Recipe Review - Pork Chops with Sweet Onion Marmeletta

Today's recipe comes from Giada Di Laurentiis's cookbook Giada's Kitchen. The recipes are very well-written, easy to follow, and require a mid- to high- degree of kitchen competence, unlike the recipes in Everyday Italian, which are quite simple and won't crush a beginner's confidence.

That said, even a beginner who gives themselves a lot of time could certainly give these recipes a try. When I say Giada's recipes are "well-written," I mean it. I really enjoy cooking when I'm following Giada!

So, tonight we're going fancypants and serving up something that Giada describes as "the Italian version of pork chops and applesauce."

Yum.

Shopping List

Since I already had the pork chops and pantry staples, I only had to pick up a few things:

• fresh rosemary
• fresh thyme
• large onions (calls for 4; I got two very large Spanish onions)

Recipe Review

Ease of Preparation

Simple, though time-consuming - you need to caramelize onions, which takes a LONG time. (Though I have seen a method to do it in a slow cooker!)

It's also recommended to slice the onions Very Thin, so if your knife skills are still in the "beginner" stages, you might have trouble.

My sister might need help with this one.

Specialty Equipment Required

A grill pan or outdoor grill is nice for cooking the pork.

You'll need a larger pan than you think for cooking the onions.

And a plunger-style measuring cup is helpful for measuring the marmalade this recipe requires, but it's more of a "nice to have" than a "requirement."

Did my husband and daughter enjoy it?

While the kid wouldn't touch it (she knows where the peanut butter is, so she didn't starve) the husband enjoyed the pork, but not the marmeletta.

I enjoyed the marmeletta and would like to make a large batch of it ... and home-can it!

It's too much work to do the marmeletta on a weeknight, especially if I'm the only one eating it, but if I've got it pre-made (and canned!) grilling up some pork chops wouldn't be too hard.

MIXED VERDICT.

 

Spring Has (Finally!) Sprung

This past Sunday was designated by the folks who decide such things as "National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day."

So, of course, it made perfect sense to serve grilled cheese.

But what kind of sides should we pair with it?

It was a lovely, warm day and I thought that something with acidity would be a great foil for the richness of the buttery, cheesy goodness that is a grilled cheese sandwich.

Naturally, my thoughts turned to tabbouleh. (Don't yours?)

Now, making this decision at 3pm and having the intention to serve dinner by 6pm doesn't allow for the use of bulgur, which needs to be soaked prior to use, so I opted for quick-cook couscous.

I also omitted the tomatoes that usually add color to an otherwise Very Green dish in favor of cucumbers, because they pair well with mint.

Parsley (1 generous bunch, finely chopped), mint (1 sprig, leaves only, finely chopped), couscous, the juice of 1 good-sized lemon, two diced Persian cucumbers (they look like seedless pickling cucumbers) and 1/4 cup of olive oil later and I had a nice couscous salad resembling tabbouleh.

And, yes, it paired very nicely with grilled cheese.

Recipe of the Week

With it being Valentine's Day on Saturday, I've put off trying a new-to-me recipe 'til then.

Looking over my pantry ingredients, and checking out the ease-of-preparation, I've settled on Grilled Rosemary Flank Steak with Balsamic Glazed Onions from the Sur La Table "test kitchens."

I already have garlic and extra virgin olive oil in the pantry, so I'll have a fairly short shopping list tomorrow - flank steak, red onions, and fresh rosemary.

According to the cookbook, Intercourses, rosemary and garlic are aphrodisiacs, so they're perfect for use any time you want to show a little love!