while it's here I'm going to enjoy all the best parts of the season. Outdoor concerts and movies, baseball games, boat rides, as many beach trips as possible, exploring my city and of course enjoying the produce of summer.

Since the move it's been hard to get back to my weekly Saturday morning farmers market trip. Even if I was just picking up one little ingredient or something unusual and fun to make my week brighter, it was helpful to just walk around to see what was truly in season. So it had completely slipped my mind that I'm completely missing out on tomatoes at their peak, until I visited my favorite Izakaya where we had a gorgeous heirloom tomato salad with miso dressing.

Buttermilk Pie

With this pie, I take back everything I've ever said about not liking sugary sweet desserts. This is it. The one and only where I can't get enough, that overwhelming sugary vanilla custard that's only slightly offset by the pucker-y lemon buttermilk. From my earliest memories this was my favorite pie, the pie that sealed my love for pies in general, but a dessert I make sparingly because I know my self control would not be able to hold back and my waistline would hate me for it. But sometimes, especially on quiet summer weekends, you have to indulge.

If you aren't familiar, buttermilk pie is a southern dessert. It's similar to chess pie but doesn't include any cornmeal, though I see the appeal of the extra added texture of crunch. It's got that beautiful tang from the buttermilk, another favorite from my childhood, that's almost brought to a completely different level with the complementary lemon, while cooking the top forms a delicious browned crunch. Once chilled it's irresistible, completely addictive. It's special occasion, a once in a summertime blue moon pie but so worth the extra hours at the gym.

Pebre... World's Best Condiment

Pebre is a Chilean condiment, but it wasn't until my parents went back there a few years ago and found it everywhere in the same way you'll find salsa on every Mexican restaurant table in San Antonio that it made it's way back to the states and into my parents' home as a permanent fixture. It's like a pico de gallo shot with a ton more acid, the South American, chimmichurri-esque note. When I'm home in the summer I can basically count on it always being a staple in the fridge, and it's nice to have it in my New York apartment too, another touch of home that works so well with the fresh northeast summer produce.

Cornflake Chicken

I wasn’t initially intending to blog this meal but I received  requests from my sis for the recipe and besides being on the healthier side, it was pretty darn tasty so I figured why not. This was actually my first attempt in making cornflake chicken which is surprising because in college it was one of my favorite meals served at my sorority house (besides breakfast-for-dinner night there and who can argue with that).

My sophomore year of college I lived in my sorority house. It was a great experience, the perfect transition between the overcrowded personalities in the dorm and the lonely independence of apartment living. My favorite memories were a mix of wonderful and bittersweet. Heading out to class on jersey days. Friends crowding in my room during rush breaks to catch an episode of Sex and the City. Groups getting ready to go out, the electric excitement running through the house before a mixer or party. Girls packed like sardines into the downstairs hallways during tornado warnings. Everyone sitting in the living room, locked in shock, watching as 9/11 unfolded before our eyes. And through all that we had an amazing group of women who day in and out would prepare all our meals, would laugh and cry along with us, and solidified that it wasn’t just a house, but a home.

Garlic Parmesan Popovers

This has not turned out to be the weekend I thought it would be. My beloved kitten, Huxley, had jumped off the bed and hit his back paw wrong and then refused to walk. He's had little sprains like this before but as he's getting up there (9! Yikes) I figured we should rule out anything bad. So that night it was off to the vet.

$528 later they had ruled out any diabetes, kidney, liver, worms, ticks/fleas, upper respiratory, hydration problems and most importantly, paw issues (not even a sprain, better than I expected). Which was a relief. And the vet was amazing. I was also in and out in less than an hour, which helped stress levels for both myself and the Hux. My goodness though... I was not expecting that kind of bill. But this is what savings is for, right? And so, for the next 2 months I'm pretty much broke. Which pretty much put my weekend plans on immediate hold.

Dry Sauteed String Beans

When I first moved to New York, take out was a new and exciting experience. In Dallas we'd get pizza delivered... and that's about it. So coming to a city where I could get everything from Cuban to Malaysian to Salvadorian and at any time of the day... well it was just a tad overwhelming. Thanks to chowhound, menupages, yelp, etc I found some must haves, one of my favorites being Dry Sauteed String Beans at Grand Sichuan.

The beans are nicely blistered, but not burned and the pork adds some nice fatty deliciousness and also picks up the sugar, soy and of course the spice from the chilies. Over some brown rice all the textures work perfectly and even though I wouldn't call it the healthiest meal, it's fairly balanced. And it's a dish I crave over and over, throughout the seven years I've lived here. And even though I've now moved back into delivery range for Grand Sichuan, why not try to recreate this at home?

Chicken Cacciatore

Honey Soy Ginger Shrimp Stir Fry

Well I've got a few recipes I need to type up and get out there but I figured I'd start with this one first because it was pretty delicious, fast and made somewhat on the fly. Exactly what you want for a busy weeknight. I had gotten into my head that I wanted to do a miso glazed cod (a la Nobu), but that needed a while to marinate so while I was at the fish counter I grabbed some shrimp that I could do a quick, Asian-flavored marinade with some fresh ginger and honey.

Having also ended last weekend at a friends' BBQ where the hosts had made some pretty delicious coconut rice with golden raisins, I was determined to recreate as I couldn't get enough. If you remember, I'm quite fond of coconut rice... and was able to find some 5.5 oz. cans of coconut milk from Thai Kitchen which is pretty much the perfect size to get some great coconut flavor with only a touch of the fat. I topped off the rice cooker with some fresh kale leaves to steam (my new favorite dinner trick) and stir fried the shrimp with some shitakes. Balanced, delicious, easy and pescatarian. 

Midtown Lunch: Lena Latin Grill

Last week’s midtown lunch was a wash. With the heatwave going on all I wanted to do was stay in my cool building. The weather today however... gorgeous. Sunny, just a few clouds and a perfect 75. Just the right day to head out for a midtown lunch expedition with my friend Robin, aka Ms. Silk Purse, who’s been such an inspiration lately in getting me out of the office during lunch.

I did some quick research into what was equidistance between our offices (I’m in Herald Sq and she’s up near Bryant Park) and settled on Lena Latin Grill. Described as the Chipotle of South American cuisine, it was also the perfect quick serve, yet sit down set up for us to chat and catch up in an hour. Still on my pescatarian fix, but having fish tonight, I settled on a nice and light tofu salad. Added in were grilled corn and queso fresco (a last minute splurge made while looking at their overwhelming sides list) and I topped it off with some chimichurri.

The Urban Herb Garden

One of the things I was most excited about with the new place was my balcony. Facing the back of the building with a good sized alleyway between the building across the way, it gets great sunlight and a cool breeze. And having a balcony means I can have an herb garden, albeit a small one, as the actual balcony size is pretty small. But I have sunlight, good drainage and good air circulation, all necessities for growing herbs.

So in the past few weeks I've set out to make this dream a reality, researching everything from the types of herbs I wanted, to the places to get them, to planting the right combinations, to the actual planters they'll go in. I settled on a 36" and a 24" CobraCo English Horse Trough balcony planter that hangs over the railing of our balcony to maximize space. Then I was off to get potting soil and herbs. After an unsuccessful trip to Home Depot I did some more in depth yelping research and came up with a hardware store that got kudos for having lots of organic products as well as being pretty economical. Plus it's only 10 blocks or so from my place.

Lunching It Up In Midtown & Other Local Excursions

I rarely leave my office for lunch. In fact, I rarely leave my desk. And some days I’m so busy that taking the 5 minutes I need to heat up food can be too much. Plus it’s expensive. If I want to eat my favorite healthy salad, that’s $10. If I feel like being a little gluttonous with a burrito bowl at Chipotle (don’t judge… I love their burrito bowls and have perfected the combination- mix white and brown rice, no beans, chicken, tomatillo salsa, pico de gallo, lettuce and guacamole… not so unhealthy) that’s $10. And $10 every day, or even a couple of days a week can add up. I also work in what is generally considered a culinary no man’s land, so that definitely doesn't help either.

But some days, especially the nicest days all I want to do is get out, even if I’m just running across the street. I remembered those long ago days when I had just started this job and would go sit out in Herald Square or read next to the windows in the now shuttered Borders in Penn Station. So I’ve started trying to make the time. Come in just a little earlier, get those reports done a tad sooner. Once a week just get out, even if I’m just heating up my lunch and taking it outside. But even more fun would be those days I can go try something new. I'll occassionally grab Korean food- kimchee pancakes, mandoo or kimbap- but this is basically owing to my close proximity to K-town. I want to branch out further. Elusive food trucks, ethnic carts hailed by Chowhounders, that crazy sandwich on Serious Eats or specialty salad featured on Midtown Lunch. $10 once a week, I can handle that. So beginning today it was a chicken tikka kati roll at The Kati Roll Company. Tender chicken, spice sauce, an equal parts soft and crispy kati wrap. And $5 for a me-sized roll (though those with a bigger appetite may want to go for the 2 roll special), well that’s doable.

Meant to take a picture before I scarfed down 1/2 the roll but oh well

Olive Oil Rosemary Cake with Rhubarb Cherry Compote

Mediterranean Chicken with Lemony Spring Vegetable Orzo

One of the things I was determined to set up as soon as I found out I'd have a little bit of outdoor space was an herb garden. I grew up with an outdoor garden where my Mom grew everything from tomatoes to peppers and of course a few herbs and although I didn't fully appreciate that idyllic sort of self-sufficiency at the time, now I would give anything to gather edibles from my backyard for the dinner table. So I'm flexing my untried thumb to find out exactly how green it is with a few staple herbs: rosemary, basil, thyme, oregano, cilantro, sage and mint. I'm a little over a week into it but being my usual impatient self, the other night I decided to snip some rosemary, oregano and thyme to make a modified version of Mark Bittman's Grilled Mediterranean Chicken I saw on Serious Eats.

I was drawn to this recipe not only for the herbs, but for the brightness that the lemon added and to give me a chance to grow to love my temperamental oven by roasting some chicken (as sadly I do not own a proper grill, only a stove top one that seems to work best on veggies and shrimp). Combined with a light and creamy orzo flecked with some grilled asparagus and thawed out peas and corn kernels, it was a perfectly light and yet deliciously decadent week night meal. Eaten cold the next day, with the crispy skin removed it was a different, yet equally tasty result, somewhat like an herby cold rotisserie chicken (does anyone else out there enjoy cold chicken, or am I just a weirdo?). But the fresh herbs really helped to push the whole meal into an over the top type of wonderful and just served to remind me how delicious something fresh and simple can taste.

Strawberry Shortcake

So this is another recipe I wasn't initially intending to blog about because goodness knows if you google strawberry shortcake you'll get dozens of recipes, but I've been in a little cooking funk lately so I figured what the heck, the interwebs could always use one more recipe, right? Oh and a chance for me to bitch about some things on my mind. The thing is, this past weekend I made a few things I was pretty psyched about; a saag paneer with kale and buttermilk that I scarfed down before heading out on Friday, some oven roasted dry rub baby back ribs that were pretty amazing, despite oven issues, but I forgot to take a picture of both and finally some lemon buttermilk sorbet that I just haven't gotten around to eat because the temp dropped back to the 60s. Oh, and I made pizza dough using some Shiner Bock brought especially for me from one of my Dallas reps (I love my biz), but didn't get around to actually baking the pizza due to the above mentioned oven issues.

Between a microwave that doesn't work (which, ok, I don't use a microwave like ever really), a washing machine that worked once then crapped out (maybe due to someone trying to be economical and overloading... but come on, things shouldn't just break like that), the fact that I can't keep my hair dryer on for more than 2 minutes without it short circuiting (fine, I'll get a surge protector for the bathroom... unsightly, but whatevs, I kind of have to dry my hair for work), the oven is where I draw the line. It just doesn't want to stay on which is kind of a problem for, you know, cooking things. And it's kind of the straw that broke the camels back for me. So I'm mad at appliances. Weird, but true. I feel terribly childish in my anger, like I want to stomp my feet and scream, but the short of it is, having a working oven is kind of a necessity for me.