What are you cooking or baking today?

my son spent a long w/end with me recently - he is almost a cordon bleu Thai cook - so he brought prepared stuff ; cooked other and left me with a full fridge of 'stuff' I am now more confused than from the beginning but it was fun - plus the bottles of bourbon were slowly erasing my memories??
 
I'll probably make a vegetable-laden soup of some sort today. DH & I quite like having homemade soup in the fridge/freezer. It's a great way to have a lot of veggies that are tasty, and already sliced, diced, cooked and just need a quick reheat.

Same with stir fries, which I love and he's meh on. I chop, combine and lightly cook enough vegetables for about 3 meals and refrigerate. When I'm ready to eat some, I a goodly portion in a skillet along with about 1/3 cup of pulpy OJ (no oil), plus some chopped cabbage, bok choy, mixed berries, mixed leafy greens and ground flax seed, and a small amount of brown rice, quinoa, diced potato or rolled oats. It's a lot of food, but mostly veggies so I'm hungry again in a few hours.

I love to bake but we avoid consuming a lot of wheat based foods - even whole wheat - as I'd like to make, so I stifle the urge.
 
Dal Tadka. I keep tinkering with the recipe, trying to give more weight to the savory spices (garlic, cumin) and underplay the heat spices (gram Marsala, ginger) without losing the zip. I think I’ve about got it 😊
 
Hubby marinated some thick-cut pork chops yesterday so we'll cook them today. Going to make some au gratins taters & roast some radishes to go with them.

Our friend is still in the hospital & doesn't like the food, so we are going to take him dinner later.
 
Beef filet kebob...mad at myself for cooking it too long. I still ate it of course Also, made some fried cubed potatoes and sliced avocado and roasted red bells. It was so hot today, I made iced tea too.
Hubby marinated some thick-cut pork chops yesterday so we'll cook them today. Going to make some au gratins taters & roast some radishes to go with them.

Our friend is still in the hospital & doesn't like the food, so we are going to take him dinner later.
What do you marinate the pork chops in?
 
I made a HUGE pot of lentil, corn , carrot and bacon soup. about 10 pints.

Not for now.. but to freeze.

I've just now been portioning it all up into soup containers ready to go into the freezer when it's cool enough.

It's all sitting out on the counter chilling down enough to go into the fridge, and then into the freezer later..
 
What do you marinate the pork chops in?
This is what we use for (4) 1 1/2" thick chops. If we only do 2, we froze half of the brine for later use & that worked. I want to try freezing chops already brined, thaw them & then cook to see how they come out next.

2 quarts water
1/2 cup kosher salt
3/4 packed cup dark brown sugar
4 packed Tablespoons fresh sage leaves
1 Tablespoon juniper berries, crushed
2 garlic cloves, lightly smashed
1 Tablespoon fresh ground black pepper

Put everything expect the chops in a large pot & bring to a simmer until the salt & sugar dissolves. Remove it from heat & let cool completely, then refrigerate until cold. NOTE: Use a pot large enough to hold both the marinade & chops later.

Add chops to brine & refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours. Remove chops & rinse under cold water & pat dry with paper towels. Refrigerate for at least an hour or up to a day.

Pan-Roast: Preheat oven to 350* F. Heat an oven proof fry pan over high heat, add a film of oil & sear both sides of the chops. Place the pan in the hot oven & roast until the chops reach internal temperature of 130* to 140* F, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Grilling: prepare a hot fire on one side side of grill. Sear the chops over the hot coals on both sides. Move the chops to the side away from the coals, cover the grill &finish cooking over indirect heat until internal temps reach 130* to 140* F, about 10 more minutes.

Regardless of cooking method, let pork rest for 5 minutes before serving.

You can also use a larger piece of pork with this. For thicker chops up to 6 hours. For an entire pork roast up to 6 to 12 hours.

EDITED: Update in bold. Hubby didn't update what he changed in my book, sorry.
 
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