Spicy Peach-Glazed Pork Chop

DING DING DING! We have a winner. New favourite pork chop recipe. I don't cook pork chop that often, but when I do I feel like it's always the same... and that just gets too boring for me. So I googled 'pork chop recipes' today because I thought I should try out something new. I found this delicious spicy peach-glazed pork chop recipe. When I saw the title I thought to myself "hey! I bought a peach at the grocery store yesterday! I can make this!". Then I opened it up to discover it required 'peach preserves' (or jam as some of the reviews stated), which I didn't have. Just a little ol' lonely fresh peach. I decided I'd get creative!

I chopped up the peach into thin slices. In a pan, on medium heat, I put a slice of butter and when the butter had melted I put the peach slices in. Then I slowly sprinkled some white sugar on top (I don't know how much... I was kind of just eye balling it). I let that mix around for a bit and then added a bit more sugar when I thought it needed it. I then added a splash of white wine to the pan. The wine, sugar and peaches formed a glaze and softened up the peaches. I removed it from the heat and set it aside while I prepared the pork chops. When it had cooled down I put it in the magic bullet because I wanted to make it more 'jam-like', instead of big pieces. However, I still left some chunks.

I didn't have any ground ginger, so I used fresh ginger. Instead of chile paste, I used Sriracha. And per some of the reviews, I added a clove of garlic to the recipe. I chopped it up and put it in the peach mixture with the Worcestershire sauce and Sriracha.

I happened to make two of these tonight (because my original pork chop was too thick so I cut it in half) and it is taking everything in my power not to go eat it right. The sweetness of the peaches mixing with the spiciness of the ginger, Sriracha/Worcestershire sauce was just SO good.  Will be making this again, for sure!

Sweet potato, Sausage, Broccoli and Feta

I've got a new obsession with sweet potatoes. I used to think that I didn't like them, but I'm not sure why.

My sister makes a variation of this 'stir-fry' sometimes, which is where I got my inspiration for it.

First, fry some sausage. I removed the casing and made little balls out of the sausage. Put aside. Then peel and cut up your sweet potato into bite size pieces. Fry the sweet potato in the same pan with some vegetable oil on medium to high heat and allow it to caramelize (not olive oil, because you want a higher heat point for caramelizing). When the sweet potato is almost done, turn down the heat to medium-low and toss in some chopped mushrooms and garlic. Let that mix around for a few minutes. Then add broccoli and let that cook. After everything is cooked, add the sausage back in.  After everything is well mixed, add some thyme, salt and pepper and red pepper flakes for more flavour. Also add a splash of white wine and let that steam up into the food. Turn off the heat and add some crumbled feta. Mix around. Serve and top with more feta!

Quick and delicious :)

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

I'm sick and I don't like it. I brought up some turkey stock from thanksgiving so I could make myself some soup, but I forgot left over turkey so I made a chicken noodle soup in turkey broth. Absolutely delicious and just what the doctor ordered!

I started by baking a chicken breast at 425 for 25 minutes. I topped the chicken breast with some dry thyme, dry parsley and salt and pepper.

Chopped up carrots, mushrooms, onions, broccoli and some garlic. One by one I added them into a sauce pan with some butter and a little oil. Started with the carrots, as they take longest to cook, then the broccoli, mushroom and onions and finally the garlic. After those were cooked I removed them from the pot and put them aside. I didn't cook them too too much because I wanted them to have a little crunch while they were still in the soup. I added the stock to the pot to warm up. In the mean time, I boiled some water and cooked some noodles. I used rigatoni, which as my sister and I had discussed might be a little excessive due to their size, but still delicious none the less. Any time of pasta noodle would have worked! When I made a different version of this the other night at home, we used orzo. When the chicken was done I used two forks to 'shred' the chicken so it would be in bite size 'messy' pieces.

When the pasta was done I added it to the pot of stock, then the chicken, followed by the vegetables. I let all the flavours mix, as well as added some more thyme, salt and pepper. After it is warmed up enough, voila! Soup! I topped the soup with a little bit of shaved parmesan. Yum!

Orzo with Caramelized Fall Vegetables & Ginger

My sister e-mailed me this recipe the other day and I was instantly intrigued.  I'm super stressed with school, so probably shouldn't be taking the time to make stuff like this but I use cooking to de-stress.
Adjustments: I used cremini mushrooms instead of shiitake mushrooms. As well I topped it with some goat's cheese per my sisters suggestion. It gave it a nice tangy creaminess.
I think I should have made a little more of the 'sauce', but with the regular measurements it was still tasty.
My sister made this for herself last night and she warned me about how long I let things caramelize due to potential burning... so I avoided burning the sweet potatoes (like she had done!). Thanks JP.

 I really liked the flavour combinations this dish provided, but my sister, although she enjoyed it, sent some suggestions that she's going to incorporate next time: sweet potatoes, onions, mushrooms, garlic - good. No ginger though. I'd add some fresh thyme in there and I'd deglaze it with white wine instead of the balsamic and soy mixture they use. The kale was nice (I think kale is delicious), but you could just as easily throw in a few cups of spinach or arugula and have it work. The orzo was really tasty (it's like rice but it's pasta!)...but I was thinking about how you could use actual rice for this...or a grain like quinoa or barley and have it work too.

Next up... when I have time: Pasta with Butternut Squash, Sage & Pinenuts