Pork Chops with Peach Salsa

We were on vacation last summer when we found this recipe.  Sara's exact quote upon finding this in the free Pigeon Forge, TN magazine was "This is the classiest thing to come out of Pigeon Forge!" 

OK, so my wife wasn't a huge fan of the touristy town with it's shopping malls, putt-putt courses and go-kart tracks.  She's more of a hiking and biking kind of gal, which I wholly appreciate.  Luckily, she also likes pork chops - or pork cutlets as the case may be tonight.

The recipe is a two-parter: first the salsa and then the pork chops.  And both are super easy. 

The Salsa:
1/4 cup chopped red onions
2 medium fresh peaches, peeled, pitted, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
3 Tbsp chopped green pepper
1 Tbsp lime juice

Combine all salsa ingredients in a medium bowl.  Cover; refrigerate at least 1 hour.

First, we didn't have a good green pepper, so we substituted...mango, naturally.  And I cut up a whole mango, which yields a little more than 3 Tbsp.  So maybe our version is more like Mango-Peach salsa?  Second, we refrigerated for about 20 minutes, and it was fine.

The pork:
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp crushed dried basil
4 (3/4-inch thick) pork chops

Heat gas grill on medium or charcoal grill until coals are ash white.  Meanwhile, combine salt, pepper, garlic powder, and basil in a small bowl; sprinkle both sides of the pork chops.  Place chops on the grill.  Cover; grill, turning once, until desired doneness (10 to 15 minutes). Serve the chops topped with salsa.

I treated this like a rub and found I needed about twice as much as they suggested.  We also used pork cutlets because it's more expensive as a "chop", and I think Sara feels she gets cheated by paying for the bone. 

Now for the grilling.  I exclusively use gas.  Not because I think gas is superior or charcoal is inferior.  I just don't own a charcoal grill...yet.  Maybe next summer, or if I can get one cheap this fall.  Eventually, I will build one out of bricks and stones and it will be magnificent.  Until then, I have a pretty sweet gas grill, so I'll use the heck out of that.  When it comes to cooking meat, I am of the school of thought that it is best to sear the meat on each side and then let it cook to the desire temperature.  This locks in the moisture and flavor of the meat, making every bite juicy, tender and oh-so-tasty.  My cousin disagrees, preferring the "low and slow" method (which is actually more of a charcoal method - even though he's using gas, too).  This will be settled in a later post.  Finally, I have fallen in love with our food / meat thermometer.  It's just a simple OXO brand thermometer, but it comes with a handy storage sleeve that has a rotating dial with all of the recommended internal temperatures for your favorite cuts of meat.  It's really handy.  I cooked these pork cutlets to 160 deg F and they were PERFECT. 

This recipe cooked up very nicely and pretty quickly, too.  We made macaroni and cheese (organic, of course) as a side dish.  We hope you can give it a shot this summer, and, please, come back and tell us what you did differently, if anything, and how it turned out.  Enjoy!

Coconut French Toast with Grilled Pineapple

To kick off Summer 2011, we decided to grill out for breakfast. And it awesome.

The June 2011 issue of Cooking Light featured a special section that focused on grilling. Mike was very interested. This recipe sounded like the perfect way to kick off the summer. And it's super easy.

Ingredients
1 cup light coconut milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup fat-free milk
3 large eggs
1 (12-ounce) loaf French bread, cut into 15 slices
Cooking spray
10 (1/4-inch-thick) slices peeled pineapple
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut

Te recipe recommends preheating the oven to 200 degrees and to use that as a means for keeping the toast warm prior to serving. That's cool and all, but you can do that on the grill, too. Prepare the mixture by combining the first four ingredients in a shallow dish and mixing with a whisk. Keep in mind that this recipe is for 5 servings, so if you plan on cutting back in the amount of bread you will prepare, you can reduce the ingredients of the mixture accordingly. We used a "coconut drink" instead of coconut milk, so we skipped the real milk, and the mixture was plenty for the 7 slices of bread we made with enough for maybe a few more. But we also used "Vienna" bread (from Meijer), so our slices were a bit bigger. The intent of this recipe is for bread that is probably 2-3" in diameter.

Once the mixture is prepared, soak each slid of bread in the mixture for approximately 1 minute, being sure to coat each side fully. Place each slice onto your medium-high heat skillet that you've prepared with cooking spray. It won't take long for each slice to be toasted golden brown on each side (you should only flip once). Place the finished slices on a cookie sheet in the oven (or on the indirect side of the grill). When you're about 1/3 of the way thru your bread slices, you'll want to make sure you start the pineapple on the grill. The grill should be on medium to medium-high heat. (We should note that a "grill pan" on the range top can also be used in place of firing up the grill, but who would do that?) We did not prepare the pineapple in any fashion before placing it on the grill. Pineapple will grill quite nicely, you'll find, with the natural sugars caramelizing in very neat "grill marks" in each side. When it starts to get a little soft and it is marked nicely, you'll know it's ready. The recipe recommends 2 minutes on each side.

We served the french toast slices with powered sugar and pure maple syrup. You can also sprinkle with coconut flakes. We drizzled the pineapple with pure honey (locally harvested, so as to help Mike with his allergies...we hope). Sara didn't feel the French toast needed syrup, as the coconut mixture makes it pretty sweet by itself. The recipe can be paired with the classic orange juice or maybe a breakfast blend of coffee, fair trade of course.

So we hope this recipe can brighten up your next lazy weekend morning. Enjoy!

Condiment Corner: Cheese

Inspiration from this post came from a text I received from my cousin and the conversation that subsequently followed.

"Break out the cheese and the mustard.  It's grand salami time!"

For context, Miguel Cairo had just hit a grand slam to give the Cincinnati Reds a comfortable lead over those lovable losers, the Chicago Cubs.  I called my cousin to inform him that the most common form of that phrase is, "Break out the rye bread and mustard, Grandma.  It's grand salami time!"  This is commonly credited to Dave Niehaus, the recently deceased former announcer for the Seattle Mariners.at least according to a Google search for [mustard and rye bread grandma].  My cousin disagreed saying that "cheese is the universal condiment".  That made me think.  First, "Is that true?"  Second, "Is that really healthy?"  (See what my wife has done to me?  Not complaining, just making an observation.)

So is cheese the universal condiment?  A quick search for [most popular condiment in America / World] will likely lead you to ketchup, salsa or mustard.  I'm pretty sure we can chalk up the salsa answer to Seinfeld.  He may have single-handedly boosted for the salsa sales around the world with one scene in his iconic TV show (see the Seinfeld episode titled "The Pitch", if you're unfamiliar).  But that still doesn't answer the question.  It does have it's own blog, fromageblog.com, which is pretty impressive.  Being or not being the most popular condiment doesn't define whether it's universal.  By "universal", I'm assuming my cousin meant it can be put on any food in any setting.  I think aside from desert - unless you include cream cheese - he could be on to something.  It could be diabetes, heart disease or even just plain obesity, but he could be on to something. 

I mean think about it, is there anything you definitely WOULD NOT enjoy a little more with just some cheese added?  French fries?  Baked potato?  Hamburger?  Coney?  Refried beans?  Rice?  Steamed broccoli?  Any kind of broccoli for that matter?!  Vegetables in general?

OK, you get the point.  Now onto question two: "Is that really healthy?"

I think the answer is generally, "no".  If you consulted a dietitian (aside from the one who told my cousin to "put ranch or butter on everything" to help her legitimately underweight child gain weight), I'm pretty sure they'd tell you one of the easiest ways to cut DOWN on calories and fat, is to eliminate or reduce the amount of cheese you add to stuff.  But that doesn't mean we can't add cheese to stuff.  I think, like anything, moderation is the key.  This isn't earth-shattering news, people.  I still love cheese.  And I'm willing to try just about any kind of cheese on just about anything...at least once.

Condiment Corner: Balsamic Vinegar

If you haven't noticed, I'm going to stretch the definition of "condiment" a little with this series. I love balsamic vinegar. This should not be confused with my love for balsamic vinaigrette, especially the kind made at little, family-run Italian restaurants. I'm talking pure brown goodness on some fresh Roma tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese and lightly toasted bread. I like it drizzled on grilled veggies, mixed into hamburgers and as a marinade for chicken. There are only a few recipes where Sara willingly lets me use balsamic vinegar, so I have to sneak it in whenever I can. For example, our favorite summer appetizer, grilled summer squash and zuchini, is even a little better, in my opinion, with some balsamic vinegar sparingly drizzled on just before it hits the grill. Another favorite appetizer, mini caprese baguettes - tiny slicse of French bread with a slice of fresh tomato and a thick slice of fresh mozzarella - is just that much better with a few drops of balsamic vinegar.

Sara disagrees, but I will forgive her. Just as she forgives me when I sneak it into a recipe.