Roasted Pork Chops with Rosmary and Sage Potatoes

In case you are tired of Rachel Ray, I thought I would bring you back to Katie Van Sloten original recipes for a few posts.  Our local Hyvee often has a wonderful sale on Iowa cut porkchops, and I usually snatch a few up when they do  These are huge porkchops cut extremely thick.  They weigh 12 ounces each and are generally one inch thick.  Dustin who used to not be a fan of pork loves it when I make these.  It is down home midwestern taste taken up a notch.  This recipe serves two ( if you can eat the whole chop!)

INGREDIENTS

2 thick cut bone in pork chops (10-12 ounces each)
olive oil
rubbed dalmation sage
rosemary
salt
pepper
2 extra large cloves of garlic or 4-6 small cloves
1/2 of a red onion
3-4 small yellow or red potatoes

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drizzle with olive oil. Thinly slice potatoes and onion to about 1/4 inch in width.  Scatter potatoes and onions on parchment paper and mix them with olive oil until lightly coated.  Push potatoes/onions to the outer rim of baking sheet so there is room to sit the chops in the middle.  Lightly coat both sides of chops with olive oil. Place in the center of pan.  Season all ingredients liberally with salt, pepper, rosemary and sage.   Rub the spices into the pork on both sides.   Finally, smash one large garlic clove, cut it in fourths and place two bits on top of each chop.  With the remaining clove, thinly slice it and scatter over the potatoes and onions. Place in middle of oven and cook for 35- 40 minutes.  Although it might be tempting to, there is no need to turn anything - even the potatoes.  The happily roast to perfection with no turning.

Here is a before picture so you can get an idea of how everything goes on the pan and the amount of seasoning.  Sorry - I dont measure seasonings -  I just eyeball them.

And here is the after.  If you wanted your chops to have a nicer restaurant style crust you could sear them quickly in a pan before hand, but this will alter the cooking time slightly and potatoes need the full 35-40 minutes.

Mango, pork, and watercress Salad - Meal #2

I love these make ahead meals,  but ehhhh...  this one is just okay.  In my opinion, it has way too many calories to be a worth it.  This salad also left me wanting more taste, which is sad given the fat content.  It wasn't bad, but for me it was a bit boring.  Next time I make it, I am substituting an orange juice based dressing to give it some more zest.  That or I will use a light salad dressing from the store to cut down on the fat content.  This recipe also calls for mangos, but I substituted plums after cutting into my mango and realized it was not ripe yet.  The plums paired well with the pork too.. but I think the Mango would have been the best selection.  This recipe is basically Rachel Ray's.  I changed the amounts of honey and EVOO.  No serving size is given on this recipe, but I believe it should serve two.  It could serve 4-6 as a side dish.

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp honey
3 tbsp EVOO
salt and pepper
1 cup Pulled Pork
7 cups watercress (5oz)
1 mango, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

In a large bowl, whisk together lime juice, honey, and EVOO.  Season with 1/4 tsp salt.  Add pork and toss.  Add watercress, mango, bell pepper and shallot; season with salt and pepper.  Toss, then sprinkle with almonds.

Weight Watchers Points= 18.5 for one serving (seves two) 

 

Rachel Ray's Building Blocks #1 and # 2 for Make Ahead Meals

Every recipe that Rachel gives for her twenty make ahead meals are made from one of five major ingredients.  They are Pulled Pork, Tomato Sauce, Roasted Veggies, Pulled Chicken, and Rice Pilaf.  Pick a day where you will have several hours to devote to cooking these ingredient building blocks for your recipes.  You will cook them all and then freeze them.  It took me about 6 hours.  If you have a friend or spouse that is willing to help, it would cut the prep time down considerably.  Next time, I will definitely be enlisting my husband Dustin for help.  And can I just say that these building blocks taste amazing!!!   You could totally use them in a variety of recipes... not just Rachel's. These recipes are straight from her September magazine... if you haven't gotten it yet  - do it!     http://www.rachaelraymag.com/

Pulled Pork

10 pounds of pork shoulder roast, cut into 2-3 inch chunks, fat trimmed
6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup white wine
salt and pepper

Rub garlic, zest and salt and pepper into pork.  Divide into two roasting pans and cook until top side is browned in a 450 degree oven.  Turn pork over to other side and cook until browned, about 15 minutes.  Combine the all the pork into one pan.  Turn heat down to 325 degrees.  Add wine and any remaining juices from other pan to the pork.  Cover tightly with foil.  Roast for 1 hour and 45 minutes.  Let cool for at least 15 minutes.  Then take two forks and shred pork. 

Divide pork into 1 cup portions and place in freezer bags.  Makes about 15 cups.

Weight Watcher points= 16 pts per cup

Tomato Sauce

1/4 cup EVOO
8 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
6 oil packed anchovy fillets, chopped (optional) - I left them out, just added  more salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 cup red wine
4 cans crushed San Marzano tomatoes (28 oz)
salt

In a dutch oven, combine the EVOO, garlic, anchovies and crushed red pepper.  Cook over medium heat till garlic is golden.  Add the wine and tomatoes.  Bring ingredients to a boil and boil for ten minutes.  Partially cover and simmer for 2 hours and 15 minutes.  Add salt to taste.

After cooled,  freeze two bags holding one cup, and the rest holding two cups.    Makes about 10 cups

Weight Watchers points= 2 pts/cup