Center Cut Pork Chops w/Tomato based Sauce

Today before I went out for my NFL team's game, I decided that Pork Chops in the afternoon was a great idea! After creating that sauce the other day for my Short Ribs, I thought that a sauce would be a great idea.

Ingredients:

For the Chops
2 Center Cut Pork Chops
Fennel Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Ancho Chili Powder
Aleppo Chili Powder
Garlic Salt
Ground Black Pepper
0.5 stick Butter

For the Sauce
2 Anaheim Peppers
2 Tomatoes
3 Carrots
4 Scallions
2 White Onions
Ancho Chili Powder
Aleppo Pepper Powder
Turmeric Powder
Sweet Paprika
2 cup Cabernet Sauvignon Red Wine
1 cup Vegetable Broth
0.5 cup Red Wine Vinegar
0.5 cup Lime Juice
Fresh Oregano

Alright, so this recipe is very split up between the sauce and the Pork Chops themselves.

The sauce was created by getting the ingredients together first.

I then diced up the Anaheim Peppers, Scallions, and Carrots. I put these in the saucepan along with the Cabernet Sauvignon and Vegetable Broth. I also added the Lime Juice and Red Wine Vinegar at this point.

I then turned the heat to HIGH-MEDIUM and diced up the White Onions and Tomatoes and added them in, along with a sprinkling of fresh Oregano.

I then turned to the Pork Chops. I had the spice mix I used on the Short Ribs the other day pre-prepared so I spooned it out and added it to the Chops. In case you don't want to go look it up, it's roughly 1 spoonful of each ingredient with 2 spoonfuls of the Ancho Powder.

Using a large saucepan, I put in the Butter and let it mostly melt. Once it was at that point, I added in the Pork Chops spice side down. One spoonful of the spice mix went on top.

After about 2 minutes, I flipped the Pork Chops. They aren't that thick so they cook quite quickly.

About 2 minutes after that, the sauce should be almost done. I took everything but the liquid out and put it into a blender. I then pureed the mix for 1 minute. Then poured back into the liquid from before and heated to boiling. Shut it off at that point and stir together.

Your Pork Chops should be done about the time you turn off that Blender. Take them off and put them on a plate to serve. Add the sauce once you are done. Enjoy.

Beef Short Ribs in Sauce

A couple months ago I went out to Winslow's Wine Cafe here in Fort Worth, TX. If you are local and have not gone, you should seriously make a point of it to go there. It is not just wine, but has an amazing menu of items that I cannot get enough of. That place is also the inspiration for this recipe as I had a Buffalo Short Ribs dish off of their menu. It was delicious!

Ingredients:

For the Sauce:
2 White Onions, diced
2.5 cups Cabernet Sauvignon
0.25 cup Lime Juice
1 cup Vegetable Broth
Ancho Chili Powder
1 small can Tomato Sauce

For the Short Ribs:
1 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
0.5 cup Vegetable Broth
Fennel Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Ancho Chili Powder
Aleppo Chili Powder
Garlic Salt
Ground Black Pepper
0.5 cup Olive Oil

Alright, we're going to split this recipe up between making the sauce and cooking the short ribs themselves so as to avoid confusion.

The Sauce

I began this by dicing up my 2 White Onions by hand.

I then put a large saucepan on the stovetop and turned the heat to medium. In went the Cabernet Sauvignon and Lime Juice. I stirred that together and added in the Vegetable Broth.

After that, I added in the small can of Tomato Sauce I had.

I stirred that together and once it began to boil, I added in the diced White Onions.

Mix together so all of the Onions get covered in the mixture.

Leave the heat on medium. I chose to cover it, however I don't think you really need to do that. About 10 minutes later, this is what it looks like:

Looks tasty to me. I know you're wondering where the Ancho Chili Powder is...well I added it about 15 minutes into it cooking. I did this so it did not overpower the other flavors and instead complemented them.

Now I let it cook for about 30 minutes. Might have been closer to 45, so just do what feels right. I then turned the heat off and let it cool for 5 minutes. I spooned out the onions with a slotted spoon and put them in a blender to puree the Onions. I then poured the puree back into the pan and let it cook on medium low for 10 minutes. Then it's done. Feel free to taste!

Beef Short Ribs

Alright, the focal point of our meal. I have never cooked Short Ribs before, so I was somewhat hesitant about cooking these. The only real thing I had to go on was my experience with Baby Back Ribs and looking at a recipe online. I sort of followed it but I would say 90% of this recipe is all me.

I began by mixing my spice mix together. I have no perfect amounts listed as I just poured them out of their containers or bags. Everything was about even with a little more emphasis on Garlic Salt and Fennel Powder. I knew the sauce would almost overpower this mix, so I included that Ancho Chili Powder here as well. I used about a 1/2 cup of spice mix all together.

After mixing it together in a mixing bowl, I poured it into a saucepan that already had a 1/2 cup of Olive Oil. I used a spoon I had to mix the oil and spices together.

I then put the Short Ribs in meat side down and bone side up. I did this because I wanted that side to get a good cooking to start off with. I also added in 0.5 cups of Cabernet Sauvignon. Save the rest for later on.

About 10 minutes later I flipped them over to bone side down.

I let them cook this way for about 15 minutes.

More flipping them over! See how the thin layer of meat/fat/connective tissue there started to pull away, that is what I was going for.

Now I let them cook for awhile, noticing that the mixture was drying up...

So I added the rest of the Cabernet Sauvignon.

Alright, every about 5 minutes I turned them onto their sides to get a good even cook all over.

After doing that twice, I turned to the sauce. The sauce should be pureed and back in the pan cooking by now. I put the Short Ribs in there and coated with sauce.

I then flipped them and let them cook for 3 minutes.

Turn off the heat and pluck those delicious Short Ribs out and onto a plate to serve. I added a good serving of the sauce with because I think it is the way to serve them. Also, chopped up a Scallion for garnishing purposes. Enjoy.

Chef's Original: Spiced Okra Onion Soup

This was just sort of thrown together after work today when I got home. I heard some amazing news about an issue in my life and decided that I would cook to celebrate. Well this is the result.

Ingredients:
12 Okra
4 Scallions
9 Boiler Onions
1/2 stick Butter
1 cup Sherry
1/2 cup Lime Juice
1/4 cup Teriyaki Sauce
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Olive Oil
Ground Black Pepper
Ground Turmeric
Sea Salt
Fennel Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Paprika
Italian Herb Mix
Shredded Asiago Cheese

Alright, I began by gathering some of my ingredients. I don't say all because some just happened to be in arms reach and found their way into this recipe.

Next I threw the Butter into the large saucepan I use for almost everything.

I chopped up the white portions of the Scallions. I then chopped the Boiler Onions in half. Now, this is where I turned the heat to MEDIUM for the Butter.

Once the Butter was mostly melted, I added in the spices. Just a heavy pinch or two of each and maybe a little more Ground Black Pepper than that. Then I tossed in the Scallions and Boiler Onions.

Mix them up!

Once they were going strong, I sliced up the Okra and threw that into the saucepan. Stir.

Once the Boiler Onions are noticeably soft and caramelized everything should be done so turn the heat off.

I chose to plate this dish in a new bowl I picked up the other day and decorate the edging on it with some hot sauce making a pattern. I topped it off with a sprinkle of Italian Herb Mix and Shredded Asiago Cheese. Enjoy.

Chef's Original: Zesty Sauce on Farfalle

Now, this was a spur of the moment dish when I was digging through the fridge looking for stuff to cook today. I had all the ingredients and thought that they would make a great sauce for pasta.

Ingredients:
2 LG Tomatoes
1 Sm Tomato
1 cup Basil Leaves
2 White Onions
6 Scallions
5 Carrots
Italian Herb Mix
Ground Cumin/Coriander
Cayenne Chili Powder
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Fennel Powder
Turmeric Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Dry Sherry
Olive Oil
Teriyaki Sauce
Soy Sauce

This dish began by gathering the ingredients.

Now, I took the Basil Leaves and cut them up into smaller pieces. Along with the Carrots I chopped up into small pieces, go into the deep saucepan.

Step 2 of this was to add in the diced Scallions and diced White Onions. Make sure there is air flow cause the Onions make you tear up and that's no good when you are using a knife.

Step 3 is dicing up the Tomatoes. They don't have to be that small of pieces since everything gets pureed later on.

Now put the saucepan on the stove and turn the heat to MEDIUM. Pour in about a half cup of Olive Oil. Add a good quarter cup of the Teriyaki Sauce and Soy Sauce too.

Then season it. I did a dusting of the Fennel Powder, Fenugreek Powder, Turmeric Powder, and Ground Black Pepper. The Cayenne Chili Powder measured about a 1/3 of a spoonful. Too much of that will make the sauce too spicy, so do that if you dare! I added a couple of pinches of the Italian Herb Mix coupled with 3 spoonfuls of the Ground Cumin/Coriander mix.

Then mix together thoroughly. Add in your 1/4 cup of Dry Sherry as well. Mix again.

Now it should take a good 5 to 7 minutes for it to be done cooking. It should be mostly mushy and soft when it is done cooking. The carrots might still be hard, but that's of little consequence.

Turn the heat off and grab your blender or food processor. Pour the contents you just cooked up into the blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. I used a blender and had to do it in 2 batches. I served on some Farfalle Pasta. I did not include how to cook the Farfalle Pasta here since it's easy to cook. You also might know it as Bowtie Pasta.

I plated the Farfalle Pasta with a healthy serving of this Zesty Sauce on top. A garnish of a pinch of Shredded Asiago Cheese topped it off. Enjoy.