Interpretations: Pork Chop with Red Onion Confit

I allowed pork to enter my kitchen, but on the condition though that it go here in the style of fine French food.

Dinner today was an interpretation of one of the recipes in Laura Calder's French Food At Home, which I watch over at Asian Food Network. I found the dish simple and fuss-free with few simple key ingredients that could be found at your local supermarket. Oh, this is the Pork Chop and Red Onion Confit, and the recipe could be found here.

The confit was the first one I made. The trick was to slice the red onion really, really thinly so it resembles noodles and fry it in hot butter seasoned with salt and pepper before splashing it with balsamic vinegar until it gets this deep color. I set it aside and keep it warm.

The chops on the other hand, I made a mistake of choosing chops that were super lean, since I needed a bit of marbling on the fat so that the meat cooks in its own fat. However, a little hot butter was my as i fried it for 5 minutes on each side until the pork cooks through but not too tough. I like pork while it's golden and falls right off the bone. The sugar in the recipe was used to sprinkle each side of the meat as it fries so it comes out in that nice golden color. Then I present it in the plate and top it with confit.

The confit has a strong but sweet flavor which is the perfect accompaniment to the pork chop. I didn't use sauce for this but cook the chop just right and juicy and it would go perfectly with the confit.

As for the salad, since onions fried in rich butter and pork are rich on their own, we needed something light and tangy. The salad was made of parmesan and parsley but since I'm far reach from a grocery, I used another sharp-flavored fresh herb, which was fresh basil and a cheddar slice since my parmesan's the pre-grated one, and I needed something that's sharp.

I'm searching for another recipe to cook the two chops remaining in the ref. I'm sure there's one here somewhere.

Ridding Leftovers the Better Way

As I munch on leftover mozzarella cheese, let me share to you dinner for this evening:

Grilled the leftover sausage and re-heated the steak. While I was cleaning out the fridge, I saw that we still had a few leftover rice so I turned it into butter herb rice with rosemary and Italian seasoning. I went to get out some oregano but this baby ambushed me to feed her instead.

She demanded to be fed instead even blocking my way when I was about to go back indoors. :P

Cooking While Waiting and More Experimenting

The new closet is going to be delivered today. Since we're practically stuck in the four corners of the condo, we decided to finally clear up the ref of foodstuff to make way for new ones. First I got rid of the tomatoes by turning them to pasta pomodoro with lots of garlic. by lots I mean I had three-quarters of a head crushed and the quarter of it sliced then stewed the tomatoes with tomato juice, canned tomatoes, and seasonings till I get the taste I like.

The event at SpaRga had us taking home fresh herbs as giveaways. I got mint, tarragon, and oregano, and they seem to have made its home in the condo's quadrangle (perks of having our unit at the lower floor so I could just go out and pick from our herb pots). Now I want a basil pot now so I have a full fresh supply of basil. I just found out that basil grays out days after buying them, even if they're kept sealed.

As soon as the closet guys arrived and installed the closet, we had a lot of free time, and free space I got all giddy at the sight of the new closet.

Now I have an excuse to have more dresses since there's more space! :P

Anyhow, weekly grocery shopping was next so we headed over to Rustan's Rockwell for fresh produce and supplies since we haven't been to Rockwell. Turns out the fruit department in Rockwell is different from the one in Glorietta so I wasn't able to get my Dizon strawberries. I was able to get fresh lemongrass to make lemongrass drinks, vegetables, and pasta.

I went over the deli and grabbed some cheese and a piece of Italian sausage since I'll be experimenting on sandwiches tomorrow for breakfast. I told them to keep it plus-minus 100 grams since I just do small servings anyway. I love Rustan's for slicing them for me so it's more convenient. They asked if block or slice, I was like just slice, so I get a sliver of 100 g instead of a slab of cheese that I don't know I'll finish. Didn't know that slice meant to slice them conveniently to thin sheets.

Turns out though I'll be experimenting on grilled cheese when I got home.

Whole wheat bread drizzled with olive oil and a sprinkling of balsamic vinegar. Fillings were gruyere cheese, slices of sausage, and a strip of mozarella before grilling both sides in a pan griller (my second overused piece of kitchen equipment next to the nonstick frying pan and the coffee maker).

Cheese to the extreme come dinnertime with leftover pasta pomodoro and grilled steaks. I thought I'd jazz the steak by topping it with slices of mozzarella cheese and honey barbecue sauce. Eating in is so much cheaper than eating out. The only not fun part is cleaning up. Then again, paying the tab isn't that fun either. By the way, I placed the mozzarella slice on top of the steak when it's already on the plate (not on the pan) still hot, so it melts on the meat's heat. The texture is interesting and it provides a certain richness without the sharp flavor. I like mozzarella. It's mild and it can be addicting.

Since I already made what I'm supposed to experiment for breakfast, I need to get creative for a breakfast meal tomorrow. By the way, I followed no recipe book. Everything is at the top of my head. The mozzarella on steak was very random really, I just thought of putting the slice there when I wanted more color on my plate for picture purposes. But it worked well, didn't it?

Spicy Chicken and Cheesy Potatoes for Dinner

Dinner was homemade today but since I want a slow day, I just did something that's no brainer. Ironically, although dinner outside is usually comprised of complicated dishes, I keep dinner light and simple at home usually. After all, I'll just be sleeping right?

A few weeks ago, I was at Mercato Centrale and I ordered cheesy potatoes from a stall because they were dirt cheap. Figured if I could make my own at home, with marble potatoes (i.e. small potatoes like marbles, you buy them per pack) bought from m favorite grocery. Since them potatoes were hard as a rock, the solution was to pre-boil them first till they're soft prior to cooking them in oil. Prior to cooking though, I washed the potatoes twice in running water and even had to scrub a tad of liquid soap foam then rinse them well to make them clean. I know I'll boil them and drain it out, but I can't bear the thought of soil-y potatoes.

After they were boiled and drained, I put the potatoes in a pan with heated canola oil and started pan-frying them but not to the point of charring their skins. The original potato dish had bacon, but I wanted herbs so I sprinkled some rosemary and Italian seasoning on them with a tad of salt and pepper and mixed. As soon as I lowered the heat, I spooned cheese spread (like Cheez Whiz) and turned off the fire, letting the spread melt and mixed away. Some cheese was burning through though so I removed the pan from any heat source and used the heat source from the potatoes and pan to warm and melt the cheese and mixed in some more. My tip here is to use a nonstick pan for easy cleanup.

For meat, I pan-grilled pepper chicken breast fillets, which were pre-marinated and bought per 100 g at Rustans. They're really hot and I suggest buy them only when you have high tolerance to spicy foods or love spicy foods. I slathered honey barbecue sauce on them too and chased everything down by glugging a glass of lemon water.

Had I had time, grilled tomatoes on the side would also have been great for this.

A dish of spices call for something sweet, so right now, I'm eating two slices of mango for healthy sugar rush. Yum!!!!! I really should get more pots now, as I've been dependent on two frying pans, a pan griller, and this pot that I use to make broth, boil spaghetti, and now boil potatoes in. I need a saucepan to make gravy and jelly now. Plus a pitcher when I make lemongrass drinks.