Chops

We were going to make ton katsu don, but by the time we got back from a long, hard day of abuse from teenagers and staff meetings and fellowship meetings, it just wasn't in the cards.

This was a super quick recipe for chops. Pork chops were about an inch thick, so not too big. Lots of salt and pepper, oregano, allspice on both sides, brown, then roast until the thermometer says 145 in the middle. Perched atop some wilted watercress and crispy chopped bacon. Everything gets done in one pan: first brown the chops, then brown the bacon while those are in the oven, add the greens and garlic, a little vinegar, salt/pepp. Take everything out and reduce some chicken stock, mustard, vinegar, salt/pepper/oregano in the same pan and make a little puddle there on the side of the plate. Brown rice too.

Maybe 30 mins cooking time -- not bad for a Monday night.

ref

getting in some carbs

Sometimes I will go for a while without having a solid CARB. Yes, I know, carbs are everywhere. But you know what I mean -- the fat part of the food pyramid. And it was one of those days where I'd been walking around a lot, applying my brain to term papers, realizing suddenly that I need to EAT SOME FOOD. Anyway, when this happens I like to really do it up and make my own pasta, but I am ashamed to say that I wasn't in a real position to do this, so I went whole wheat dried. There were a couple of shrimps in the freezer, so I decided to do a sauce with those. Something about today was also screaming greens to me, so I picked up some arugula, along with asparagus, mushrooms, and shallots.

For Vanessa: A recipe, kind of. This could probably feed 4, 3 if they are mostly boys, or 2 really really hungry people who have been writing term papers all day.

1 bunch arugula, leaves cut down to half size
1/2 bunch of asparagus, tough ends snapped off and cut into thirds
2 shallots, minced
a handful of mushrooms, sliced
Maybe 4 or 5 shrimps, peeled and cut in half lengthwise (like butterflying them but cutting all the way through)
1/2 lb whole wheat pasta - spaghetti or whatever you want
a couple drizzles of olive oil, just enough to put a film on the bottom of your pan
fresh ground pepper to taste
salt to taste
fresh grated parmesan cheese to taste
about a shot of vodka
8 oz of tomato sauce

Get the pasta to al dente stage, drain and rinse.

Heat up a pan and add oil. Add shallots, let cook on a medium-low heat until soft, about 8 minutes. Add asparagus, swish around for a minute, then add mushrooms, swish for another minute. Toss in vodka and raise heat up to medium. Let the veggies simmer for about another minute and then add the tomato sauce. Add a few twists of black pepper and a shake of salt. At this point, if you want the sauce a little creamy, you could add some dairy. Reduce heat a touch, cover with a little venting, and let simmer for... I don't know... until delicious and reduced to a saucy consistency.

At this point, toss in the shrimps. When they just start to get pink, add arugula and push everything around until the shrimps are all the way pink and the arugula is wilted. This should barely take a minute since the shrimps have been thinned out and you don't want them to get tough, and the arugula should just barely be wilted and still bright green.

Reduce head to med-low and add the pasta and a few gratings of cheese, folding until nicely incorporated and the noodles cooked the rest of the way.

Serve in bowls with a little more fresh pepper.

The end!

That wasn't so bad...