"Fall Back" In Love With Pork Chops

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It's the time of the year where certain ingredients and flavors just taste so right. This plate consists of pork chops accompanied by sautéed pears and red onions, which all add up to a fabulous fall delight.

For the meat: One side of each chop was lightly brushed with extra virgin olive oil. Then, seasoned with salt, pepper, granulated garlic, freshly chopped rosemary and thyme, and finished with a touch of Morton & Basset ground allspice. (Allspice, also called "Jamaica Pepper", is a spice which is the dried, unripe berries of the pimento tree. The name allspice was coined by the English, who thought it combined the flavors of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg.) Next, I lightly coated the seasoned side of the pork in flour, placed the pork, floured side down, and repeat oil, seasoning and flouring. The meat was cooked in a bit of vegetable oil on medium/high heat, four minutes on each side.

Pears and Onions: One extra large or two medium red onions quartered then cut into 1/8's. Four Bosc pears, halved, quartered, cored, then cut into 1/8's (skin stays on). I added extra virgin olive oil to large pan. Once the oil was heated, I added a few tabs of butter. According to my eye, it was about 3 to 4 tbsp. Once butter melts, I add the pears and onions, season with salt, pepper and grate one whole nutmeg. Sauté and toss frequently, until pears are tender but not mushy, approximately 10 to 12 mins. Lastly, I sprinkled brown sugar (approx 2 tbsp) over the pan, cook another minute or two, plate next to the chops and serve immediately.



Healthy Pork Chops with Grilled Veggies

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Are you into eating healthy and cutting out those nasty carbs and gut building fats? My last chicken dinner was very health conscious (chicken with leek and asparagus) as well is this pork and grilled veggie plate.

Preparation:  I sliced one large yellow and green zucchini, and two white onions about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Next, I grabbed about eight asparagus, chopped off the inedible, hard bottoms and set aside all veggies.

Wash three 3 inch pork chops off and let them dry. Next, soak them in low sodium soy sauce for about 20 minutes and turn on your broiler to heat up. Afterwards, I rub the chops in a bowl with the some of the remaining soy sauce, paprika, salt, pepper and (manually) minced garlic. After the chops are ready to be thrown into the broiler for 30 - 35 minutes, I mix the veggies with EVOO, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano and place them on the grill, and continue to flip every 5 minutes or so (be sure to achieve grill marks).

I'm Just saying: Proper serving temperature for pork is medium. Pink in the middle is safe, juicy and totally delicious. Please do your mouth a favor and do not over-cook the pig.

Salsiccia Rigatoni

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Gimme Some Info: Salsiccia is Italian for sausage. So, here we have "Sausage Rigatoni". The word rigatoni comes from the Italian word rigati, which means “ridged” and is associated with the cuisine of southern and central Italy.

This is a fantastic family-style dish. Along with the pasta and sausage, comes sweet green peas, cherry tomatoes (although you can use various types of tomatoes as long they are in season, i.e, grape, campari and even heirloooms, but they would need to be on the smaller side), cannellini beans (which are white Italian kidney beans) and portabello mushrooms.

Preparation: To start this off, I added garlic and shallots to olive oil. Next, I browned the sausage, then sweat out the mushrooms. In the meantime, I am boiling the rigatoni to slightly less than al dente, set the pasta to the side and preserve a bit of the pasta water. Next, I add vegetable stock, pasta water, tomatoes, then cover with lid. A few minutes before the tomatoes are about to burst, I add the pasta, peas and cannellini beans (they add a great texture to every bite) and allow it to cook in the sauce. Once heated and tomatoes burst, I add chili flake, toss and serve.