Food & Drink

I'm Chris - or Christopher - or Mr. Dean - or Master Christopher - or just plain Sir. I'm a self-professed foodie. I love to cook and I take great pleasure in all things edible. My husband and I are relatively new to Portland, Oregon and are enjoying our culinary explorations of the area!



Food is NOT just fuel!



Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Pork Chops, Green Beans & Mashed Potato & Cauliflower


I have an obsession with potatoes.  There, I admitted it.  I just love them.  Fried, baked, mashed, in a soup, steamed...that starchy goodness does me in every time.  So last night's meal started with the fact that I wanted mashed potatoes.  Funny, or sad?  Don't judge me.

YET - I remembered an experiment I did once that turned out fantastically: mashed potatoes and cauliflower.  Sounds a little odd, but the result is delicious.  You get the starchy potato-ness and some great flavor from the cauliflower.  If you like cauliflower, that is.  So from there it was easy to complete a meal - I wanted a green vegetable (green beans were everywhere) and some protein (pork chops called my name like Sirens on the sea).

Green Beans - I used about a pound (snipped off the ends).  I also got a small bunch of spring onions thinking I'd jazz up the green beans.  I sliced the entire bunch of spring onions along with two cloves of garlic (sliced).  I softened them up in some olive oil & salt, and then tossed in the green beans and a big handful of sliced almonds.  Great side dish!


The pork chops were really nice - and so simple.  First I pulled them out of the fridge and sprinkled them with salt, pepper, cumin (I call it the sweaty spice - come on, it smells a little like sweat), and paprika.  I heated up a touch of olive oil in a pan, and dropped in the chops.  They cooked for about 6-8 minutes each side until cooked through.  They were seared on the outside and moist in the middle - perfect.

And the mash - 2-3 potatoes (chopped) and 1 small head of cauliflower (chopped) into a pot of boiling water.  Cook until the potatoes are really tender.  Drain, and put back into the pot.  I added about 3 Tbl. butter, and maybe 1/3 cup milk - as well as a good amount of salt and some white pepper.  Mash the crap out of them and serve.

4 comments:

  1. I personally think "Mash The Crap Out of Them and Serve" would be a fabulous name for a cook book.

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  2. I love the smell of cumin and never thought it smelled like sweat, until you mentioned it. Now I will think of that everytime I use it, lol. Thanks!

    Barb

    Btw, everytime you put up a new recipe I always end up thinking "that's what I want for dinner". That's a compliment to your cooking and your photography!

    Barb

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  3. @Holly - I love it! So now we have a cookbook and a television cooking show ready to go!

    @Barb - thanks so much! I love my camera, and often times it loves me. It's the lighting in my kitchen that makes me want to spit nails...but so far I'm overcoming it. :)

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  4. @Barb - I don't think cumin smells BAD, I actually really like the smell. It's a good, clean sweat. Haha

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