Summaries
Pork chops were on sale at Oleson’s today, so Jarren, the love of my life, and I, went and picked some up. I decided to to do apple sauce with this, because apple and pork is one of my favorite pairings between meat and fruit. I hope you enjoy.
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(This is a fairly simple and quick recipe to prepare. The amount of each ingredient you use is really up to you, and completely dependent on taste, so you may need to try this two or three times before you get it just the way you want it. Fortunately preparing a single piece at a time is not a problem.)
Ingredients:
+ pork chops
+ tart apples
+ brown sugar
+ cinnamon
+ nutmeg
+ soy sauce
+ orange or apple juice
+ salt
+ pepper
+ oil
+ butter
Preparation:
1. Marinate your pork chops in equal portions of soy sauce and juice. You can decide which flavor of juice you want. I prefer orange, as I am partial to the citric acid, but do as you please. I suggest leaving the meat in your sauce for at least a few hours.
2. Pan fry the pork chops in a little oil until they are completely cooked. Set aside.
3. Add the butter, sliced apple, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper, preferably pre-mixed, to your pan. It will cook down fairly quickly, so be sure to take it out before it’s overcooked. Pour the apples and sauce over your chops and serve.
Enjoy!
Rating: 9/10
I recently came across the site Yummr and fell in love. It is not terribly overpopulated and has some really great members. They do things like “Cookbook a Day in the Month of May”, in conjunction with Houghton Mifflin, a giveaway that I both participated in and won a day. They also do gallery activities, recipe sharing, and polls/quizzes. Most of these projects reward the user with “food stamps” that can be redeemed for prizes at the site’s “Bazaar”, including items like aprons and the like.
It’s a great site, though it’s somewhat hard to maneuver, and I plan to keep using it for a long time.
Rating: 8/10
I’ve eaten a lot of Thai food. I mean, living in Thailand for ten months will do that to a person if you know what I mean. So when I’m in the mood for a real Thai dish, this is not what I would sit down with. I would, on the other hand, spend hours in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove, and end up with a million dirty dishes. I would then spend just as much time cleaning up the whole thing as I did making it. Which is okay some days, but not so much on others.
Don’t buy this product if you are hoping for an authentic taste of Thai. Don’t judge Thai food by the way this particular product tastes. Don’t hope to find some miracle food inside this cardboard housing, it just isn’t going to happen.
But when it’s a cold day, and a home sickness I can’t explain takes over me, I will, without hesitation, pop one of these in the microwave and eat every last bite. It’s easy to make, easy to clean up, and it tastes good. Like I said, if I’m going for something more exquisite then I will put the time and effort in that is necessary, all the other days? Let’s just say I have six boxes of this in my cupboard.
I was motivated this morning and popped over to Tom’s to get some eggs for an omlette. So, while searching through my refrigerator I found the asparagus I had bought to go with the salmon, though I hadn’t used it. Inspiration hit and this is what I ended up with.
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Ingredients:
+ eggs (as many as you’d like)
+ asparagus (leftovers if you have them)
+ lemon juice
+ garlic
+ pepper
+ salt
+ oil
+ butter
+ cheese (I use feta, but parmesan or swiss would go really well too)
+ tomatoes (optional)
+ biscuits
Preparation:
1. First things first, steam the asparagus in a steamer or in the microwave. Add a little salt and pepper (lemon pepper if you have it) and sprinkle some lemon juice over top while it steams. I like to cut my asparagus into one inch pieces and go from there, but this is a preference issue. This shouldn’t take more than four minutes or so.
2. Get your biscuits in the oven. I usually buy them in the tubes and stick them on a pan so it takes ten minutes, give or take a few.
3. While your asparagus is steaming start melting your butter. Now, here is another personal insight. I like using oil and butter in my pan with eggs. It gives a healthy (albeit fatty) and full flavor. But if you’re aiming for something a little more healthy stick with the olive oil and you’ll be just fine.
4. Add the garlic to the pan and let it simmer a little. You want to make sure the flavor really gets out there. Here you have the option of using some tomato. I, personally, do not like cooked tomato, so I leave mine on the side, but feel free to lightly sautée it with your garlic.
5. Add your eggs. I usually end up with a dish of scrambled eggs with stuff in it, rather than an omlette, but how you cook your eggs is up to you.
6. Once the biscuits are done, cut one in half and put a little butter on each side. You want to make sure it’s warm and the butter melts before adding your eggs.
7. Put the eggs on top and add a little feta. I had some basil and tomato feta that was fabulous, but any flavor will work.
And there you have it. A simple, but elegant breakfast for any morning of the week.
I’m one of those people that loves to cook. I mean, I love it. Even when I come home, after a long night of cooking, I want to make myself some dinner. But every now and again I get lazy- we all do, don’t even deny it- and a frozen dinner, or peanut butter and jelly sandwich seems to be enough. And all of this is just fine with me, until you end up with something like this:
Home Cooking in Minutes!, you say? Bah! I’m insulted. Seriously insulted. To say that a box of frozen, over processed, additive infused pirogies can come anywhere near the level of cheffery a normal person could is seriously demeaning. When was it that we go so lazy that this sort of instant gratification, home cooked meal in a box, “all the flavor without the effort” style eating became popular?
Do you remember having that happen? Maybe I’m just lucky in that my Mom and Grandpa used to make dinner, from scratch, for us almost every night. My mom even made our salad dressings. I feel fortunate to have had those sorts of real home cooking from an early age, and I can see now how much good it has done me.
So out with the frozen junk and in with the good stuff. I won’t harp on this particular issue again, but I did have to get it out in the open at least once.
Today’s special is a modified version of a dish I used to make fairly regularly, a cajun shrimp alfredo. But when I got to Meijer and salmon was on sale I just couldn’t pass it up. I’m not sure that I like the modifications quite as much as I’d hoped I would, but I did enjoy the product so I can’t complain too much. So enjoy!
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(This recipe is easily used for a single person or a whole group. Its flexibility is one of my favorite aspects. There are also a lot of ways to make a higher quality product, but since I don’t have a lot of money or all of the instruments I need, this is what I’ve got for you.)
Time: Approximately 30 minutes
Serves: Your choice
Ingredients:
+ salmon fillets (preferably fairly thin)
+ cajun seasoning and/or chili powder
+ minced garlic
+ salt
+ pepper and/or lemon pepper
+ olive oil
+ pasta of your choice
+ milk (optional)
Preparation:
1. Put your noodles in water to boil. Make sure to add a little salt to help the flavor.
2. Meanwhile, coat the bottom of a pan with two to three tablespoons of oil. Add the garlic, letting it cook lightly to release its flavors. Leaving the burner at about medium heat cover the first side of your salmon with your cajun/chili powder, salt, pepper/lemon pepper and place it seasoned side down. When the first side has finished blackening, coat the second side in seasoning and flip it.
3. When the noodles have finished cooking drain them and add a tablespoon or so of oil and mix thoroughly. A little salt will do you a lot of good here as well. Do not cool the noodles. You then have a choice. I like to boil milk and add it to the drained noodles, as well as a little cajun spice. Only add enough milk so that the noodles will absorb it.
4. Serve. Depending on how formal you are being using a shallow, or even deep, dish works great. Noodles on the bottom, salmon on top and a light dusting of chili powder to garnish. Green chili peppers or lemon would also work well as garnishes.
Located on the sixteenth floor of the Grand Traverse Resort, The Aerie is one of the Resort’s newest additions. Unlike it’s predecessor, The Trillium, this restaurant, for all its beautiful and refined elegance, has no dress code. With a menu designed and written by Ted Cizma, Food and Wine’s Best New Chef in 2000, this dining experience is unmatched in the Traverse City area.
Now, let me say bluntly, that restaurant is amazing. The food, atmosphere and service work so well together that were I able to afford it, I would eat there every night of my life. I am seriously considering kidnapping Mr. Cizma and forcing him to create new and exciting recipes for me in my basement, though that might put a damper on my hopes of becoming a culinary master myself.
Anyway, the fact that The Aerie does not have a dress code is one of its best features, I think. It opens the approachability to the public, and introduces people that might not otherwise have come to a whole new world of exciting and delicious dishes. And it really makes special occasions even more fun. It’s not any more expensive than spending a night at Poppycock’s or really even Outback. Obviously the seafood is going to be more, but the salads are eight to ten dollars, and the chick eighteen to twenty.
Your definitely getting your money worth if you go in, and trust me, I would suggest this spot to anyone who asked me.
Pretzel bread with mustard seed butter.
Crisp and tender pork belly bites with sesame, coconut chile potato puree, coca cola bbq and micro cilantro.
Sauteed day boat scallops with creamy lobster basil risotto and micro celery.
(The lighting was a little odd on the scallops dishes, and it’s a little on the dark side for the pork belly. But I’m telling you what, all the food was more than excellent.)
