Remembering Sheila: Porc Colombo

I was shocked and deeply saddened last year when news of Sheila Lukins' untimely death at the age of 66 was reported. I'm a huge fan of Sheila's-- she had a wonderfully original way with food and her recipes never disappoint. Although I have made one or two dishes from Sheila's cookbooks since her death in August of 2009, I've basically surrounded myself in a cocoon of numbness about having lost one of the most inspiring cooks of our times.

According to the NY Times, Sheila's recipes "intrigued, and then guided, the increasingly adventurous palates of New Yorkers." In my opinion, with her 1982 cookbook (written with gourmet shop partner Julee Rosso and Michael McLoughlin) The Silver Palate, Sheila changed the way Americans cook and eat as significantly as Julia Child changed the culinary landscape.

Everyone always said Sheila was the culinary genius behind the Silver Palate, while Julee Rosso was the marketing whiz. That may well have been the case, as I was very disappointed in Rosso's first solo turn, Great Good Food, published in 1993, the year their culinary partnership dissolved.

What I loved about Sheila's work, almost as much as her creativity in the kitchen, was her sense of whimsy and joie de vivre. She was an artist, and her books are filled with her hand-drawn lettering and illustrations, as well as humorous anecdotes. (A particularly funny story concerned the preparation of a roast suckling pig.) The Silver Palate was one of the few cookbooks I owned when I first started cooking. The warmth, whimsy, and sense of fun made me feel I was cooking with a friend in the kitchen.

So, this week when Boston Butt pork roast was on sale in my area, I wondered, what in the heck can you do with a Boston Butt? Then I remembered a pork stew recipe from Sheila's All Around the World cookbook.

Sheila's stew, Porc Colombo, is a rich, West Indian-style curry pork. I also then recalled the comical misadventures suffered by the was-band in procuring the main ingredient. (So I may not want to live with the guy, but he's always had a wonderful sense of humor.)

We had just moved here to Mecca after years of living in the culinary wasteland of the Ozarks. All kinds of ingredients I'd never been able to get were everywhere! I felt like a kid in a candy shop. Sheila's recipe required a mystery (to me) ingredient called boneless pork shoulder. I asked the was-band to please pick some up the next day.

Well, the was-band, being the highly frenetic organism that he is, decided to go to the grocery at 4 or 5 a.m. so as to get a head start on the day. Just being able to go the grocery at that hour was a novelty! Though not necessarily a good idea. The was-band dutifully scoped out the items in the butcher case, but could not find any pork shoulder. There was, however, a mysterious thing called Boston Butt.

He managed to track down the third shift butcher guy and explained that he was looking for pork shoulder. "What's the difference," he asked, "between Boston Butt and pork shoulder?" Meaning, of course, can you pretty much use them for similar purposes?

The butcher guy gave him a puzzled look and said, (I am not making this up) "Sir, it's from the other end of the animal."

O RLY?? I'd never have guessed.

Well, actually, it's not. Boston Butt is also cut from the pork shoulder, but from the blade side as opposed to the arm side. Fat lot that guy knew, eh? I'm not sure what it says about the state of butchering in America when two former vegetarians can figure out that amazing fact in 2 minutes with a web search engine. Don't they teach them that stuff in butcher school?

I figured Sheila's stew would be the perfect use for my super-bargain roast. Somehow, making that wonderful stew, with a main ingredient confusingly called "Boston Butt" seemed as fitting a tribute as any to Sheila. I'm sure she would have gotten a good chuckle out if it!

Here's to you, Sheila! You will always live in our hearts.

Sheila Lukins
November 18, 1942 – August 30, 2009

The recipe below is fabulous. It was inspired by a meal Sheila had at Le Colibri (The Hummingbird) restaurant on Martinique. Although traditionally made with goat, Sheila chose to use pork for her version. My roast, alas, was not boneless, so I had to bone and trim the pork. The stew has some great extra touches. The meat is marinated in fresh lime juice and garlic, and then rubbed with a sugar and spice mixture prior to browning.

The sugar & spice rub for the meat

Sheila includes a wonderful recipe for mixing your own Caribbean curry powder, which I highly recommend. DS hates "curry," but he loved this one. This stew is spicy and flavorful but not spicy-hot, though you could add more cayenne if you'd like to increase the heat. In my bowl was a sumptuous mixture of flavors with the rich, falling-apart tender pork, warm spices, and a medley of carrots, green pepper and sweet potatoes that perfectly played off the sweetness of the spice rub. Sheila suggests serving over rice, though we enjoyed ours plain.

Le Colibri Porc Colombo (Rich Curried Pork) by Sheila Lukins

3 lbs. boneless pork shoulder (or Boston Butt), cut into 2-in. pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. fresh lime juice
3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 t. ground allspice
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
2 T olive oil, or more if needed
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 T Colombo Curry Powder (recipe follows) or best-quality curry powder
6 c. chicken broth
6 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/2 in. rounds
12 oz. sweet potato (about 1 1/2-- I just used 2), peeled and cut into 1-in. chunks
1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1 in. pieces
2 bay leaves
2 fresh thyme sprigs or 1 t. dried thyme leaves
5-6 cups cooked white rice

1. Combine the pork, garlic and lime juice in a bowl. Cover and let marinate at room temperature for 1 hour.
2. Combine the sugar, allspice, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Remove pork from the marinade and coat it with the sugar mixture, rubbing it into the meat well.
3. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown the pork in small batches, adding more oil if necessary. Remove the browned pork pieces to a bowl.
4. Add the onion to the pot and cook, stirring, over medium-low heat until wilted, 10 minutes. Sprinkle the curry powder over the onion and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add 2 T chicken broth if the onions begin to stick.
5. Return the pork to the pot along with the carrots, sweet potatoes, and green pepper. Add the bay leaves, thyme, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes. Uncover and simmer over medium heat until the pork is tender, about 45 minutes. Remove the fresh thyme (if using) and bay leaves and serve with white rice.
Serves 6-8

Here's my stew, just before adding the chicken broth and simmering.
We were too hungry to take photos of the finished product, but if I get a chance, I'll add one later. (We have leftovers!)

Colombo Curry Powder by Sheila Lukins

1 T. ground coriander
1 t. ground fenugreek
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. ground black pepper
1/4 t. ground allspice
1/4 t. ground ginger
1/4 t. ground turmeric
1/4 t. ground cardamom
1/4 t. dry mustard
1/8 t. ground mace
Pinch of cayenne pepper

Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Makes just over 2 T.

This makes the perfect amount for the pork stew above, but if you plan to store it, transfer to an airtight jar and store in a cool dry place.

I actually had all the ingredients for the curry powder on hand, except the ground ginger, which I had run out of and needed to get anyway. I only had whole fenugreek seeds, but it took just a few seconds to grind them in my electric spice grinder (it's really a coffee grinder, but I don't drink coffee). I am embarrassed to admit this, but I bought the seeds for an Indian food fest shortly after we moved here. Evidently I've got a lifetime supply of fenugreek seeds. I love fenugreek leaves (aka Kasoori Methi) and the seeds taste pretty similar-- sort of reminds me of fresh basil.

And to all those movers over the years who have scoffed at me for tenderly packing up my spice collection, who's laughin' now??

DF8: Rib Fest , Sunny Sweet Potato Salad & DF Ice Cream

Although normally I avoid most ready-prepared foods at the grocery store like the plague, sometimes a judicious selection, rounded out by a home-made dish or two, is sanity-saving!

Both DC and I had to work today, so by the time, well, ok, well past the time, to think about dinner, I was feeling tired, with no plan and no desire to do any marketing. My mind was a big blank, as the dish I had been thinking of making would require a trip to WF on the other side of town. Then a happy thought struck me: this is the day the Teeter has prepared bbq baby back ribs on sale for half-price! I'm not that crazy about ribs, especially the pork ones, but DC is just in heaven with a big ol' plate of any kind of ribs.

A quick perusal of Sheila Lukins' cookbook All Around the World revealed a dairy-free and wonderful West Indies style sweet potato salad that sounded like a perfect accompaniment to the ribs.

Funny, I haven't looked at that book in literally 5 years, and of all the cookbooks on my shelf it said "Pick me! Pick me!" Sheila's food is always terrific. The recipe required only a few ingredients from the Teeter, some of which I needed anyway. List in hand, I set out for the Teeter.

DC inquired as to what was for dinner, casting a suspicious glance at the Indian cookbook I had rejected and left sitting on the sofa. I just smiled and said, "You're gonna be happy!" I haven't made ribs since last summer sometime. The nice thing about our new house is there is a Teeter within walking distance (though being in a hurry, I took the Juicebox, our hot-lava colored Scion).

While at the Teeter, I picked up what I needed, including a rack of ready-to-heat ribs. Then I thought, we haven't had dessert in several days, since I've been trying to cut down on my sugar consumption. I decided to check out the frozen dessert offerings. AHA! The Teeter carries Purely Decadent, a dairy-free premium-style "ice cream" I've been wanting to try. At $5.50 per pint, I had picked it up and put it back several times at WF. But what the heck, it's the weekend, let's have a little treat!

Of course, this being the Teeter, there was nowhere near the selection of flavors. Turtle Mountain, makers of Purely Decadent, have recently come out with a coconut-milk version of Purely Decadent, in addition to their original soy-based line. The Teeter carried a few flavors of each. I picked up the Chocolate flavor of the coconut-milk variety and looked at the ingredients. In addition to the coconut milk, I noted there was NO SUGAR-- it's sweetened with agave syrup! On the down side, I did not see chocolate or cocoa anywhere on the ingredient list. They used carob instead. Which is fine, if you are in the mood for carob, which I was not.

On the soy-based side, there were 2 kinds of Vanilla, which I thought might be too plain to cover up any soy undertones, Cookie Dough (I'm probably the only person in the world who hates Cookie Dough ice cream), and Almond Mocha Fudge. I do not care much for coffee-flavored things, but the description mostly talked about chocolate flakes and almonds. The ingredient list had lots of things on it I have never heard of, and I noted that the Soy version has 20 calories more per serving than the Coconut milk kind. What to do, what to do.... In the end, the real chocolate in the soy version won me over, so Mocha Almond Fudge it was! Sometime I do want to try the coconut milk stuff, especially since it's sweetened with agave, which my doc had recommended I start using in place of sugar. ChefBliss, if you are reading this, I need some agave tips!

I was all set to pick out some B&J for DC, when I remembered we had 2 pints of B&J vanilla at home, leftover from the 3 pints for $10 sale at the Teeter before I knew I was going to be eating dairy-free. At our house, we mostly tend to eat vanilla ice cream on top of something else, like peach cobbler, rather than by itself. Just as I was wondering if we had any chocolate syrup at home to dress up the vanilla, I caught sight of a new Smucker's topping: Apple Cinnamon!

Apple desserts are DC's favorite-- I'd heat up the topping and it would be kind of like apple pie a la mode, without my having to make the pie!

Feeling triumphant, I headed home. I popped the ribs in the oven to heat,

drizzling them with a little Num Num sauce for good measure, and turned my attention to the sweet potato salad, which was blessedly quick to prepare. We had leftover corn and limas from Cuban porkchop day, which would round out the meal nicely. Lured by the smell of bbq, DC emerged from the study and said "Woo-hoo!! I smell ribs!" I just smiled and said, "I told you you were gonna be happy!"

The sweet potato salad is a real winner, especially if you are addicted to sweet-hot flavors like I am. It does contain curry powder, which I know not everyone enjoys. But we both loved the salad, and it went well with the ribs. Here is the recipe for

Sunny Sweet Potato Salad by Sheila Lukins
Serves 8

Ingredients:
Coarse salt to taste
1 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 in. cubes
1 lb. Idaho potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 in. cubes
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
*2/3 c. mayonnaise
3 T. mango chutney, finely chopped
2-3 T. best-quality curry powder
4 scallions (3 inches green left on), thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 T. chopped Italian parsley

1. Bring 2 medium-size pots of salted water to a boil. Cook the sweet potatoes in one pot until just tender, 5-6 minutes. Do not overcook. Cook the Idaho potatoes in the other pot until tender, 8-10 minutes. When the potatoes are finished cooking, drain them and combine in a bowl with salt and pepper to taste.

Here are the sweet potatoes, waiting for the white potatoes to join them!

2. For the dressing, mix together the mayonnaise, chutney, and curry powder; gently fold it in to the potatoes with a rubber spatula.

Fold in the scallions and parsley.

Serve at room temperature. This potato salad keeps covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Sheila's recipe calls for a whole cup of mayonnaise, which is way too much for the amount of potatoes. I was going to cut it in half, and then decided to try 2/3 c. That seemed about right; even a bit less would have been fine. Also, I chose to use the hot mango chutney, which was perfect for this dish. It gave it a nice kick without adding too much heat. The quality of the curry powder is important here, an indifferent mixture could ruin the dressing. My sister got me some very nice Madras curry powder from the Oliviers & Co. boutique in Paris a few years ago, and that's what I used. In India, of course, curry powder is not used, instead, fresh spice mixtures are created for each dish. I ran out of the Oliviers curry powder, and it was all I had, so I had to wing it for about half of the amount called for. I added some garam masala, ground cumin, and some turmeric to the mixture and it was perfect. 3 T of curry powder is probably too much, so add it in small amounts until you are happy with the taste.

The salad was really delicious. It would be fun to experiment with adding some other ingredients in place of the white potatoes, like jicama. Although jicama throws off quite a bit of moisture. Boniato, the white sweet potato popular in Latin America, would be perfect here.

Here's DC's plate. Not bad for a pick-up meal!


And a closer look at the potato salad!


DC loved his vanilla ice cream with the apple topping. He joked, "This is kind of the opposite of what I usually eat, apple topped with ice cream!"

With haunting memories of frozen Tofutti "dessert" from grad school days floating through my mind (ugh!), I was very pleasantly surprised by the taste and texture of the Purely Decadent Mocha Almond Fudge.



Here's a look inside: MMMMMMMMM!


Despite the coffee flavor, I found this to be absolutely delectable. It was just as rich, creamy, and dense as any Ben & Jerry's or other premium ice cream flavor. The small flakes of chocolate scattered throughout were wonderful-- not too big, so they weren't hard and overwhelming. What I enjoyed the most was the contrast between the silky smooth "ice cream" and the crunchy slivers of toasted almond liberally scattered throughout.

I am a true ice cream connoisseur. I am very picky about quality and taste-- don't even mention the words "soft serve" to me. I scoff at the very idea of "Dairy Queen." I love ice cream so much that when I lived in Chicago, I would run down the block to the homemade ice cream parlor for a small to-go cup most nights after dinner, even in the ice and snow! So I am amazed to tell you that the Purely Decadent was every bit as delicious as dairy ice cream-- I won't be missing real ice cream with this stuff around! In fact, I almost like it better than real ice cream, because it has the creamy texture and wonderful flavor of ice cream without the heaviness. For once, I did not feel like I had just eaten something the roughly the size of Seattle after finishing my bowl. The mocha flavor was definitely there, but it wasn't overwhelming, so I actually enjoyed it! I would have no hesitation to serve this to company.

It's AWESOME!!! 5 stars!! Unfortunately, I can't give you DC's opinion of the soy ice cream. For one thing, he would have complained that it was messing up his perfect balance of flavors between the vanilla and the apple-cinnamon. For another, he detests anything even vaguely coffee-flavored. So I didn't even bother asking him to taste it. Ah well, more for me!!!

Now I can't wait to try the coconut milk version to see how it compares! I think I should do that right away, don't you? No sacrifice too great for the Cause!

DF4: Cuban Porkchops

I am continuing to get better. I have more energy (YAY!) and was even able to work 9.5 hours today! I talked to someone today whose mom has had Bell's Palsy for TWO YEARS! She is definitely on my prayer list. Oh, I can't imagine.....

Wondering what on earth to fix for dinner, as I am running low on lots of stuff and haven't had time to get to the store, I remembered I had 3 succulent pork chops in the freezer. Gloria's Mexican Porkchops!! was my first thought. My second was: Cheese. Bummer.

Then I realized it has been quite a while since I fixed my dear friend Nathan's Smothered Cuban Porkchops! Oh, happy day! Well, Nathan doesn't call them smothered, but here in the South when you serve something covered with a pile of richly browned, caramelized onions, we say it's smothered. Which is really just another way to say, Yum-O!

I served them with Cuban-style yellow rice and a medley of Silver Queen corn and lima beans from the freezer. We luuuuuvv lima beans at my house-- at least, the baby ones you can get frozen. I don't do canned limas. (Yucky!) The baby ones are tender, mealy, and sweet, a nice texture contrast to the corn. And of course, butter. Seasoned salt too if you have it (we are out). I have tried for years, I really have, but I just can't stand the taste or texture of margarine. I feel like I'm eating a hunk of Crisco. I think margarine is supposed to be almost as bad for you as butter is, so pick your poison, I guess!

I am sure I have shared this recipe before, but it's so good I'm gonna share it again. Here is the one, the only, the fantastic

Nathan's Smothered Cuban Porkchops

4 pork chops
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 t. salt
juice of 2 fresh limes
1 t. ground cumin
Extra-virgin olive oil for panfrying
2 large onions, halved and sliced into thin rings (half-rings, I guess!)
juice of 1 more fresh lime

1. Wash the porkchops and pat dry with paper towels. They need to be nice and dry for the spice paste we're going to make to stick to them.
2. Put the crushed garlic in a small bowl and add 1 t. salt, then mash them together thoroughly to create a paste. If you have a mortar and pestle, that's ideal, but a bowl and the back of a spoon works too. Add the cumin.

Add enough lime juice to make a thick slurry-- you may not need all the lime juice, depending on how big or how juicy your limes are.

3. When everything is all mixed up, start slathering your porkchops with the spice mixture on both sides, and rub it in well. Give those babies a good massage!
4. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. It needs to get good and hot to panfry the chops. You can test it by sticking a wooden spoon in the hot oil. Hold it there for a few seconds. If little, tiny, sizzly bubbles start to appear around the edges of the spoon, the oil is hot enough.
5. Add the slathered pork chops to the pan and cook for 10-12 minutes per side. The garlic paste may burn a little, but Nathan says that's ok.


When the chops are done, remove them from the pan and set aside on a plate.

6. If there is more than a tablespoon or two of oil/drippings in the pan, pour out the excess. Add the sliced onions and a generous amount of salt, and saute until the onions are starting to get soft. Deglaze the pan with the remaining lime juice, scraping up all the yummy browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and keep cooking until the onions are nice and tender and just starting to brown on the edges.

Mine are always brown all over from the deglazing, so maybe I should say until the edges are brown-er!
7. Time to eat!! You can serve the porkchops on a bed of onions, or smothered under a pile of onions, or next to a heap of onions, ever-how you like it (as my Mom would say).

DC's plate:


Closer:


Everything came out great, and we really enjoyed it! Sadly, the rice is only "Cuban-style" because I had no bell peppers for the sofrito. Yep, that's pepper-less rice. We found it will do in a pinch :) !

Dad's Meatloaf and Potatoes Au Gratin, plus AWARDS!

This has been a very stressful week at work, and I'm also trying to get back into my fitness routine, so I am very behind on posts! Dad's Meatloaf with Tomato Relish and Potatoes Au Gratin were for Tyler Florence Fridays last week, LOL!

DC has requested meatloaf several times and this is the first time I have got around to making it, because DS "hates" meatloaf. I can't get DS to understand that not all meatloaf is the same! Since it was just the 2 of us, I only made half a recipe, which gave nice dinner servings with some leftovers for meatloaf sandwiches. I'm giving the amounts for the full amount below.

These dishes were very easy to prepare, and really delicious. Tyler uses both ground pork as well as ground beef in his meatloaf, so it is very flavorful. The tomato relish adds a nice twist to plain old ketchup topping for the meatloaf, as well as helping to keep the meatloaf moist. And the smell is heavenly once it's in the oven with its little jacket of bacon.

Here are the ingredients:

Dad's Meatloaf with Tomato Relish

For the Tomato Relish:
Extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely minced (I used 2 for my half-recipe)
2 bayleaves
2 red peppers, finely diced
2 tomatoes, halved, seeded and finely diced (I used 1/2 can Rotel for my 1/2 recipe)
1/4 c. flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 12 oz. bottle ketchup
1 T worcestershire sauce
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Meatloaf:
3 slices white bread, crusts removed,torn into chunks by hand
1/4 c. whole milk
1 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground pork
2 eggs
leaves from 2 sprigs fresh thyme
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3-4 bacon slices

First, we make the tomato relish, because it goes into as well as on top of the meatloaf. It is very quick to prepare.
We heat our skillet with oil, and saute the onion and garlic and bayleaves together. Toss the chopped peppers in next, cooking until softened and fragrant.
I bet this is great with fresh summer tomatoes, but since I had half a can of Rotel sitting in the fridge that I wanted to use up, I substituted it for the fresh tomatoes. At this point you add the seasonings too, parsley, ketchup, worcestershire, salt and pepper. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.

This is my relish, after all the ingredients have been added. I love the bright colors!


Now on to the meatloaf!

Here are my ground sirloin and ground pork


Next you add the eggs, bread/milk, thyme leaves, salt and pepper, and 1 1/2 c. of the tomato relish. My relish was still pretty hot, so I used an ice water bath to cook it down before adding it to the bowl. Tyler says to squeeze the excess milk out of the bread, but there really wasn't any! Guess it all soaked in to the bread.

My meatloaf mixture:


Tyler next instructs you to make a free-form loaf on a greased cookie sheet.
I prefer to make meatloaf this way, rather than in a loaf pan. You get a higher ration of topping-covered crust to soft interior, plus it cooks faster.



We coat the top generously with the tomato relish. Tyler says use 1/2 c.
Now for the best part: bacon!! Lay the bacon slices lengthwise on the top pf the loaf.


It goes in a 350F oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. I forgot to take a picture of the finished loaf, because we were very ready to eat! You can serve the meatloaf with more relish on it.

I made Tyler's Potatoes Gratin to go with the meatloaf. My friend Donna at My Tasty Treasures posted them a while ago and I have been dying to try them. This has to be the easiest-to-make scalloped potato type dish out there, and it's so good! You just mix everything up in the baking pan together. I used my food processor to slice the potatoes, so they came out nice and even, as well as much thinner than I could ever get them with a knife.

Potatoes Gratin

Ingredients:
2 lbs. baking potatoes, peeled and sliced paper thin
2 c. heavy cream (I only had 1 c. of cream and 1 of whole milk)
2 garlic cloves, split
leaves from 4 sprigs fresh thyme
3 T. chopped chives
1 c. grated parmigiano reggiano
salt and freshly ground pepper

Toss all the ingredients together in a large bowl, then into the casserole dish. Flatten everything with a spatula. Now, you are supposed to bake the potatoes at 375 for 40 minutes, but my meatloaf was about 20 minutes away from being done, so I put them in the oven for the first 10 minutes, then microwaved them for 10 minutes, until the potatoes were tender. Then I popped them back into the oven hoping they would brown a little.

A little is about it! They are not so pretty, but extremely tasty. Using some milk in place of the cream did not seem to have an adverse effect on either the flavor or texture of the finished dish.


Wondering what to serve with these two glorious dishes, I rummaged around in the freezer and found some baby peas. The perfect retro-cool meal!


Now for some fun bloggy business! As mentioned in the title of this post, Kendra over at Homegrown Housewife received both the Friends Award

and the Excellent Blog award!


And I am really thrilled, honored, and excited she has passed them on to me! These awards mean a lot to me because Kendra is one of my best blogging buddies and her blog not only inspires me, I learn so many interesting things from reading it! Kendra is one of the people in our little corner of blogland that has welcomed me and encouraged me with my relatively new blog. Thank you, Kendra! You totally made my week!

Please do check out Kendra's blog if you haven't had a chance to visit. You are sure to find something delicious, funny, and uplifting there! Her other blog, Screams from My Front Porch, about life with her "three reckless children" is also sure to bring a smile to your face, so check it out too.

Both of these awards are supposed to be passed on-- There are so many wonderful blogs and bloggers I have met, it's hard to know who to pick! I will share the names of my co-awardees and partners in crime soon!

Mexican Pork Chops: Gloria's, and Glorious!

Bijol from my pan-pal, Nathan. Please check out his wonderful blog, La Cocina de Nathan, for some wonderful Cuban and Mexican food.

This month's recipe for Second Sunday San Antonio is Gloria's Mexican Pork Chops.

Of course, I rarely make anything without fooling with the recipe. Here's the original recipe. You can do it in the oven or stovetop, and since I had a hankering for Cuban-Style Yellow Rice, I opted to do stovetop and cook the rice separately. We love intense flavors at our house, so I also decided to add a spice rub to my porkchops for a hot, smoky flavor note.

Ingredients:
2-3 T extra-virgin olive oil
4 loin pork chops
For spice rub:
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
cumin
chipotle chile powder
4 cloves crushed garlic

1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t. cumin
1 1/2 t. ancho chile powder
1 1/2 t. chili powder
salt to taste
1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper
1 can Mexican stewed tomatoes
1 c. shredded 4-cheese Mexican blend

1. Wash the porkchops and pat dry with paper towels. Season on both sides. with salt and pepper, then rub on both sides with some cumin, chipotle chile powder, and the 4 cloves crushed garlic.

2. Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork chops and brown on both sides, 5 minutes per side, over medium heat. Transfer to a plate.

3. Add the onion to the skillet and saute in the pork drippings about 5 minutes, until translucent and tender, Add the green peppers and saute for another 3-4 minutes. Add the minced garlic and saute 2 minutes. Season with the black pepper, ancho chile powder, chili powder, and cumin.

After adding the spices to the pan:

4. Add the tomatoes and 1/2 can water. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes to blend the flavors.

5. Add the porkchops back to the pan. Simmer, partially covered, for 15 minutes.

6. Uncover and sprinkle with the cheese. Simmer, covered, 5 to
10 more minutes or until the cheese melts.

I served this with Nathan's Arroz Amarillo.

Here's the recipe:

Nathan's Arroz Amarillo (Stove-top version)

Makes about 3 c. of rice

2 T extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
3 lg. cloves garlic, crushed
1 c. long grain white rice1 1/2 c. water
1 t. Bijol or saffron threads
1/2 box frozen baby peas (I left them out this time, but they are really good!)
Salt to taste

1. Make the sofrito: Heat the oil in a 4 qt. saucepan over medium heat and saute the onion with salt until translucent. Added the bell pepper, more salt, and sautee until softened, about 5 min. Add the garlic and cooked it for about a minute, until fragrant. Don't leave the garlic unattended-- it will burn if you don't stir it. Nathan says if you burn the garlic, you have to start over.

2. While the sofrito is cooking, wash the rice well, in several changes of water, until the water runs clear. This is very important to avoid having gummy rice. It gets rid of all the excess starch. Also, if you are using saffron, heat the 1 1/2 c. water in the microwave for 1 min. Add a generous pinch of saffron threads and let steep. Add this saffron infusion to the pan instead of plain water in step 3.

3. Add the water to the pan along with the cumin, bijol, salt to taste, and the rice. Stir to mix well. Bring the rice to a boil, cover the pan, and turn the heat down very low. Simmer, covered for 15 minutes.

4. Remove the rice from the pan and let it sit for 5 minutes, without lifting the lid. After 5 minutes, test to see if it is done. (Rick Bayless says that at this point if the rice is still a little hard, cover the pan and put it back over low heat for 5 minutes. If the rice is completely dry and still hard, add 2 T water to the pan and then return to low heat for 5 min.)

5. Add the frozen peas and stirr gently just until they are thawed.

DELICIOUS!

To go with the porkchops, I made an old family favorite, Brushed Eggplant. It's a recipe I found in a Sara Moulton cookbook. It is very simple.

Slice eggplant into 1/4" thick slices.

Then brush both sides with vinaigrette dressing. I usually have some homemade dressing on hand, but today I used some bottled raspberry vinaigrette.

Place the slices on a baking tray.

Season both sides with salt and pepper.

Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes, or until tender. You can turn the oven off and let them sit for 10 minutes or so if you'd like them a little crisp.

Dinner's ready!

These porkchops were wonderful! DC said they were the juiciest porkchops he's had in a long time! I highly recommend Gloria's recipe.

!Buen provecho!