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.

 

What to Do With Chicken Legs?

Letting the munchkin pick the recipes to try in any given week can sometimes get interesting.

Like the ratatouille she begged to try a few months ago, but refused to touch after it had been made. (I still like it; maybe I'll make it for my mom next time.)

Tonight's dinner is another one of those "Dishes Inspired by Disney" recipes:

Lightning McQueen's Balsamic "Motor Oil" Chicken

Shopping List

• chicken legs (recipe calls for 8; we used 12)
• orange (we used a tangelo because that's what looked good; you need juice AND zest, so choose what makes sense for you)
• no sugar added orange marmalade
• rosemary sprigs

Everything else (salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil) we had in the house.

Mise en place

Ease of Preparation

Pretty simple, which is great for a recipe that's being plugged by a kids' cable channel.

My sister could definitely do this ... well, if the idea of pulling the skin off the chicken legs doesn't make her gag.

Chicken legs in the pan, skin removed.

Specialty Equipment Required?

A fine grater to zest an orange; this is easy enough to find. Mine's a long MicroPlane brand, but you don't need to spend a lot of cash on one if you're not sure you'll use it.

A citrus reamer would be helpful in extracting the juice from the orange, but not 100% necessary.

Did my husband and daughter enjoy it?

The kid liked it, but the husband wasn't overfond of the citrus-balsamic glaze. He'd prefer it with plain barbecue sauce.

Reducing the balsamic vinegar-marmalade-rosemary mixture.

Regular rotation-worthy?

If we mix it up a bit, and don't pick a super-hot day to make it, sure.

RECIPE WIN.

Recipe Review - Rosemary Flank Steak with Balsamic Grilled Onions

So this recipe was supposed to be part of a Valentine's Day feast, but it kept getting pushed off due to conflicts in schedule.

On Valentine's Day itself, I actually improvised heart-shaped pizzas with some store-bought dough, jarred sauce, and fresh mozzarella. I think they would have been perfect if I'd remembered to drizzle a little olive oil over the top ... and had picked up some fresh basil. Oh well. Next time, right? (For those of you whose Nonnas would rather die than use bought dough & jar sauce, please remember I'm Slovak, Irish, and German, not Italian, so I take the help where I can get it, though maybe I'll learn some sauce-making secrets this year. I do have a couple of Giada cookbooks, after all.)

Please keep in mind that I also served this with two aphrodisiac sides - garlic mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus spears. (Yes, garlic is an aphrodisiac - for its effects on the circulatory system.)

Review Checklist

Ease of preparation:

This one's not too bad - the marinade calls for a half cup of good olive oil (I use extra-virgin because I've found a very nice, very fruity oil that I like in marinades and for drizzling), bruised rosemary leaves (they suggest using a rolling pin to do the work; I had an empty wine bottle), chopped garlic (smash and chop!), cracked peppercorns (stick 'em in a zip-top freezer baggie & smash with your meat tenderizer!), and some good balsamic vinegar.

I'll admit that good balsamic is a little on the pricey side of things and a lot of people don't keep whole peppercorns in their pantry like I do, but, in general, these are not ingredients that require a lot of hunting.

After the steak marinated, I did miss the point where I was instructed to brush off the solids, so it went onto my grill pan with rosemary leaves, peppercorns, and garlic bits still sticking to it. Oops! 

Bottom line: my sister could totally follow the instructions even if I couldn't!

Specialty equipment required?

Yes and no. 

This is a grill (or grill-pan) recipe, so it means I could make it again during the summer when we're grilling things more frequently ... or I could pull out my double-burner, cast iron, grill/griddle pan because it's a wee bit nippy here on the East Coast.

As I mentioned above, a rolling pin is also called for, but I haven't kept one easily accessible for years, so ... I used a wine bottle.

Did my husband and daughter enjoy it?

Well, the kid didn't touch it, but the husband really enjoyed it, so I'll be making this again at some point.

Regular rotation-worthy?

Yes, I think so. The kid will come 'round eventually. 

RECIPE WIN.

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!