Todays menu is Cumin Crusted Pork Chops with Peach Chipotle Salsa and the famous PsychoPants' Potato Salad.
Let's start with the potato salad. I've been a failure at making potato salad my entire life. My mother always made fabulous potato salad. Potatoes, mayo, mustard, onions, eggs, celery and a splash of vinegar. It seemed simple. She just tossed in this and that and in the end, it was great. It's not simple. Not at all. I've never been able to get the combination right. I've also learned that many people consider eggs in potato salad to be just wrong.
Then enter PsychoPants into my life. Yes, I really know someone named PsychoPants. She's wonderful. And she makes rockin' potato salad. She shared this recipe with me one day when I was blathering on about my incompetence at making potato salad. She promised me that this would be a winner with my guests. She was right. She always is.
The ingredients are straight forward. Potatoes (duh!), mayo, Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, Italian parsley, shallot, salt and pepper. I sometimes use a mild onion instead of the shallot if I don't have one on hand. Which I obviously didn't today.
PyschoPants' Potato Salad
3 pounds yukon gold potatoes cut into 3/4 to 1 inch cubes
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons whole grain Dijon mustard
1 shallot minced
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
30 grinds black pepper
1/3 cup packed finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water by at least a couple inches. Salt the water generously, bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are just fork tender, about 15-20 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water.
In a mixing bowl combine the remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth.
Toss the potato chunks in the dressing and then toss in the parsley.
Cumin Crusted Pork Chops with Peach Chipotle Salsa
Let's start with the salsa. The ingredients are: peaches, onion, cilantro, chipotle peppers, lime, salt and pepper.
First, peel the peaches.
And then cube them.
Dice the onion very small. I love dicing onions. I love it so much that I diced the whole darned onion. I'll be cooking something with diced onion tomorrow.
Then finely chop the cilantro.
Finally chop a couple of tablespoons of chipotle peppers in adobo. They were so spicy that they turned the picture orange. Now that's spicy.
Finally toss it all together. And add the juice of a half of lime.
Isn't that beautiful? It is a lovely combination of peachy sweetness with smoky chipotle, fresh cilantro and the crunch of onion. I'm seriously tempted to try it on ice cream. Or toast. Or maybe a pork chop. Oh wait.
Oh yes, the pork chops. How could I forget? The ingredients are simple: pork chops, coriander, salt and pepper.
The only difficult thing about this recipe is grinding the coriander. I used a handy dandy coriander grinder. Otherwise known as a sauce pan. This takes a bit of arm strength, but after a few minutes you'll get the hang of it.
Then you season the chops and press the ground coriander into it. It will look something like this.
Toss them on the grill or do what I do. Have your assistant toss them on the grill. It's way to hot for me to be outside fretting over a hot grill today.
And there you have it. Cumin Crusted Pork Chops with Peach Chipotle Salsa and PsychoPants' Potato salad. It doesn't get much better than that. The Founding Fathers would want you to eat this.
The original recipe is from epicurious.com.
Cumin-Crusted Monster Pork Chops with Peach Chipotle Salsa
For salsa
- 3 ripe but firm peaches, unpeeled, pitted and cut into 1/4-inch dice
- 1/4 cup red onion, finely diced (about 1/2 small onion)
- 2 tablespoons canned chipotle chiles in adobo, minced
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For pork chops
- 1/4 cup whole cumin seeds
- 6 pork rib chops, each about 1 1/2 inches thick (ask your butcher to cut them for you)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly coarse-ground black pepper
Make salsa
In medium bowl, toss together all ingredients. Transfer to serving dish and set aside.
In medium bowl, toss together all ingredients. Transfer to serving dish and set aside.
Prepare grill
If using charcoal grill, open bottom vents. Light charcoal. Leaving about 1/4 of grill free of charcoal, bank lit charcoal across rest of grill so coals are about 3 times higher on opposite side.
If using charcoal grill, open bottom vents. Light charcoal. Leaving about 1/4 of grill free of charcoal, bank lit charcoal across rest of grill so coals are about 3 times higher on opposite side.
If using gas grill, open hood, light all burners, and set on high. Close hood and preheat 10 minutes.
While grill is heating, coat chops
Using electric spice grinder, pulse cumin seeds 2 to 3 times to crack. (Alternatively, place seeds on cutting board and crush lightly with small sauté pan, using gentle rocking motion.) Rub chops with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and coat with cumin seeds, pressing firmly to adhere.
Using electric spice grinder, pulse cumin seeds 2 to 3 times to crack. (Alternatively, place seeds on cutting board and crush lightly with small sauté pan, using gentle rocking motion.) Rub chops with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and coat with cumin seeds, pressing firmly to adhere.
To cook chops using charcoal grill
Charcoal fire is medium-hot when you can hold your hand 5 inches above rack over area where coals are piled highest for 3 to 4 seconds. Sear chops on lightly oiled grill rack directly over hottest part of coals, turning over once, until well browned, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Move chops to coolest part of grill, then cover with inverted roasting pan and grill, turning over once, until thermometer inserted diagonally into center of each chop (avoid bone) registers 145°F, about 12 minutes total. Transfer chops to platter and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 5 minutes (temperature will rise to 150°F). Serve, passing salsa on side.
Charcoal fire is medium-hot when you can hold your hand 5 inches above rack over area where coals are piled highest for 3 to 4 seconds. Sear chops on lightly oiled grill rack directly over hottest part of coals, turning over once, until well browned, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Move chops to coolest part of grill, then cover with inverted roasting pan and grill, turning over once, until thermometer inserted diagonally into center of each chop (avoid bone) registers 145°F, about 12 minutes total. Transfer chops to platter and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 5 minutes (temperature will rise to 150°F). Serve, passing salsa on side.
To cook chops using gas grill
When grill is preheated, sear chops on lightly oiled grill rack, turning over once, until well browned, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Turn off 1 burner (middle burner if there are 3) and put chops above shut-off burner. Reduce heat on remaining burner(s) to moderate and grill pork, covered with lid, until thermometer inserted diagonally into center of each chop (avoid bone) registers 145°F, about 12 minutes total. Transfer chops to platter and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 5 minutes (temperature will rise to 150°F). Serve, passing salsa on side.
When grill is preheated, sear chops on lightly oiled grill rack, turning over once, until well browned, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Turn off 1 burner (middle burner if there are 3) and put chops above shut-off burner. Reduce heat on remaining burner(s) to moderate and grill pork, covered with lid, until thermometer inserted diagonally into center of each chop (avoid bone) registers 145°F, about 12 minutes total. Transfer chops to platter and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 5 minutes (temperature will rise to 150°F). Serve, passing salsa on side.
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