Miso Marinated Pork Chops

By marinating the meat in miso for a few days, the meat gets tender and flavorful. They can keep in freezer until you are ready to cook. 

With a side of pear cherry pecan coleslaw.

Miso Marinated Pork Chops

4 pieces pork chops
1 olive oil
1 Tbsp miso paste
1 Tbsp sake
1 Tbsp mirin
1 tsp sugar
2 cloves garlic, grated
Sprinkles Japanese chili peppers

Miso paste

In a Ziploc bag, combine everything except for pork chops and mix well. Add pork chops and coat them well. Squeeze the air out of the bag and keep in the fridge for a few days. Gently wipe off excess marinade and cook them on a skillet with a drizzle of olive oil. Sprinkle chili peppers on top before serving.

Make small cuts on fat so they don't shrink too much when cooking.

Marinating...

I marinated the meat for four days. They were so tender and flavorful. Miso paste can easily burn on a skillet, so make sure to cook the meat with medium/low heat and keep an eye on it. Also, after browning the meat, I covered the skillet with a lid to steam-cook the meat to make sure they were cooked all the way through.

Cooked at med heat on a skillet

Check out the recipe for this Pear Cherry Pecan Coleslaw.

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Melting Away

We breathed a sigh of relief today when we saw some ice starting to melt. The truck that was abandoned in front of our house is still here, but I'm sure it will be picked up soon. The sun feels good.

Neighbor's snowman. Love the scarf.

The sun is bright today.

The sound of water dripping is music to my ears!

I hope it reunites with its owner soon....

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Frozen City

Yesterday's storm completely paralyzed Atlanta. I have never seen anything like it. People have been stranded in traffic for 20 hours, some abandoned their cars, others could not come home last night. Not until the times like this do I think about how depended we are on driving. I wish we had subway systems in Atlanta....

Imagine being in this for 20 hours.

Abandoning their car and walking on the Interstate...

Gridlock on the Interstates in Atlanta shown in red. This lasted for many hours.

Abandoned truck in our front yard.

A guy knocked on our door last night and asked me if he could just leave his truck in our front yard because he couldn't get up on the hilly street. He had to walk to wherever he had to from here. It was 12 degrees outside. I don't know when he can come back for his truck. It doesn't look promising out there this morning, either.

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Snow Day in the South

We don't do well in snow in the south. We just don't get snow often enough, so we don't know how to drive in snow, we don't know how to walk in snow. Traffic is a mess, schools are closed. Our dog enjoyed it, though. 

"Hey! What are you doing to my yard!"

"I gotta check out my premises!"

Paw prints on fresh snow

"Bushes...check!"

"Water hose...check!"

"Everything's checked out, mommy!"

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Smoked Salmon Yogurt Dip

Welcome to my "semi-homemade" cooking time! I just found something interesting at the grocery store, so I wanted to take it up a notch and make it more interesting.

Goes well with cucumber slices also.

Smoked Salmon Yogurt Dip

1 Oikos Greek yogurt dip, 12 oz.
1 cup smoked salmon trimmings, chopped
1 Tbsp onion, minced or grated
1 Tbsp capers
1 Tbsp dry dills, I like lots of dill. 
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything and put a dollop on your favorite crackers or vegetable sticks.

Yay for Greek yogurt!

Nova lox trimmings

Mix them all up.

Lemon zest makes it taste clean and fresh.

Now how easy was that?

The dip tastes better the next day since the flavors marry together over time. Smoked salmon can be expensive but when they sell them as trimmings, I always grab them because they are so much cheaper. (And they taste just as good!) Make it part of your Super Bowl party!

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Kale and Spaghetti Squash

I keep my bag of kale in freezer for smoothies. It keeps for weeks, and it blends nicely in blender that way. But I also want to make one dish out of the fresh bag before freezing it. 

Nutty and fragrant from the roasted pistachio oil. 

Kale and Spaghetti Squash

1 spaghetti squash
2 cups kale
1/4 red onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, smashed
2 Tbsp Trader Joe's Roasted Pistachio Oil
1 tsp red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Sprinkles nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut spaghetti squash in halt and bake cut side down for 50 minutes on a foiled cookie sheet that's been sprayed with PAM or olive oil. Cool and scoop out the squash in a bowl. 

Squash comes right out of the shells.

In a skillet, warm up 1 Tbsp roasted pistachio oil and cook garlic and onions until fragrant. Add kale and cook for another few minutes, adding red wine vinegar, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add the kale mixture to the squash and drizzle 1 Tbsp roasted pistachio oil. Toss to mix well in a bowl. 

Don't cook it to death, just enough to get wilted slightly. 

This oil smells and tastes soooo good!

Drizzle more pistachio oil! MMM!

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Honey Dijon Kale

I get psyched when I find a good recipe for side dishes. Side dishes are often so boring, but this recipe on the back of a packaged kale was really delicious. I made a few changes, but this kale is sweet and tangy, I feel like I can eat a whole bowl of it.

Rosemary roasted chicken on a bed of honey dijon kale

Honey Dijon Kale

4 cups kale, cut
1/4 red onion, sliced
1 clove, garlic
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp honey
1 Tbsp Trader Joe's Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar
1 Tbsp white wine
1/4 cup water
1/2 cube chicken bullion
Sprinkle nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet, warm garlic in olive oil until fragrant and add onions. Add mustard, honey, vinegar, water, chicken bullion, salt and pepper and mix. 

The rest of the bag is going to be frozen for smoothies.

This is what makes it extra special.

Use Grey Poupon, if you have it. Tastes better.

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Fluffy Egg Rice Bowl

Here is a dish you can make with just one egg and leftover rice. I seasoned it with the things I always keep in my pantry. It only takes a couple of minutes to make it, and it tastes so comforting.

Simple and comforting

Fluffy Egg Rice Bowl

1/2 to 1 cup cooked five grain rice
1 egg
1/3 cup noodle dipping sauce
Scallions for garnish
Sprinkle Japanese chili pepper 
Sprinkle tempura batter crunch

Noodle dipping sauce. Dilute it according to the directions on the bottle.

Tempura sprinkles

Prepare cooked rice in a rice bowl and set aside. In a small skillet, bring noodle dipping sauce to a boil. Pour beaten egg in the dipping sauce and put the lid on. Cook for a minute or until the egg is cooked to your liking. Slide out the cooked egg and the sauce on top of the rice. Garnish with chili pepper, tempura sprinkles and scallions.

Five grain rice. Lots of fiber.

Bring the sauce to a boil.

Use the smallest skillet you have.

Fluffy!

Makes good lunch or even breakfast. If you want to volume this up, you can add cooked chicken and sliced onions. If you like the tempura flavor, you'll enjoy this. 

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