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Pork chop dijon

“When a man’s stomach is full it makes
no difference whether he is rich or poor.”
–Euripides, Electra, 413 B.C.

Dijon Pork Chop

Willow Creek Farm produces the best pork in the world and I’m lucky enough that they deliver to our front door. It is always a treat to visit with Tony and Sue Renger. They are passionate about raising the finest pork they can in the most humane way possible.

Another thing about Wisconsin is the Mustard Museum in Mount Horeb. I confess I’ve never been to the Mustard Museum. Don’t get me wrong I love mustard and I love museums. But Mount Horeb is a tiny little town and it is a troll town. I’m not making a derogatory comment about the people that actually live there, I’m talking about some weird, misguided fascination with fictional trolls as evidenced by their town slogan “Troll Capital of the World“. My experience with trolls is limited to two things: 1) when I was 10 I had a little troll doll that I loved, and 2) when my children were young we read them The Three Billy Goats Gruff, complete with unique voices for each character’s dialogue. At best I’ve done my time with trolls and I have no interest in going to the Troll Capital of the World.

Mustard is a splendid substance. Because of how my brain is hardwired I’m incapable of accepting any other mustard other than Maille Dijon. Yes, it is true that in the 80’s I dabbled briefly with a spicy Creole Mustard, but those days are gone and I now want consistency and adaptability in my mustard, thus my love for Maille. It’s smooth, tangy, spicy, almost buttery, and soothing all at the same time. Mustard emulsifies a sauce well and I don’t know why. I bet Harold McGee has written something about it but I haven’t read it.

Tonight’s dinner is brown but delicious; Dijon pork chop with roasted Delicata squash and parsnips. The only greens in the frig weren’t appropriate for this meal and while I could have garnished with some parsley…I chose not too.

Dijon Pork Chops
Seasoning, I used Penzeys Bavarian Seasoning
4 pork chops
1 red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced fine
8 oz of white wine
4 oz of heavy cream
2 or 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Rub your seasoning on the pork chops and brown them in an oven-ready skillet. When both sides are brown remove them from the skillet and add the onions. Saute them until they have softened. Add the wine and deglaze the pan. Add the mustard and whisk it into the wine. Add the garlic and the cream, bring the heat up to a busy simmer and then turn it off and pour the sauce into a bowl or some other container. Return the pork chops to the pan. Pour the sauce over the top and put it uncovered into a 350 oven. After 15 minutes cover it and cook for 15 more minutes. Serve.

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November 29, 2006 | Filed Under beef, fish, poultry, pork, food, vegetable | Leave a Comment 

Thai spicy beef stir fry

“The vision of milk and honey, it comes and goes.
But the odor of cooking goes on forever.”
–E. B. White, One Man’s Meat, 1944

Thai spicy beef stir fry

It was so dark and gloomy today. There was fog everywhere and it felt like summer in San Francisco, sadly without the fog horns. Lovejoy and I walked through the conservancy and saw several flocks of geese wheeling overhead, the sound of their wings filling the air.

For dinner I took a flank steak and sliced it into small, thin strips. While I washed the jasmine rice and chopped the veggies I marinated the steak in fish sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, lime juice, Maggi seasoning, honey, fresh grated ginger, chopped garlic, cumin, coriander, and red pepper flakes. I didn’t measure this but the marinade was about 3/4 cup. I put the rice on to cook, heated my skillet on high, added a little canola oil and stir fried the beef for a few minutes. I removed the beef and added the red peppers and red onions to the skillet and cooked them for a minute or two. Then I added the Mizuna greens, tossed them about for less than a minute and then turned off the heat and rounded up the men. When I plated it I added grated red and yellow carrots that I splashed rice vinegar on and some parsley leaves.

It smelled good, tasted incredible, and looked brighter than anything I’d seen all day. Some days a dinner like this is a gift. This was just what I was craving after all that brown food from the holiday.

November 27, 2006 | Filed Under Asian, beef, fish, poultry, pork, food, vegetable | Leave a Comment 

Turkey carcass soup


“A kitchen condenses the universe.”
–Betty Fussell, My Kitchen Wars, 1999

I’ve been busy but I really haven’t cooked since Thursday. I’ve made many turkey sandwiches, I shopped and packed up my Blogging By Mail package and that was so fun. I also found a great book, The Quotable Feast by Sarah E. Parvis. Its a book of quotations about cooking, eating, drinking, and entertaining. I’ll be adding these quotes to my posts so keep an eye out for them. I purchased and help eat a bag full of cheeseburgers and fries from Culvers. They are the best and sometimes it is exactly what I want. Last night we snacked on assorted chocolate treats from Trader Joe’s. The favorite was the English Toffee and I’ve promised to learn how to make this myself. Hopefully that won’t take all the fun out of it.

On Friday I did make my turkey carcass stock and today I cooked the barley and chopped the veggies. Even with just half a turkey carcass I still had probably 5 quarts of stock. Today I cooked the barley. I always cook the barley separately from the stock, otherwise I won’t have stock, I’ll have barley that has sponged up all the flavorful goodness of my stock. This year, like every other year I cooked too much barley so I packed up and froze half of the stock and 2/3 of the barley. Honestly I can’t stand to eat more than one bowl of turkey soup right now as I am turkey’d out.

I’ll be back to cooking tomorrow.

Turkey Carcass Soup
1 turkey carcass
1 onion
1 stalk celery
1 carrot
large pinch of salt and a few peppercorns

Put all of that into a stockpot and cover with water. Bring it to a boil and lower the heat so it simmers. Let it cook for 2 or 3 hours. Remove from heat, let it cool some and then pour it through a sieve to remove the solids. Refrigerate the stock.

1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 shallot, diced
1 parsnip, diced
12 mushrooms, diced
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup white wine
Seasonings
1 cup cooked barley
Chopped turkey

Heat up about a quart of the stock. Add the fresh veggies and the white wine and let them simmer for 10 minutes, then add the peas, barley, turkey, and the seasonings. I think I’ll be using Penzeys’ Mural of Flavor.

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November 26, 2006 | Filed Under beef, fish, poultry, pork, food, soup, salad, sandwich, vegetable | 4 Comments 

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