Pineapple Pork Chops

Pineapple Pork Chops and Rice

Pineapple Pork Chops are the perfect blend of sweet and savory, full of color and easier to make than you might think. They're also budget friendly and can be made for any weeknight dinner and are pretty enough to serve for company.

Pineapple Pork Chops and Rice

Pineapple Pork Chops
Hands-On Time: 25 minutes
Ready In: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

4 bone-in center cut pork chops 1/2-inch thick
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Kosher salt or 1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
4 Tablespoons cooking oil, divided
1/3 cup each red, yellow and green sweet peppers - diced (or 1 cup of any one color)
1/2 cup red onion chopped
1 cup canned or fresh pineapple chunks
1 1/2 cups pineapple juice (from canned pineapple or other)
2 Tablespoons soy sauce (use the good brewed stuff, I love Kikkoman)
2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Hot cooked rice - about 2 cups prepared


Directions:

1. Rinse pork chops to remove any traces of bone from cutting and pat dry . Set aside.
2. Blend flour with salt and pepper and dredge chops in mixture until well coated.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add chops.
4. Cook until browned well on both sides, about 6-8 minutes per side. Remove to a platter and keep warm.
5. Add the remaining 2 Tablespoons of oil to the skillet over medium-high heat and add peppers and onions. Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until vegetables begin to release juices into the pan.
6. Add pineapple and juice, cook until bubbling, 2-3 minutes.
7. Stir together brown sugar, soy sauce and cornstarch. Whisk into pineapple and peppers. Cook until thickened.
8. Add pork chops to pan and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, until chops are heated through and coated with sauce. Serve over rice.

Arroz Con Pollo with Three Olives

Arroz con Pollo

Chicken and rice is a great staple for dinner, but when it's Arroz con Pollo, it's even better! This version has 3 different olives in it, added before most of the cooking so they soak up all the lovely flavors mingling in this dish. Cooking it with bite-sized chunks of chicken rather than whole pieces speeds the process so this delicious dinner is ready in no time.

Arroz Con Pollo with Three Olives
Printable Recipe
Hands-On Time: 20 minutes
Ready In: 60 minutes
Serves: 8
Cost Per Serving: $1.25

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves - minced
1/2 cup sliced green onion
1 large green pepper - diced
1 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts - cut into 1-inch cubes
5 cups chicken broth
2 1/2 cups long-grain rice - uncooked
1 cup frozen peas
2 cans (28 ounces) whole tomatoes - diced and drained well
1/3 cup Spanish olives
1/3 cup ripe black olives - pitted
1/3 cup ripe green olives - pitted
2 teaspoons paprika
1 bay leaf
pinch saffron - optional

Directions:

1. Heat a large deep skillet over medium-high heat and add oil. Saute green peppers until they start to sweat or leach juices. Add garlic and onion and stir.
2. Scoot veggies to the side of the pan making a clear center. Add chicken and cook just until no longer pink.
3. Remove veggies and chicken and stir in stock, rice, peas, tomatoes, olives, paprika and saffron and bay leaf. Add chicken and veggies back in.
4. Lid tightly and reduce heat to low. Cook for 20-30 minutes or until rice is tender.
5. Remove bay leaf, fluff rice and serve.

Rice Pudding and Raw Milk

Just about a year ago I began buying raw milk. Not for daily or even weekly consumption, but for a once-in-awhile thing. I'm not completely sure what my motivation was beyond the fact that it's a bit controversial and from much that I've read, if conditions are right, it isn't all together unsafe. In fact, for many people with lactose intolerance, raw milk can be a Godsend.

Nobody here has lactose issues, and for the most part I'm fully happy with the pasteurized 2% that I buy for daily use, but the crunchy/hippie/farmer type in me had to go out and give it a try. I wrote about the first couple excursions at Blog Catalog, so I won't repeat myself, but I will add that the scene changes ever so slightly each time I visit the farm. Sometimes it's laundry day, sometimes there's nothing going on; this time it was ... meat grinding day?

Saturday was rather gray and blah, and the farm looking austere from the lack of foliage on the trees only added to it. Once I walked into the garage however, the air took on an almost sinister feel when I caught sight of a young Mennonite man pushing meat into a grinder. Add to it the fact that he had a strange grin on his face and the whole scene became a bit "Children of the Corn".

I'm hopeful the meat was for personal consumption and not for sale, because thinking of eating anything from that farm other than milk, eggs or honey safely ensconced in plastic jugs, cardboard egg containers and glass jars makes me feel a little queasy. No matter, I grabbed what I'd come for and left without looking back (except to look at the chickens, can't help myself).

Then came the question of what I'd be making with these 'less-than-usual' ingredients I'd traveled nearly 30 miles for. No idea, as usual, it's just something I like to do and I usually figure it all out later. This time it turned out to be rice pudding. I have several kids who can never get enough of this, and my step-father always gets a container, but it takes a few hours to make, so I don't tackle it too often.

Raw milk is perfect for this. The original recipe uses 8 cups (half a gallon) of milk to a single cup of rice, so the result is ultra rich and creamy and raw milk, with its full-fat content from the layer of cream atop can only add to it. I don't care how bad it is, it's not something we have frequently, so we'll counter it with steam for dinner a couple nights this week.

It may seem a waste to cook with raw milk, but there's more to using raw milk than the mere fact that it hasn't been pasteurized or homogenized, just like there's a point to buying milk directly from a farm that produces it: flavor. I could well purchase whole milk for this right at the local grocery, but there is no denying that the flavor of fresh milk, raw or otherwise, is far superior to that found in the standard dairy case. Besides, only half is used to make this recipe, the rest is consumed straight-up or in cereal where everyone gets the most benefit from it.

If you have the time to do this (a lazy Sunday would be good) give it a try. It takes frequent checking and stirring, but the end result is so worth it, you'll be glad you took the time to make it. This was also posted at Family.com a couple years ago.

Rice Pudding
Serves 8-12
Printable Recipe

1 cup long grain rice
2 cups water
8 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 beaten egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean split and seeds scraped - set aside seeds

Cook the rice in the water following package directions -- this usually means adding the rice to the water, bringing to a brief boil, reducing heat and simmering, covered tighly for 20 minutes until the rice absorbs all the water and is tender.

In a large pot combine the cooked rice, milk and scraped vanilla bean if you're using it. Cook over a very low flame, stirring from time to time (every 10 minutes is good), until all the milk has cooked into the rice. This can take an hour to an hour and a half. You'll also have to skim the top 'skin' that forms each time you stir.

Once the milk is absorbed, remove from the heat, remove the vanilla bean if used and quickly add the beaten egg, stirring constantly so the egg thickens the pudding but does not cook. Stir in the sugar and vanilla seeds or extract until well combined.

Pour into a large flat pan like a 9x13 baking pan. Cool in the refrigerator, covered, for several hours before serving.

Arancini

Lest anyone think I've not been blogging due to lack of inspiration, I present Arancini to thwart those thoughts. I'm full of inspiration, creating like mad lately, but with very few opportunities to photograph and write. I also had a couple nights of 'no cooking' with meals provided by Omaha Steaks from Martin's Aunt Joan - we even had dessert with them - lovely little caramel apple tarts that were perfect with vanilla ice cream. This is the second package from Omaha Steaks from Martin's family; the other was from his cousin Chris. I feel positively spoiled.

This recipe for Arancini is my submission to this month's Royal Foodie Joust. Last month's winner, Núria of Spanish Recipes, offered up tomato, bacon and rice as the three ingredients for this month's Joust. My first thought was rice and beans, but let's face it, that's not exactly a winning entry in such a tough competition unless it's presented in a truly fabulous way - which I don't seem to be very adept at. My second thought was rice balls, but not onigiri, which are wonderful in their own right, but not what I was looking for. I had thought on something more Hispanic in flavor, but Arancini seemed to fill the bill for me.

Normally Arancini is made with leftover risotto, but as my arborio rice had gone missing since the move and I didn't have the energy to head to the store for that single ingredient, I made these with regular long-grain leftover rice. They were just as delicious as the risotto kind and the kids are asking me to make them again very soon.

Arancini
Makes 8
Printable Recipe

4 cups leftover cooked rice OR leftover risotto
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (if you use rice or if the risotto didn't have any added already)
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup cooked and crumbled bacon
8 - 1" cubes mozzarella cheese
2 Tablespoons water
1 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1 cup all-purposed flour
2 cups thick Marinara sauce

Combine rice, 1 egg, Parmesan, salt and crumbled bacon together until well blended.
Form into 8 evenly sized balls. Flatten each slightly and add a cube of cheese to the center of each ball, making sure to wrap the cheese completely within the rice.
Bread each rice ball by dipping in flour, egg wash (the other egg and water mixed well) and then breadcrumbs until well coated. Fry each in deep hot oil until golden brown. Drain well on paper toweling and serve with warm Marinara sauce.

**The consistency of these should be like dough - they should hold their shape easily. If they don't stay together well because they are too dry, try adding another egg to the mixture.

Veggie Wednesday: Sofrito Rice and Beans

Sofrito Rice and Beans

Sofrito is an ingredient that plays a very large role in any type of Hispanic cooking. However, there are two distinct ways of making it; one involves tomatoes and one does not. I've used both and it really depends on my mood as to which will find its way into a dish, but for this dish it was the green sofrito made without tomatoes.

This sofrito is another of those things I made by throwing together the ingredients until it 'looked good'. There is a good recipe for it HERE. I simply tossed green peppers, cilantro, garlic and onion into the blender and chopped it fine. I store mine in the freezer in small batches until needed.

This isn't a typical Hispanic recipe - just something I made for lunch when this was all that I had on-hand.

Sofrito Rice and Beans
Printable Recipe

2 tablespoons oil
1 cup green sofrito
2 cups uncooked rice - rinsed
3 cups cooked pinto beans
4 cups water plus more as needed

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pot and add sofrito. Cook and stir until fragrant. Add rice and toss until well coated with oil and sofrito. Add beans and stir until well mixed. Add 4 cups of water and reduce heat to very low. Cover tightly and check every 5 minutes - stirring to keep rice from sticking. This is completely contrary to the usual method of cooking Puerto Rican rice and beans - that one you want to have stick to the pot!

Add water if necessary and cook with the lid on until the rice is tender. Salt if necessary and serve.

Veggie Wednesday: Mandarin Orange and Cucumber Rice Salad with Orange Blossom Vinaigrette

Rice Salad

This is a dual-purpose recipe; it works perfectly for Veggie Wednesday and is my submission to the Royal Foodie Joust for this month. The ingredients this month were Satsuma (or any other orange citrus) - zest, fruit or juice, shallots and Edible Flowers. I couldn't find anything fresh (don't ever eat edible varieties if they are bought at the florist - check HERE for more tips) and there weren't any dried varieties I wanted to use, so I broke out one of my flower waters - orange blossom this time - and invented this rice salad.

It's very bright and fresh tasting - just like Spring!

Mandarin Orange and Cucumber Rice Salad with Orange Blossom Vinaigrette
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

Vinaigrette:

1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 Tablespoons orange blossom water
1 Tablespoon pomegranate vinegar (or other fruited vinegar)
1/2 cup liquid from canned mandarin oranges
1 shallot - minced
1/2 teaspoon salt


Salad:

2 cups water
1 cup rice
1 shallot - diced finely
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced - about 1 cup
1 small can (11 ounces) mandarin orange segments

Combine vinaigrette ingredients, stir well and let stand in the refrigerator for one hour to blend flavors.

Heat a small saucepan over medium-high heat and add oil. Stir in shallot and rice. Stir well so that rice is well coated with oil. Add water, bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Cover tightly and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until rice is tender. Remove from heat and cool completely. It's important to have the rice cool before adding the vinaigrette so that the rice will not absorb it all.

Toss orange segments and cucumber with vinaigrette and let stand - refrigerated - until rice is cool. When rice is fully cooled, combine with vinaigrette mixture and serve immediately.

Puerto Rican Rice and Beans

Puerto Rican Rice and Beans with Green Olives

I learned how to make Puerto Rican Rice and Beans about 15 years ago. I was in the throes of my culinary education and my husband and I and two small daughters lived next to a lovely Puerto Rican family. Carmello and Brauli were parents to 3 kids of their own and we spent a lot of time trying to bridge the cultural divide. We would teach them English and they would teach us Spanish. Brauli sent food over to us and we would treat them in kind.

They would often have large numbers of family over to visit and each time there was a huge undertaking in the small kitchen they had. Women would converge there - aunts, mothers, cousins, daughters, grandmothers - and they would each take up something that contributed to the large meal they would all share.

The men would head outdoors to play horseshoes or stay in to watch sports on TV; no cultural divide there!

On one of these occasions, Brauli invited me over so I could watch her make rice and beans. There were many questions from me, which she and the other women would try to answer (in between trying to over stuff me on various dishes) as she went along.

The ingredients were not ones I had heard of before and they tried to explain as best they could. My laments of "Shouldn't you stir that?" were met with giggles and choruses of, "No! No! Just put the lid on. Don't touch." Once it was finished, Brauli promised to come to my own kitchen and help me make it there.

I gathered the ingredients as best I could and Brauli came by to show me how to make it for myself. I still had a hard time not stirring, but I got over it quickly.

Other friends of ours, Jose and Henriquetta, made beans and rice with the same method, but different ingredients. Jose always preferred green olives and never used pigeon peas (which were the only beans Brauli used). My daughter Megan's best friend's mom always uses kidney beans. I had a conversation in the ethnic aisle recently with a very sweet Puerto Rican woman who told me she's as shocked as I that certain ingredients are just not available here unless you seek out a small grocer tucked in a side street nearby. We also agreed that the sofrito being sold on the supermarket shelf is not the "real deal".

The one thing that cannot be left out of this dish is sofrito. Sofrito is a sauce used heavily in Hispanic cooking, although it varies from cuisine to cuisine and is used in the Mediterranean, as well. The Mexican version is not the same as the Puerto Rican version, etc. It's also one of those things that everyone has their own recipe for. I can tell you that the Sofrito sold in jars by Goya is not the one you need for this. The sofrito sold in plastic containers in the freezer section is far closer to what is most commonly used - at least here in Pa where we have a very large Hispanic population.

This is the recipe as taught to me by Brauli. It's the one I use time and again, adding ham or shrimp sometimes or tossing in green peppers. I haven't made it with olives myself, but Jose's version was really delicious with them added.

You need a good heavy pot for this. My friends all had calderos (literal meaning is cauldron) for theirs - the aluminum type - but I have a heavy Calphalon aluminum pot I love that works just fine. Make sure you have a tight-fitting lid, as well.

Puerto Rican Rice and Beans
Printable Recipe

2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons sofrito
4 oz tomato sauce
1 packet Sazon (the orange Goya packet - con culantro y achiote)
1 can green pigeon peas - gandules verdes
1 small green pepper - chopped (optional)
1 cup rice - rinsed
1 cup water

Heat the pan over high and add oil. Add sofrito and stir for a minute. Add tomato sauce and stir again. Toss in Sazon, beans and pepper, if using. Now is the time to add other things like olives or ham. Stir in rice and water and cook, stirring often, until the water has almost evaporated completely. Once the rice is dry enough, mound it all in the center of the pot. Turn the heat down as low as possible and put the lid on firmly.

Leave the rice this way until done, about 20 minutes. Do NOT remove the lid to check every 5 minutes or the heat will escape and it will take forever. When the rice is done it's not fluffy like whit rice, it's very al dente and oftentimes a lot of it will stick to the bottom of the pot. This is totally normal! Scrape it up, if you like and serve it. It definitely shouldn't be burned at all, though, so make sure your flame is turned as low as you can get it.



Oil, Sazon, sofrito, tomato sauce and beans.
Added rice.

Added water and green pepper.

Cooked dry and mounded in the center of the pot.

After cooking.


The best part; Ready to eat!

Sunday Dinner

Orange Chicken Breasts
Harvest Rice
Italian Seasoned Green Beans
Popovers
(Our family needs to double the chicken and popover recipes)

Orange Chicken Breasts

2 T margarine
4 boned and skinned chicken breasts
1/2 c chicken broth
1/4 c honey
1/4 c orange juice, frozen concentrate -- thawed
1 T lemon juice
1 T cornstarch
1 t curry powder
Salt and pepper -- to taste
6 orange slices
2 T toasted almonds

In skillet melt butter; brown chicken lightly on both sides; remove
and set aside. Mix together chicken stock, honey and orange juice
concentrate and lemon juice. Blend in cornstarch and curry powder.
Pour into skillet, bring to a boil, stir until thickened. Season to
taste with salt and pepper. Return chicken to skillet and finish
cooking for about 5 minutes. Do not overcook. Arrange chicken on
platter and garnish with orange slices and toasted almond slices.
Spoon sauce over. Serves 4.


Harvest Rice

2 T butter
1/4 c onion, minced
2 ribs celery, including tops-diced
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
1/4 t sage
1/4 t marjoram
1/4 t thyme
1 T red wine vinegar
1/4 c green onion tops, minced
3 c cooked long-grain rice
1/4 c chopped pecans
1/4 c parsley, chopped
1/4 c Parmesan

Heat butter in a large skillet. Saute onion and celery until soft. Add
mushrooms, sage, marjoram, thyme and vinegar. Simmer over low heat 10
minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine vegetable mixture with green
onions and rice. Stir in nuts. Spread in an ovenproof casserole. Sprinkle
with parsley and cheese. Bake 15 mins or until heated through. Serves 6-8.


Italian Seasoned Green Beans

1 lb fresh green beans, cleaned
2-3 T olive oil
1 t oregano
1 t basil
1 clove minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
OR
1 T Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb in place of garlic, oregano and basil

Heat large skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and garlic (or Mrs. Dash) and green beans.

Saute until the beans are tender-crisp. Add oregano and basil and toss until combined well. Add salt and pepper and serve.


Popovers

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 T cooking oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

In mixing bowl, beat ingredients together until just smooth (batter
will be thin). Place a well-greased 3 1/2-inch muffin or popover pan
in a 450º F oven for 3 minutes, or until a drop of water sizzles
when dropped it is dropped in the pan. Remove pan from oven and fill
each cup half full with batter. Bake in a 450º F oven for 15
minutes. Reduce heat to 350º F and continue to bake 20 to 25 minutes
longer. A few minutes before removing them from the oven, prick each
popover with a fork to release steam. Serve immediately. Makes 6
popovers.