Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Teriyaki Pork Chops

As I've told just about everyone, I have an ulcer. Because of this, I have to be careful. Luckily, this was perfect. I prefer to make my own teriyaki sauce, but bottled is just fine, too.

To make my teriyaki sauce, combine about a cup of soy sauce, a small can of pineapple juice, about two Tablespoons of crystallized ginger, a pinch of arrowroot powder, and the juice of half a lemon. Cook this on medium-high heat until the sauce has a syrupy consistency. Pour it over the top of your meat, in this case pork chops, and let it marinate at least three hours.

Heat your grill, pour some of the marinade over the top of the pork, and cook until the pork is cooked through, about five minutes per side.

I served this with mashed potatoes I made with cream, unsweetened almond milk, butter, garlic powder, salt, and rosemary, and corn. Will and I both loved the pork chops, and the mashed potatoes were perfect. The meat was marinated just long enough that the fat pretty much dissolved.

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Fettuccine With Grilled Vegetables: Good, But I Made a Mistake

Since it's summer, I decided it would be time to grill some vegetables. This recipe is a good one, but I made a mistake that made it taste less than great. I will explain below.

First, chop up an eggplant and a bell pepper and skewer the pieces in a pattern along with eight ounces of crimini mushrooms. Set this aside.

Combine half a cup of dry white wine, a quarter cup of water, a Tablespoon of arrowroot, tarragon, and dried basil. Put this on high heat and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly. Cook a minute or two longer and remove from the heat. Brush the skewers with the sauce you just made and cover the rest to keep it warm.

Put the skewers on a heated grill and cook until it's browned on all sides. Meanwhile, cook fettuccine according to the package directions.

Once everything is ready, put the pasta on a plate, toss the sauce you set aside with the pasta, add the vegetables, and top with grated mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

The mistake I made was in tossing the pasta in the sauce too soon; needless to say, the pasta absorbed the sauce and glombed together. I added olive oil to help un-stick the pasta, but that made it taste really funky because evidently, the sauce I used mixed with the vegan pasta I used and the olive oil resulted in an odd flavor. However, other than that, it was decent enough for my liking.