Jamaican Pork Chops with Snow Pea Succotash

I decided to make this recipe because of one tiny, little pepper. I was experiencing a craving for something Caribbean-flavored, and I just so happened to have a beautiful habanero pepper that needed using. Suddenly, inspiration struck and I knew I was destined to make Jamaican Pork Chops. It's been a while since I've used those flavors, and we love them so much. Plus, these pork chops were hanging around in my freezer and could stand to be cooked already.



I gathered the ingredients for my marinade based on several different recipes, ones that I can't even quite remember just now. The flavors were fantastic, I thought. There was some great sweet/tangy/fiery marriage going on there. Unfortunately, I kinda overcooked my meat. I took it out of the oven just as it was nearly done, but then I threw it back in for another minute or two, and sort of forgot about it. Five or six minutes later, I took the meat out again, only to find that it was a bit crispy around the edges. Oh, well. It was still good! It was just a bit dry, but as I said, the flavors were enough to salvage the whole thing.

To serve with the chops, I made a simple pot of Israeli couscous, along with a quick Snow Pea Succotash that I found in one of my Rachael Ray cookbooks. I took a couple of liberties with her master recipe, and I really liked it. It is also a clever way to use up the other half of the lime you use for the pork chops! Waste not, want not!




Boneless Jamaican Pork Chops
adapted from various recipes
makes 4 chops

Ingredients
4 (6-7 ounce) boneless pork chops, trimmed of excess fat
1 medium habanero pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
1/2 lime, zest and juice
2 Tbsp. dark brown sugar
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. ground thyme
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. onion powder

Directions
1. In a large, resealable Ziploc bag, place the pork chops. In a medium bowl, stir together all the remaining ingredients, then pour the marinade into the bag. Close the bag and shake it up so the marinade coats the chops. Stick the bag in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before broiling.

2. Once you are done marinading, preheat the broiler. On a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil, place a cooling rack. Using tongs, extract each pork chop from the marinade bag, allowing the liquid to drip off. Place the chops on the cooling rack-covered baking sheet.

3. Broil the pork chops for 5 minutes per side, then allow them to cook for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until the juices run clear. Rest the meat for 5 minutes before serving.


Snow Pea Succotash
adapted from Rachael Ray
makes 4 servings

Ingredients
8 oz. (about 2 1/2 cups) snow peas, trimmed and chopped into bite-size pieces
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced
3 ears corn on the cob, kernels removed (you can also use thawed frozen corn)
1/2 yellow onion, sliced thinly
2 tsp. vegetable oil
1/2 lime, juice and zest
2 tsp. hot sauce, such as Sriracha
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions
1. In a medium skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the snow peas and cook for about 2 minutes, tossing frequently. Add the bell pepper, corn, and onion, and cook for another 7 minutes or so, until the veggies are crisp-tender. Remove from the heat.

2. Transfer the veggies to a serving dish. Sprinkle in the lime zest and juice, the hot sauce, and salt and pepper. Toss well before serving.

CEIMB: Aromatic Pork Stew with Butternut Squash

It's time for Craving Ellie in My Belly again, and this one is really a treat. Kayte of Grandma's Kitchen Table chose the Aromatic Beef Stew with Butternut Squash, from Ellie's So Easy cookbook. Although I do not eat beef, I knew that it would be simple enough to sub in pork for the beef. I do that quite frequently, and I always have good results. This stew is an interesting spin on an old standby. Ellie takes beef and browns it up briefly before removing it and setting it aside. Then, onions are cooked up with a bit of ginger and garlic, and then tomato sauce, broth, butternut squash, and a medley of warm spices are added into the pot. The beef goes back in, and then you let everything simmer away until the squash is nice and tender and the meat is fully cooked through. The stew is served on a bed of couscous and then garnished with chopped almonds and parsley (I didn't have parsley, though).

Because I had a ton of stuff to do the day I made this, I decided to brush the dust off the slow cooker and make the stew in there. It came together just perfectly. I browned my pork in a skillet, then briefly cooked the onions and garlic in its juices. I transferred everything to the slow cooker, along with the other stew ingredients, and turned the power on to the low setting. About 5 hours later, I had the most fragrant and tasty dinner! All I had to do was cook up some couscous and I was golden. I went with Israeli couscous for this (the big, pearl-shaped couscous) and mixed half white, half whole wheat. I loved this! It was warming, satisfying, and absolutely essential on the rainy evening we ate it.

Best of all, I realized just how much I like butternut squash! I haven't really worked with it much, and now I wonder why. I thought it was a great alternative to plain old potatoes in the stew, and it really enhanced the whole exotic feel of the dish.

Thank you, Kayte! I am so grateful to you for choosing this. Often when looking through Ellie's cookbooks, I just skip right past the beef dishes since I do not cook or eat it. Now I realize I should be giving them a second glance, because if I am able to substitute other proteins in place of the beef, I can find hidden gem recipes such as this one! If you'd like the full recipe, check it out over here. And for the CEIMB blogroll, click on over here.

CEIMB: Chicken Sliders with Warm Tomato-Corn Salad (and Israeli Couscous)

This week, Craving Ellie in My Belly is making Chicken with Warm Tomato-Corn Salad, chosen by Danica of Danica's Daily. I decided to deviate just a bit from Ellie's original recipe this time. I took a look at the chicken part of the recipe and decided I wanted to jazz things up a little. I love a simple piece of grilled chicken just as much as the next healthy-eating gal, but I took this opportunity to put a yummy rotisserie chicken to good use. I'll be using half my (albeit slightly anti-healthy) store-bought chicken for another meal this week, so I decided the other half would make some very delicious barbecue pulled chicken sliders.

As for the tomato-corn salad portion of the recipe, I didn't change a thing! This was so fresh, so bright, so colorful and flavorful and just perfect. I was fortunate enough to be able to use home-grown corn (thanks again to Andy's parents!) that was so sweet and tender, it was hard not to just eat it by the cob. The cherry tomatoes were fantastic; as I've been saying on my blog for a little while now, I have really come to embrace them when they are cooked exactly this way.

The cilantro was just enough pop for me, the lime juice was a welcome taste of acid, and as for the avocado...well, everybody enjoyed it but me! I have tried (and failed) in the past to like avocado, but so far I can only eat it if it is blended into something else. I guess I like the flavor, but not the texture. I'm admittedly weird when it comes to food textures, and I'm working on it! This group really does help with that. Look at me and tomatoes, BFFs now!

Anyway, we decided to serve the avocado alongside everything in slices. I heard that the slices were really good on the pulled chicken sandwiches, too. For my other side dish, I served a simple pilaf of Israeli couscous (a favorite around here) that went over well. My mother in-law had never eaten this before, and she loved it. We like introducing people to Israeli couscous, because everyone seems to enjoy it once they've had it. It's sort of a cross between regular, smaller couscous, pearled barley, and orzo. It's easy to make and so versatile! If you ever find it in your grocery store, I highly recommend giving it a try.

But back to the Warm Tomato-Corn Salad! It was a huge hit at our dinner table; even "the picky one" devoured it without a single complaint. That right there speaks volumes about this dish. I mean, it was veggies, and it was embraced by my 4 year-old! Thanks again, Ellie, and thank you, Danica, for the great pick! It was summery and perfect!

You can find the full recipe, complete with Danica's fun Cajun variation on the chicken, on her blog, here.

Caribbean Chicken Drumsticks with Asparagus and Radish Salad

I can hardly believe this, but I made this over a month ago and then forgot to write a post about it! This is actually a pretty unforgettable dish, but I got caught up in blogging more recent things I had made and somehow this one just slipped through the cracks. I found this all the way back in January, in Food Network Magazine. I had bought that particular issue of the magazine because they had done a feature on cupcakes, and I'm a sucker for those. However, I ended up using this issue for all sorts of tasty dishes, and this one may have been the very best one.

These chicken drumsticks are the creation of Food Network personality Sunny Anderson. This is the first recipe of hers I've made, and it really makes me want to make more of her meals. This was so simple and unbelievably flavorful. The best part about these drumsticks is that they are baked in the oven, making this cooking method way healthier than other cooking methods listed in the magazine (a bunch of Food Network chefs had contributed to this feature on chicken wings, each providing a unique recipe for chicken).

The drumsticks are marinated in a jamaican jerk-style blend of herbs, spices, and juices. Then they're placed on a baking sheet to bake. After boiling the leftover marinade on the stove, you remove the drummies from the oven, baste them with all of that leftover goodness, and bake them a bit longer at a higher temperature. The glaze becomes caramelized and sticky and just absolutely delicious and messy. The meat is insanely tender, and the flavors are perfectly combined.

I decided to serve these drumsticks with a simple buttered Israeli couscous, and a quickly thrown-together asparagus and radish salad. If I recall correctly, the salad was dressed with a mixture of vinegar, soy sauce, and olive oil, along with salt, pepper, and dried cilantro. It was great; the crunch of the radish contrasted well with the quick-steamed asparagus, and the flavors in the dressing were present in the chicken drumstick marinade as well. A wonderful meal, and do-able on a weeknight!

The original recipe for Sunny's wings can be found here.

Sunny Anderson's Caribbean Chicken Wings (or, in my case, drumsticks!)

from Food Network Magazine

makes 3 lbs. wings or drumsticks

Ingredients

1/2 habanero pepper, seeded and chopped

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 Tbsp. honey

2 Tbsp. packed light brown sugar

1 Tbsp. granulated sugar

1 tsp. fennel seeds

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. allspice

1 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 scallions, chopped

2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

2 Tbsp. fresh orange juice

3 lbs. chicken wings (I used drumsticks)

Directions

1. Combine the first 12 ingredients (through scallions) in a blender. Add the vinegar, lime juice, and orange juice and blend until smooth. Place the wings in a large, resealable bag and pour the marinade over them. Seal and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with foil. Remove the wings from the bag, place on the lined sheets, and bake for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, bring the marinade to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until reduced by one-third, about 10 minutes.

3. Remove the wings from the oven and brush with the glaze. Raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees and continue to bake until the wings are cooked through, 20 more minutes.

CEIMB: Marinated Chicken and Grape Skewers

For this week's Craving Ellie in My Belly pick, we made Marinated Chicken and Grape Skewers, found in Ellie Krieger's book, So Easy. It was chosen by Elina, over at Healthy and Sane. Up until now, I think I'd only made maybe one or two recipes from Ellie's newer book. But after making these skewers, I think I'll be digging into that book a lot more often now!

This couldn't be easier to make. Just take some cubed, boneless, skinless chicken breast, marinate it in a simple mixture of lemon juice and zest, olive oil, garlic, cumin, salt, and coriander, and pop it onto some skewers with some green grapes. The chicken can sit in the marinade for anywhere from 20 minutes to 4 hours. In the cookbook, this is paired with a garden lentil pilaf, although it wasn't necessary to make that alongside for the CEIMB group.

We didn't have lentils on hand, but we did have some Israeli couscous. If you've never tried it, I highly suggest you do. It's a larger grain than your average couscous, probably the size of a peppercorn. The method of cooking is similar to that of rice: bring it to a boil in a pot of water, turn down the heat to a simmer, and let it go for about 10 minutes. You can do so much with it, too. We discovered it about 2 years ago and have been hooked ever since. So I made the pilaf recipe listed in the cookbook, but I substituted the Israeli couscous for the lentils.

It turned out to be absolutely delicious. When served with the chicken skewers on top, the couscous absorbed the yummy juices and just paired up so well with the plump grapes and tender chicken. The skewers themselves were amazing. Andy was actually mmm-ing and ohh-ing his way through the meal, and he rarely ever gets that excited about food. Normally, I'm the one freaking out over food!

To top off the meal, I made a simple roasted green bean dish that was also very yummy. The beans are tossed with some olive oil, peeled garlic cloves, salt, and pepper. It couldn't be easier, and it's a nice change from the normal, everyday green bean side dish. All in all, this meal was one of the best we've had in a while. The only disappointment was that we couldn't grill the skewers, like the recipe recommends. It was raining all day when we made it. But we used our electric griddle, and it worked out just fine. Still delicious, but without grill marks. Thanks to Elina for choosing this recipe. It's going to become a staple in our house!

The recipe for the skewers can be found here.
The recipe for the green beans can be found here.

Here's my version of the pilaf:

Israeli Couscous Pilaf

adapted from Ellie Krieger's So Easy

serves 4

Ingredients

1 cup dry Israeli couscous

1 1/4 cups water

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 red onion (Ellie used 2 Tbsp. shallots), diced

3 cups arugula (Ellie used baby spinach)

1 cup halved grape tomatoes

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves (Ellie used a combination of basil, parsley, and mint)

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Place water in a pot, bring to a boil, and add couscous. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 10 minutes, until couscous is done.

2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the arugula and cook until just wilted, about 2 minutes.

3. Add the tomatoes, cooked couscous, and basil to the pan and stir to combine. Cook until warmed through, about 1 minute. Stir in the lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and serve.