Pop goes the pork chop (into the microwave)

You've got 20 minutes and your time starts now!




Tonight I felt I was the sole contestant on "Chopped," competing against myself to get a 3-course meal on the table in front of both myself and my spouse, Peter.

Contrary to my usual MO I researched microwaved pork chops via Google. I saw numerous recipes, every one of which called for a cook time at least four times as long as I deemed necessary. I had brined these suckers for 4 hours - I wanted them tender - I didn't want the meat to seize up the way it does in a frying pan - they were only 1/2" thick for Pete's sake.

Paprika gave the thin little devils some color; no salt was needed due to the brining; a bit of garlic powder and black pepper rounded out the flavor profile. Now stand back for the cook time, bearing in mind that I was doing two 5-6 oz bone-in chops.

1 minute 30 seconds on each side (they were uncovered on a plate). Then, covered, a 5 minute rest period. From now on I may never cook pork chops any other way. Tender and tasty and tantalizing and terrifyingly good. (Can a pork chop be alliterative?)

Milanesa for the new millenium

According to Peter, I am the Maestro of Milanesa. I have to agree. I've studied it and prepared it dozens of times in recent years. It is very, very easy. I didn't research this extensively, but it appears that milanesa is usually a slice of beef. Well, I'm here to tell you, I've had beef milanesa in restaurants and I've tried to make it at home. It sucks under all circumstances. I make mine with pork or chicken (and once with turkey breast). Brine it, pound it, flour it, egg it, crumb it, fry it in incredibly hot oil for an incredibly short time.

I made milanesa from some pork loin chops (boneless) last night. They were just fine. There were, however, three pieces of meat. I plan to try a slight variation tonight with the third piece. First, while I did brine it, I'm not going to pound it out. That means I will have to be attentive to how long it needs to be shallow fried (1/8 inch oil). This chop is 1/2 inch thick. It might be a huge mistake not to pound it flatter, but I'll take the risk. I'm going to eat it no matter what.

I have invented a spice/herb combination (heck, I don't know what it is) which I am calling Garcon. Emeril has his Essence, the Cajuns have their Trinity. Well, Stevie now has his Garcon (a combination of garlic powder, celery salt, and onion powder). You will get a lot of exposure to this in upcoming posts.

I did it. I ate it. I'm a happy camper.

Works in progress (wings and butt)

I have long been an annoying advocate for buying whole chickens. It's about economy and just being sensible. However, I've also mentioned many times that a value pack of wings or leg quarters is often a reasonable alternative. A few days ago I got a big pack (mayber 15 of them) of large chicken wings. I'd been thinking about roasted wings for a while and this was perfect. As I write this I have them marinating (what, no brine?) in a combination of miso paste (that's where the salty part comes in), chicken broth, cayenne pepper and white wine. An eclectic mix I admit, but hey I do eclectic really well. I'll let them steep in that stuff for a couple of days and then roast them. I removed the end pieces (don't know what to call them, but they have no meat on them) and set them aside for a broth. Stay tuned for further updates.

Jenn of jennsfoodjourney, my "pen" pal of over a year now, had a "talk" the other day about thin pork chops. Well, I found this package of pork butt slices the other day. They look for all the world like huge pork chops (I mean 6" x 8"). Just imagine the roast pictured above sliced across. I did a little Google research and it seems to me I won't be happy trying to do a quick cooking method for these guys. They've been brining since yesterday and I'll be doing something with them for dinner tonight as soon as I figure out what that's going to be. Again, stay tuned. I'm thinking: cut out the bones and combine them with the chicken wing things in a stock pot. Then maybe rollling up the meat and braising it in tomatoes. We'll see. You'll see. See you tomorrow.

Oven-fried pork chops with stuffed delicata squash

The only time Scooper cares about food is when I assemble his kibble and canned stuff at about 6:30 am and 4 pm. So you see him below doing what he does best.

My original intent was to make pork chops the way I saw Giada do them on TV the other day. She fried them in very shallow oil. At the very last minute I decided to bake them.

As for the stuffed squash, I apologize to the one of you who posted stuffed acorn squash the other day with spinach. I’ve lost track as to who it was. When I found a single delicata squash at King Soopers the other day, I knew what I was going to do. The first thing was to harvest all of the (not so huge quantity) Swiss chard from the garden. It turned out to be exactly the quantity needed for this.

The chops were brined for about 6 hours in a combination of salt water and black pepper. No further salt was needed. As for the squash, the skin is edible and we choose to keep it on.

Oven-fried pork loin chops served with stuffed delicata squash
1 delicata squash
2 tbsp butter
onion powder to taste
chicken broth
Swiss chard, enough to make 1 – 2 cups cooked
1 large clove garlic, minced or pressed
salt and pepper
3 pork loin chops (it’s what the quantity in the package was)
1 egg
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp water
black pepper
all-purpose flour
bread crumbs, homemade or panko
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Start by slicing the squash in half lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds and pulp. Place 1 tbsp butter, ½ tsp onion powder and some chicken stock into each cavity. Bake until tender, about 45 minutes or so. Remove from the oven and pour the remaining liquid into a saute pan (for the chard).

Chop or tear the chard into 2-3” pieces. Heat the squash liquid and cook the chard in it, with the garlic, Cook the chard in the pan for about 10 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste. When ready to serve, nuke the squash to rewarm it, stuff it with chard, and you’re off to the races.

After brining, rinse the pork well and dry it. Sprinkle with some pepper, dust with flour, dredge in beaten egg (to which you have added the mayo and water), then in the bread crumbs. Let them rest for 30 minutes to set the coating. Place them on a wire rack over a shallow baking sheet. Spray them with Pam to enchance crispness. Bake until they reach 150 degrees. I know, I know, it doesn’t sound like a high enough temp, but it is. It will be pinkish in the center, but will also be more moist than at a higher temp. Trichinosis, an extremely rare occurrence these days, is destroyed at 138 degrees. So, no worrieds. Let the chops rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Pork milanesa

I’m back! The kitchen was mine last night and I made an old favorite of ours, pork milanesa. It’s just a different term for something very much like veal scallopine or Wienerschnitzel. You’ll find it in Mexican places, more often than not made with beef. I’ve never had any success with the beef version – always leathery. But pork, or chicken or turkey? Bingo.

I was dismayed to discover that, while I posted a turkey milanesa and a pork one quite a long time ago, no one read it. Or at least no one commented on it. Therefore I am unashamed to revisit it.

Make note of the absolute essentials for this to be as good as it can be: brine the meat for 3 or 4 hours (2 tbsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, to 2 cups water). Rinse it, dry it and proceed; shallow oil – no more than 1/8” – you don’t want it to go over the top of the meat when you put it in the pan; oil must be hot as heck – when you think it’s hot enough, wait another 30 seconds; cook for no more than 45 seconds to 1 minute per side – seriously, trust me on this. Sounds daunting? It isn’t if you just do what you’re told! LOL.

If you buy thin chops, you may be able to pound them to less than ¼” thickness, in which case the 45 second rule applies. If they are thicker and you pound them to ¼”, you can go for 1 minute per side. DO NOT ERR ON THE SIDE OF “GOTTA COOK MY PORK TIL IT’S DEAD”.

You can get away with not brining the chops, but the results will not be quite as succulent. Your choice.

I’ve provided a sample photo of bone-in chops. Some cuts will have a bit more “tail” meat (at the bottom of the chop as pictured). I would separate that from the main part, trim it of fat and turn it into little medallions to cook along with the rest.

Pork milanesa (2 servings)
2 - 8 oz. pork chops, bone in or boneless loin, brined for 3 hours
smoked paprika (or sweet if that’s what you have)
black pepper
salt (only if not brined)
Flour for dredging
1 egg plus 1 tbsp water, lightly beaten
breadcrumbs (homemade are best, but Panko are also excellent – do not use flavored Italian breadcrumbs)

After brining, rinse the chops well and dry them with paper towels. If these are bone-in, cut the bones out.
In a freezer bag or between sheets of plastic wrap, pound until thickness is reduced by half.

Sprinkle with paprika and pepper. Dredge in flour, dip in egg and coat with bread crumbs. Place on a baking rack over a plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Remove from fridge 30 minutes before cooking.

In a large skillet or sauté pan, heat no more than 1/8” vegetable oil over medium high (7 on my 1-10 dial). When you think it’s hot enough, wait 1 more minute. Carefully slide in the meat. For ¼” pieces cook exactly 1 minute per side. If they are thinner, reduce the time to 45 seconds per side. Trust me, I know what I’m doing.

Remove to paper towels. Let them sit for a minute, then serve.

Wok-smoked pork chops

Jenn got me so fired up about smoking last weekend that I was keeping my eyes open at Safeway for something I could experiment with in the wok. What turned up were two 1” thick pork chops. Now, bear in mind that I really did not know what I was doing – my previous experience with wok-smoking having been with salmon and catfish. I only got the one picture - my camera needed recharging after one go-round.

I think understand now that smoking in the wok is not a low-and-slow process, it’s “hot” smoking. So, it seems that the protein you put in there will cook in about the same time it would take in the oven. That was true for the fish. I tried turning the burner way down low, but all that did was stop the smoking. I left the chops in way too long. Because we were out of the house much of the afternoon, I did the chops in the morning. Then at dinner time swapped out the wood chips for water and used the wok to steam some heat back into them.

They were tender, very smoky, but somewhat dry. Oh well, this is how we learn. I’m going to post this recipe as the way I think you should do this instead of what I actually did.

Wok-smoked pork chops (2 servings)
2 8-10 oz. bone-in pork chops
salt
pepper
paprika

Line the wok with 2 sheets foil. Soak 1 ½ cups wood chips in water for 30 minutes. While the chips soak, season the chops to taste with the salt, pepper and paprika and let them sit on the counter top.

Turn the burner under the wok to high/med. High (7 on my 1-10 dial). Put the wood chips in and cover the wok. Spray bamboo steamer basket with cooking spray and lay the chops in it. Put on the bamboo cover.

When the smoke appears, put the bamboo basket in the wok (still covered) and replace the wok cover. Reduce the heat to 6 on the dial. Turn the chops after 15 minutes and check for doneness (with the knick of a paring knife) after 30 minutes. Let them stand in the covered basket for 5 minutes before serving.

Honey, lemon and oregano pork chops

I am so grateful for the wonderful inspiration I get from reading recipes on the blogs I follow. I mentioned once before that if I don’t comment on sweet things and baked goods, it’s simply because I don’t eat sweets (well, only rarely) and I don’t bake.

On Thursday, Jenn posted an excellent pork chop recipe. She didn’t have mint and substituted oregano – a good choice. I had basil (are you tired of me bragging about the garden?), which I chose to sub for the mint, then changed my mind and stuck with oregano. A word about my pork chops. I don’t remember how they were labeled (what cut, that is) because we bought them several weeks ago in a huge “value pack.” I divided them by 5 and froze the packages. Three of them are pictured below. They look pretty good as is, but trust me, they required a lot of trimming. After that and bone removal what was left was best for a quick sauté. That didn’t necessitate any change in marination.

The recipe is pretty much as Jenn posted it. I altered the amounts a bit to account for the amount of pork I had. In the end the taste was lemony with only the merest hint of sweetness from the honey. Here’s a pic of my favorite kitchen uni-tasker, a lime squeezer. It works with lemons if you cut the lemon into quarters to make it fit. It squeezes out some of the lemon pulp which I scraped into the marinade.
I’m in the limerick mood again.

I had a nice package of pork
And wanting to not be a dork,
I trimmed them
And cut them
To a size I could eat with a spork.

Honey, lemon and oregano pork chops
1 lb. pork cutlets, chops, or some such thing
1.5 tbsp honey
zest from 1 lemon
1.5 tbsp lemon juice (1/2 lemon)
1 ½ tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
salt and cayenne pepper to taste


Trim and cut up the pork as necessary depending on the cut. Place in a resealable bag. Combine all remaining ingredients (except butter) and pour over the pork. Marinate in the fridge for a few hours.
Heat a skillet over medium heat (4 on my 1-10 dial). Add butter to the pan. When it’s melted, add the pork pieces and sauté, turning a couple of times, until just barely pink in the center.

Butter-poached pork chops

Start with a top-quality pork chop, the kind with the t-bone in it, proceed; end up with a ravishingly tasty and tender result. How? That's what I'm here to tell you.

Back in March I posted what I then called "gentle" pork chops. I dare say last night's version were the best I've ever done with a pork chop. I think some of it is the cut of meat. March's version was bone-in loin chop, whereas this time I had the classic pork chop cut, about 3/4" thick and with the tenderloin attached (that's the oval of meat just above the bone at the top of the picture).

I have an interesting idea to try sometime. I hacked off 2 bits from one side of each chop. It was mostly fat with a bit of meat running through it. These pieces I nuked for 1 minute (they had been brined and I wanted to test for saltiness). What I ended up with were 2 scrumptious bits. I'm now wondering if nuking the entire chop might be an option. That's for another day.

Butter-poached pork chops

2 pork chops, brined for 2 hours

black pepper

paprika (smoked or sweet)

1 1/2 tbsp butter

Rinse the chops under cold water and dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with pepper and paprika to taste, but don't add salt. Make sure to get them to room temperature before cooking.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high (5 on my 1-10 dial) until the butter is melted and seems ready to brown. Put the chops into the pan and immediately reduce the heat to 3.

Cook the first side about 4 minutes. Turn them and continue cooking 4-6 minutes longer. You'll need to cut a slit near the bone to ascertain doneness. If the interior of the meat is just a bit pink get the chops off the heat. Let them rest on a cutting board (but not in the pan) for 5 minutes before serving.

Pork paillards

“Pork paillards” – I’m so pleased with the alliteration. Where is everybody this morning? It’s Saturday at 10 am here in Denver and I just had a look at the blog to see what's been posted. Nada. Oh well, maybe a little later. I get such a charge out of all your recipes. (I confess I tend to skip the baked goods … I’m not a baker or a sweets eater.)

Here’s the thing about cooking pork this way: the perfect cut is boneless loin chops, although I’ve used bone-in, thin-cut chops (just boned them out). With loin chops I would cut them into 1” strips, brine them, and pound them thin. I have sliced through them to make thinner pieces, but it’s kind of hard to do and maybe a little dangerous. This dish is absolutely not greasy if the oil is hot enough.

There’s nothing complicated about the technique of making paillards. Turkey, chicken and pork are all excellent for this. I have tried numerous times to make this with beef to no avail. For some reason it’s always tough. Do trust the very short cooking time. You won’t regret it.

To brine: 2 cups water, 2 tbsp kosher salt, 2 tsp black pepper. Dissolve salt in the water, add to the pork in a freezer bag or other container, make sure the pork is completely submerged. Leave in the fridge for 2-3 hours. Rinse and dry on paper towels before proceeding.

Pork paillards (serves 4)
1 lb. pork loin chops or regular chops, boned
smoked paprika
black pepper
all-purpose flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten (sometimes 1 is enough, or add some egg white from a box if you have it)
2-3 cups bread crumbs (preferable unseasoned – Panko is good too)

One by one, put the brined pork pieces into a freezer bag (you can use the one they were brined in. Pound them very thin, less than ¼” if you can.

Put the chops on a baking rack on your cutting board. Sprinkle 1 side of the meat with black pepper. Press it with your fingers to help it adhere. Now, using a small sieve, sprinkle with smoked paprika. I do only one side because smoked paprika can easily hijack a dish. Again using the sieve, sprinkle with a light coating of flour. Turn them over and sprinkle with flour.

Dredge in the egg and then the breadcrumbs, pressing to get a good coating. When finished put the rack on a plate and refrigerate. This can be done way ahead, just be sure to take the pork out 30 minutes before cooking.

In a large skillet heat 1/8” maximum of cooking oil over medium-high heat (7 of 10 on my burner dial) until very hot. The oil is ready when a pinch of flour sizzles energetically when dropped in. At this point I always wait another 30 seconds. The most crucial aspect of this recipe is the hot oil.

Carefully lay in the breaded pork (in batches as necessary, keeping cooked pieces in a warm oven until everything's done. Cook 45 seconds only. Turn with tongs. Cook 45 seconds more. Remove to a plate covered with paper towel to drain for 1 minute. Serve.

Gentle pork chops

Peter got us a huge package of pork loin chops (on the bone) from the Manager’s Specials bin at Safeway the other day. They were pretty big, about ¾ lb. each and were ¾” thick. Only two of them were of a quality for serving straight up. The other four were pretty well laced with sinew and fat. I trim them off the bone and make posole or something. In the meantime, into the freezer they went.

My success at pan-frying pork chops has been variable. I thought long and hard and decided a gentle braise could be the way to go. This was a highly successful recipe. The chops were tender and juicy and very flavorful.

One odd ingredient I had was a McCormack’s mix of black and red pepper. Just use black and red separately.

Here’s an oddity: are you as unsure as am I what is meant by “medium” or “medium high” heat on your electric stove. Here’s what I’ve settled on: the dial on my stove goes from 1 to 10. 5, right at the bottom 6 o’clock position, is what I call “medium high.” 4 is my “medium” and 3 my “medium low.” It works for me.

Oh, the accompaniments were a small salad and a wedge of leftover potato galette.

Gentle pork chops
2 large bone-in pork loin chops, 3/4” thick
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
½ tsp smoked paprika (or 1 tsp sweet paprika)
black pepper to taste
cayenne pepper to taste
1/3 cup beef stock

Trim the chops of excess fat. Brine them in 2 cups of water into which you’ve dissolved 2 tbsp kosher salt, and stirred in 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper. Put this into a zip-lock bag and refrigerate for at least 2, and better, 3 hours. Remove from the fridge, rinse very well under cold water, and set aside 30 minutes before cooking.

Sprinkle one side of each chop with paprika, black and red pepper. If using smoked paprika, only season 1 side with it, otherwise this stuff can hijack the dish. NOTE: no added salt!

Heat the oil and butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until the butter threatens to brown. Add the chops, seasoned side down. Season the up side now with paprika and/or more peppers. After 2 minutes turn the chops over. Continue sauteing for just another minute or minute and a half.

Carefully add in the beef stock, reduce heat to medium low, cover the pan and let it simmer slowly for 6-8 minutes. Check for doneness by slicing into the meat at its thickest part next to the bone. It probably needs more time. I just kept checking at 2 minutes intervals until I saw that it was only a bit pink in there.

Remove to a cutting board and cover with foil.

Raise the heat to medium high and bring the pan juices to a boil. Reduce to about 2 tbsp and drizzle over the chops to serve.

Pork cutlets Milanese

This recipe is by no means unique. You can try this with pork, chicken, veal, or even beef. What makes my version special is the trial and error I have endured for a couple of years until figuring out how to make these the best they can be.

Brining is essential (though don’t do it with beef). It infuses flavor into the meat and does some tenderizing as well.

Don’t be daunted by the instruction to fry only 3 1/2 minutes total. It will be completely cooked through. Any longer and you will have shoe leather. Get the oil quite hot: a drop or 2 of water flicked in (from a distance, please) should pop instantly.

Even my largest skillet was not big enough to hold all 4 chops at once. And in any case you would not want to crowd the pan.

Take seriously the direction to rinse thoroughly. You definitely need to get all the surface salt off the chops. And (this gets said twice) NO additional salt. In addition to what the chops have absorbed from the brine, the parmesan is salty.

My partner, Peter, is expert at making homemade bread crumbs from virtually any kind of leftover bread we have. Giada DiLaurentiis (whose repeated demonstrations of Milanese-making inspired me to experiment) uses seasoned bread crumbs. I consider that a real no-no. The off-the-shelf stuff from the supermarket tastes like crap to me.

Pork cutlets Milanese
4 boneless pork loin chops, trimmed of all fat
brine*
black pepper
paprika (smoked if possible)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups unseasoned bread crumbs
1 cup grated parmesan cheese (or Romano, or a combination of both)
oil for shallow frying

Carefully cut the chops through the middle until you can open them like a book. One by one place them between sheets of plastic wrap and pound them to about ¼” thickness.

Cover the chops with the brine and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours. Remove from the brine, rinse thoroughly under cold water, and dry completely with paper towels.

Use 2 plates and a wide bowl: put the flour on one plate, the bread crumbs mixed with the parmesan on the other, and the eggs in the wide bowl.

Sprinkle the chops on one side with some black pepper and paprika. DO NOT add salt. One by one, dredge them in the flour (shake off excess), coat with egg (shake off excess), and then press both sides into the crumb and cheese mixture – coating them thoroughly. Place the chops on a plate uncovered and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.

Heat 1/8” vegetable oil until very hot. Place 2 chops in the oil, fry for 2 minutes; flip them over (carefully) and fry 90 seconds on the other side. Remove them to a plate covered with paper towels, cover with foil and let them sit while you fry the other 2 chops. Drain the second pair on paper towels and serve immediately.

*2 cups water, 2 tablespoons kosher salt, 1 tbsp black pepper – stirred until the salt dissolves.

Pork shoulder steak

Don't be too dismayed by the not-yet-cooked-through pork steak above. I took this shot right after turning it. We cooked one of these steaks a while back and it was fabulous. I found a jumbo package (4 lbs.) of these in the manager's specials at Safeway. Each steak weighs about 1 lb. Therefore one of them was enough for our dinner.

When you see the word "shoulder" you might be inclined to think braise or slow-roasting. But with a hearty brining period this meat is wonderfully tender and juicy.

One secret to knowing when it is done is found at the top of the meat, right between the 2 rivets on the side of the pan. You can see the pinkness there. When that turns tan the meat is very close to being ready. A couple of minutes after that I made a cut in a thick portion and found it perfectly medium - just a trace of pink in the center.

Another secret to cooking this is not to sear it over high heat. That tightens the fibers. My method was along the lines of butter poaching.

Pork shoulder steak
1 pork shoulder steak, about 3/4" thick, trimmed of excess fat
brine: dissolve 2 tbsp kosher salt, 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp roughly ground black pepper in 2 cups of water
1 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
2 tbsp butter
1 few pinches each of onion powder and garlic powder
more pepper to taste

Put the meat in a freezer bag, add the brine and refrigerate for 3-5 hours. Remove from the fridge about an hour before cooking. Rinse it thoroughly, dry with paper towels and allow to come to room temperature.

Heat the oil and butter until the butter's foam subsides and it just barely starts to brown. My electric range has dials that go from 1 to 10. I heated the pan at 5 then reduced it to 3 after the meat went in.

Sprinkle the top side of the steak with a bit of garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper. Put that side down in the pan and reduce the heat as above. Season the exposed side in similar fashion.

Cook first side for 5-6 minutes then turn. Give the second side another 5-6 minutes. That should get you close to done. Slice into a thick part and have a look. You'll know when it's done to your liking. Having said that, I think it's best to remove it from the pan when there is still trace of pinkness in the center - it's up to you.

Ham and bean soup

I often make soup. The particular ingredients (which I know I've mentioned many times before) just happen to be what is in the fridge.

I on a new diet kick. For the past few years Peter and I have more often than not eaten sandwiches (grilled or on toast) for lunch. Having quit smoking recently my weight is inexorably increasing - about a pound a week. This in spite of no change in my eating habits and gym visits (4 times a week).

It occured to me the other day when Peter went off for the weekend to New Orleans that I should try skipping the sandwiches and getting "soup creative."

The one and only ingredient you absolutely must have for soup is liquid. I prefer low fat/low sodium chicken stock - often on sale at Safeway. Then just rummage around and see what you have. You could do something as simple as open a can of diced tomatoes, saute some onion and garlic, puree that with the tomatoes, add some broth and some seasonings and, voila, it's soup!

On Saturday I took the easy way out and bought one of Safeway's "Signature" soups, Italian wedding soup. I really like it and I was feeling lazy.

Sunday I got creative. I opened a package of ramen noodles and thawed out 4 oz. shrimp, removing their shells. Now, I wanted flavor but less sodium than one gets using the ramen flavor packet. So...I started with 1 cup chicken broth and one cup water, brought it to a boil, added the noodles and, one minute later, the shrimp. Ramen noodles take 3 minutes and the end of which you add the flavoring. I used only half. That's all there was to it.

All right, I'm going on a bit about this. Today's soup is something I dreamed up in a matter minutes early today. Everything that went into this was stuff that was on hand. If you have a trip planned to the store you can, or course, pick up whatever you might want to add to the soup. But I hate to go to the store for just one or two items.

Anyhoo, kohlrabi is unusal. But we had 3 "heads" of it. Also had leftover the jalapeno from a few days ago.

I'd love to take on the challenge of making a soup, Iron Chef style, from a list of ingredients provided by you the readers. (What readers? Nobody comes here.) Bring it on.

Ham and bean soup

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup chopped celery (with leaves if possible)

1 kohlrabi, peeled and diced

1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 lb. smoked pork chops

1 14.5 oz. can beans (absolutely any kind)

4 cups chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp chili powder

In a large pot heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, kohlrabi, jalapeno and garlic. Saute, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes. Don't allow the vegetation to take on color.

If your pork chops have bones, remove them and add them to the pot for flavor. Cut the pork up into 1/2" cubes. Add the pork and the beans to the pot. Stir and then add broth. Bring to a simmer and then season with salt and pepper and chili powder to taste. Let the soup simmer very slowly for maybe 10 minutes. That's all there is to it.

Pork chops with preserved black beans

If you can get to a good Asian market, pick up some preserved black beans. They last forever in the fridge and, used in small amounts, provide a nicely different take on many dishes.

The squash is delicata, the skin of which can be eaten.

Pork chops with preserved black beans (serves 2)
2 bone-in or boneless loin pork chops
2 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp black pepper, plus more to taste
2 cups water
1 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
½ tbsp butter
1 tbsp preserved black beans, lightly chopped
1 tsp ginger, minced
1 tsp garlic, minced

Brine the pork for 1-3 hours in the fridge in the water, in which you've dissolved the salt and sugar and to which you've added the pepper. One hour before cooking rinse the chops thoroughly, dry them, and allow them to come to room temperature.

In a saute pan large enough to hold the chops without crowding, heat the olive oil and butter over medium high. Add the beans, ginger and garlic and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly so that nothing burns.

Add the chops to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes per side, until just barely pink in the center (cut a little slit in order to take a peek). Serve at once.