FoodMayhem

This is an impressive main course to serve to guests (ours were Angie and Scott). The pretty pink sauce is fruity and tangy, a perfect balance for the spicy pork. What’s even better about this recipe is that most of the work can be done ahead of time.

Moroccan Spiced Pork Chops with Pluot Sauce

Pluot Sauce

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons thinly sliced candied ginger
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 whole star anise
• 2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 rounded cups small diced peeled pluots (about 3 pluots)

1. Stir together vinegar, ginger, sugar, star anise, mustard, pepper, cloves, and cinnamon in a small sauce pot. Bring to a boil.
2. Turn the heat down to low and add pluots. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove cover and continue cooking for another 10 minutes. Remove the star anise and cool.

Moroccan Spiced Chops

• 4 (1 1/2″) thick cut boneless pork chops
• 3 x Moroccan Spice Blend recipe

1. Preheat your grill. Rub a generous amount of spice blend all over the chops. There will be extra spice left. Set aside and rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.
2. Place on the grill for 3 minutes, then rotate 90 degrees but still on the same side for another 3 minutes. Turn over and cook for 3 minutes, then rotate 90 degrees for another 3 minutes. Remove from the grill and rest for 5 minutes. Serve with Pluot Sauce.

*cooking times will vary per grill. These times yield a medium-rare to medium cooked chop.

Notes:

To prepare ahead of time, make the Pluot Sauce the day before and store in the fridge. Bring back to room temperature before serving. You can also make the Morrocan Spice Blend any number of days before hand.

Update 09/03/08 – We had left over Pluot Sauce and Moroccan Spice blend so I used the same recipe on Red Snapper Filets. It was just as good, so if you don’t eat pork, you can use this recipe for fish. I imagine it would be fine with chicken too.

I love beef oxtails and try to use it in any beef recipe I can (see my Oxtail and Linguine recipe). It works especially well for soups and stews because the bones give off so much flavor to the liquid. My latest oxtail conquest is Goulash, a Hungarian stew, which Lon grew up with. This is an easy dish that doesn’t require too much work, but it does require inactive time. As I sat, waiting for it to finish cooking, I started getting nervous wondering if my Oxtail Goulash would pass the test for Lon (of Hungarian descent) and it did, with flying colors!

Oxtail Goulash

• 2 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 2 carrots, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 medium red onion, saute sliced
• 3 pounds beef oxtails
• 1 (35 oz) can peeled plum tomatoes, with liquid
• 2 cups water
• 6 cloves garlic
• 3 rounded tablespoons of Hungarian sweet paprika

1. Heat a dutch oven (Le Creuset) with vegetable oil on medium high heat. Add carrots and onions and cook for 2 minutes.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook covered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Remove the cover and continue to simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from heat and use a spoon to spoon off the excess oil. Serve.

We were inspired by a post on FXCuisine to buy a spaetzle scraper. This is our first time using it and even though I can only vaguely remember the one time I made it in culinary school, I felt daring and wrote my own recipe. This was mainly because I didn’t want to go out and buy any ingredients so it had to be made with what we had. The result was just as good as any spaetzle I’ve eaten.

Spaetzle

• water for boiling
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• pinch white pepper
• 2 tablespoons half and half
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

1. Fill a 4 quart pot with water, salt it, and bring to a boil.
2. In a medium sized bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Set aside. In a small bowl, mix together half and half and water. Alternate between adding liquid mixture and eggs into the dry mixture. Mix until smooth.
3. Turn water down to a simmer. Press dough into a spaetzle scraper over the simmering water and cook for 4-6 minutes. Drain and serve.

I threw in some roasted potatoes and it was the ultimate comfort food. We both stuffed ourselves with 2 or more plates like this.

A little less than a year ago, I left my last office job (ever, I hope). I haven’t really kept in touch with my old co-workers, but oddly, I am still good friends with the office that was down the hall. The small boutique office of Signature Bank was just the coolest little group that I really enjoyed eating lunch with almost daily. I went back to visit them yesterday, had lunch with Anthony, but of course I had to bring them something. Brownies are one of those easy to transport things that you should keep in your repertoire. These are just a little extra special because they’ve got a raspberry swirl.

When I got home, I got an e-mail from my friend Anthony:

“…the guys and I thought that those brownies were out of this world…”

Raspberry Swirl Brownies

• 2/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 rounded cup Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate baking chips
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup red raspberry preserves

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (275 degrees F with convection). Spray a 8″ square, glass dish with non-stick spray.
2. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, butter, and water. Bring to a boil while stirring. Remove from heat and whisk in the chocolate. Stir in the flour mixture and spread evenly in the pan.
4. In a small microwave safe bowl, microwave the preserves for about 20 seconds, or until just loose enough to work with. Drop 5 large spoonfuls onto the chocolate batter. Swirl with a knife.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until brownies look set. Don not over-bake. Cool for 10 minutes before trying to cut.

Notes:

• Feel free to increase the raspberry preserves to 1/2 cup, if you want more.
• You may have noticed that there is chocolate chips and baking chips in this recipe. I would have used all baking chips but that’s all I had left, but either kind will work. The better the chocolate, the better your brownies will be.
• I used a glass baking dish because that’s what my 8X8 is. If you have a metal pan, just increase the temperature by 25 degrees F.

I bought a large amount of beautiful Dinosaur Eggs (or Pluots) and decided to try baking some. I figured I wouldn’t find an exact recipe for these so I just took a plum torte recipe, adjusted, and hoped for the best. It’s a little tart, very pretty, and almost too easy to make. Save this one for when you’re in a time crunch.

Pluot Torte
~adapted from Marion Burros Plum Torte

• 3/4 cup and 1 tablespoon sugar
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup all purpose flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 eggs
• pinch salt
• 3 large Dinosaur Eggs (Pluots), cut into chunks
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• vanilla ice cream (optional)

1. Arrange a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (325 degrees F).
2. In an electric mixer, cream together 3/4 cup sugar and butter. Add flour, baking powder, eggs, and salt. Beat well.
3. Spread in a 9″ ungreased springform pan. Place plums skin side down evenly across batter.

4. Mix cinnamon with the 1 tablespoon of sugar left. Sprinkle over the plums evenly.

5. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool for 10 minutes before eating. It can be served warm or room temperature, highly recommended with vanilla ice cream. Store it in the fridge in an airtight container.

I didn’t have any vanilla ice cream, darn it! I think it would really take this simple dessert to another level…the warm torte with the cold creaminess, ooh!