Baked Pork Chops with Vegetables

November 23, 2013November 23, 2013 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

My stove top quit a couple of weeks ago. No repairman is available until after Thanksgiving. To cook anything, I must use the oven, microwave, or electric roaster. Last night a friend came over for dinner. Decided to try something I had never tried before: roasting the pork chops in the oven with vegetables.

4 pork chops

3 medium red skinned potoates, sliced

2 poblano peppers, seeded and chopped

2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped (optional)

1 medium sized red onion, chopped

2 apples, cut into slices–I used Jonathan

5 medium sized baby portabello mushrooms, sliced

Olive oil

Rubbed sage

Dried thyme

I used a cast iron enamel roasting pan. Use whatever you have so that you can layer the ingredients. Pour enough olive oil into the bottom of the pan to cover the bottom. Layer the chopped onions with potato slices on top. Place the pork chops on top of the potato slices. Sprinkle rubbed sage to cover lightly the pork chops. On top of the pork chops, layer the poblano and jalapeño peppers, then the apples. Sprinkle thyme over the top of this layer. Finally, place the sliced portabello mushrooms on top and pour olive oil over the layered chops and vegetables. Place the roasting pan in a 400 degree oven. Bake until pork chops are done, approximately 45 min. to an hour. Serves four.

Red Snapper with Chorizo and Mixed Rice

June 20, 2013July 7, 2013 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

Last Sunday evening I invited three friends over for dinner. They come to my house all the time so I decided to try something different. Red snapper was on sale at the market so I bought one big fillet and one smaller one, thinking they would fit perfectly in the heavy cast iron fish pan I have. I use this particular cast iron pot because I can put it on the grill in the summer and avoid heat in the house. In my refrigerator I also found some soyrizo–chorizo made from soy instead of pork. Since one of the friends is Muslim, I make sure never to feed him pork–he does not want me to go to hell, he says. Since the fish and the chorizo made for rather sizable servings, I did not expect all of it to totally disappear. Wrong. They ate all of it and asked for the recipe.

Approximately 1 1/2 pounds red snapper or similar firm fleshed fish

Enough soyrizo (or chorizo) to cover the fish in a thin layer sprinkled over the fish

1 onion finely chopped

1 large poblano pepper, seeded and chopped

Olive oil

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 small can tomato sauce

Pour enough olive oil into a heavy pan to cover the bottom

Lay the fish in the bottom of the pan and cover with chorizo

Saute the onions and poblano pepper in olive oil until onions are translucent

Spread the onion/pepper mixture over the top of the chorizo

Stir the cinnamon into the tomato sauce

Pour the cinnamon/tomato sauce mixture over the top

Place a lid on pan and bake on the grill at medium heat.

It takes the cast iron a long time to heat up so once it was heated, I baked the dish for approximately 20 minutes or until the fish was done and everything was bubbling.

I served this with my favorite rice: 1/3 Jasmine red rice, 1/3 Jasmine white rice, combined with 1/3 black rice. I used one half cup each, sauteed with 1 TBS. finely chopped garlic in enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a large sauce pan. Saute until the rice appears to be sticking slightly, then pour water double the total amount of rice. Stir in 1 tsp. bouillon, cover with six paper towels and then the lid, turn down to low, and cook approximately one hour. The red and black rice take at least twice as long to cook as white rice.

This easily serves four. I served it with a salad: romaine, red cabbage, dried cherries, yellow pepper, diced radishes, and feta cheese. Bon appetit!!

Teriyaki Salmon with Red Chard and Cassia Cinnamon (for two)

July 18, 2012 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

The red chard leaves, chopped.

Just after adding the salmon.

The finished product.

2 6 oz. servings of wild salmon

1/2 medium red (purple) onion, chopped

1/2 large poblano pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped

2 large red chard leaves and stems

1/2 to 1 tsp. cassia cinnamon

1/8 cup teriyaki sauce mixed with 1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce

Olive oil

Marinate the salmon in the teriyaki/Worcestershire sauce while you prepare the rest. Using a sharp knife, destem and devein the red chard. Coarsely chop the stems and veins. Chop the leaves into pieces as indicated in the photo above. Cover the bottom of a medium sized skillet with olive oil. I love extra virgin olive oil and use a lot of it, but not absolutely necessary. Saute chopped onions in the olive oil until translucent. Add the poblano pepper and red stems of the chard. When the peppers and chard stems are slightly cooked, add the salmon and marinade and sauté for about 2 minutes. Turn the salmon and place the chard leaves on top. Scatter the cinnamon on top of the chard leaves. Saute until the chard leaves are wilted.

Serve with mixed grain rice (khao-pa-som in Thai) which can be found at Asian markets. It is a mixture of brown, black, and red rice with various grains including what appears to be barley. I cook it exactly like rice: sauté in olive oil with finely chopped garlic for a minute or so, add water, and stir in 1 tsp. concentrated bouillon. Turn heat to low, cover pan with several layers of paper towels, and put on lid. This, like red and brown rice, takes about twice as long to cook as white rice. It is more nutritious than white rice. If you want the health benefits of cinnamon, it is necessary to use cassia cinnamon, not Ceylon cinnamon.

Chicken with poblano peppers, sun dried tomatoes and pasta

June 2, 2012June 3, 2012 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

This recipe is posted as a tribute to Klara Kamper, from Austria. Klara is an exchange student and nearly every week she has come over to ride my horse, Rosie. After riding, I fix dinner. Of all the different dinners I have fixed, this is Klara’s favorite.

4 pieces boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

2 large poblano peppers, deseeded and diced into bite sized pieces

1 large purple onion, chopped

5-6 pieces sun dried tomatoes, chopped into a large dice

Olive oil

Herbs de provence

Cover the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil. Saute the onions until done. Add chicken and more olive oil if necessary. With your fingers sprinkle herbs de provence over the onion/chicken mixture. When the chicken is nearly done, add the poblano peppers and sun dried tomatoes. Saute until the poblano peppers are cooked but still a nice bright green. You may also add mushrooms if you like. Serve over your favorite pasta. My daughter does not like herbs de provence so when I cook this for her, I use a mixture of oregano, basil, and marjoram.

I am very, very picky about pasta. My favorite is organic Montebello pasta produced by Monastero Di Montebello, Isola del Piano, Italy. I especially like the conchiglie. However, I use their spaghetti and other shapes as well.

This is Rosie. She will really miss Klara who leaves for home on June 25.

A friend joined us to see the horses and for dinner. Apparently, she took this photo just before I served dinner.

Teriyaki Salmon with Crystallized Ginger

May 4, 2012 / Juliana Lightle / 2 Comments

4 4-6 oz. salmon filets

Enough teriyaki sauce to cover the salmon in a shallow dish

1 medium sized onion, chopped

1/3 cup chopped crystallized ginger

Olive oil

Marinate the salmon in the teriyaki sauce while you prepare the remainder of the ingredients. You may marinate the salmon longer if you wish it to taste less fishy. Saute the onions in enough olive oil to cover the bottom of your skillet. Place the salmon and the teriyaki sauce in the skillet with the onions and sauté until the salmon is nearly done. Add the crystallized ginger and cook until salmon is done. Optional additions: 1 large poblano pepper chopped, chopped mushrooms, chopped garlic. The photo below includes poblano peppers which I use in many dishes. They have a unique flavor and little heat. Serve with Jasmine rice with golden raisins and a green salad.

My son is the originator of the basic recipe. I modified it to suit my own taste. He wraps all the ingredients in foil and cooks it on a cookie sheet on the grill. Sometimes I put it all together and bake it in the oven. These latter methods are the easiest with company because it cooks while you entertain.