Baked Pork Chops

Our first few days in upstate NY were a bit rough. The kids ended up going to bed around 10:00 PM the first few nights (right on time for their 7:00 Phoenix bed times, but still too late). This made them sleep late in the mornings and threw off eating and nap schedules.  On top of our scheduling issues, the house was chaotic. The New York house is much smaller than our Phoenix house and harder to navigate with two small kids. There is a very narrow and steep staircase with gates on either end, and the only bathroom is upstairs. I wasn't too worried about this when we rented the place, but our toddler is still potty training and we've regressed on that front. I'm starting to think there is nothing worse than two small children not eating and sleeping well in a new, strange location. This was exacerbated by visits with lots of family the kids haven't seen in a year. Whew! So glad we are becoming more adjusted by the day.

This period of transition has made us crave some comfort food. The other night we decided to bake some pork chops from the farmers market visit. These were some beautiful thick center cut pork chops. We were pleased to have picked up some Sauerkraut with cauliflower from Damin Farms. This last week I picked up the most basic variety of sauerkraut hoping that the entire family would enjoy it, but this next week I think I'll go for a spicy version for Mama and Dada.

Slices of baked pork chops served with cabbage and cauliflower sauerkraut and sides of carrots and garlicky greens (an early summer staple).

Baked Pork Chops inspired by The Kitchn

2 large thick cut pork chops

3 T sea salt

3 cups water

sea salt

7 seed mix (optional)

Spring onions and garlic

Preheat oven to 425.

Mix the salt and water until the salt dissolves. Add the pork chops and let sit 30 minutes to 4 hours. Place an oven proof skillet in the oven to heat. Once it is hot, remove and add the chops and sprinkle with salt and seed mix (optional). Add the onions and garlic to the pan. Return to the oven an cook for 15 minutes. Flip the chops and reduce the heat to 325 degrees. Cook for an additional 20 minutes or until the chops are cooked through.

Beef and Cauliflower Soup

We have been trying to follow a Paleo/Primal diet for a while. It started when our first daughter and I had a stubborn case of thrush and a holistic nutritionist I met said that dietary changes were the only way we were going to kick it for good. We have fallen off the wagon several times, but we notice that we feel better when we cut back on grains and other starchy foods.

Well with a new baby at home, I was very focused on quick easy meals that our toddler would eat with us. We relied on pasta more than I'd like to admit, and the times that we did get the paleo style meals I hoped for, it was pretty boring. Everything was pan fried or steamed because I didn't want to turn the oven  on during the Phoenix summer, and not much seasoning. Just some type of meat or fish and two vegetables and repeat.

I happened on The 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking by Hayley Mason and Bill Staley at the library. We started cooking our way through it and really enjoyed it. It includes meal plans and shopping lists which I love (I've always been a sucker for those), and the food tastes great. My one complaint is that I don't like the mix of meals. We are talking about cooking our way through it again, but I think I will rewrite the meal plans and shopping lists so that you don't end up with a bunch of beef one week, lots of fish the next, or lots of greens followed by only white and yellow veggies, etc. I'll be sure to share my rewritten meal plans and shopping lists with you.

One of the recipes we recently tried was for Bison Stew. We had to use beef because our Meat Shop didn't have any bison stew meat. The results were delicious. I love the combination of beef broth and cauliflower. It tastes so rich and decadent. Yum!

Beef and Cauliflower Soup (based on The Food Lovers Kitchen)

2 lbs. beef stew meat
1 T coconut oil
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
6 cups of beef broth
3 sprigs of thyme
3 sprigs of rosemary
1 head of cauliflower, broken into small florets
fermented sauerkraut
salt and pepper to taste

Brown the meat in the coconut oil in a large Dutch oven. Remove the meat from the pan. Add the onion, celery and carrots and cook until the onions are translucent. Add the meat and broth to the pot.  Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 5-6 hours, adding the cauliflower for the last hour of cooking. Top with sauerkraut and serve.

This post is part of Alphabe-Thursday, Full Plate Thursday and Frugal Food Thursday.

Knockwurst with Sauerkraut, Potato Hash and Red Chard

Sometimes a dinner is tasty because of fancy sauces or special cooking techniques, but sometimes a good meal just lets the flavors of quality ingredients shine through. This meal falls into the latter category (also known as an easy meal). We found some beef knockwurst at the farmers market last weekend and thought it would be a perfect mid-week meal. It was delicious served with some Bubbies lacto-fermented sauerkraut and mustard. I am partial to Kosciusko Spicy Brown Mustard. We first found it at a Polish market in the East Village of New York City, but then we came to realize that it is available everywhere. We served our knockwurst with a potato and onion hash and sauteed red chard.

It's so simple that no recipes are needed. But I will give you a couple of tips:

• Boil the knockwurst for 10 minutes and just cook it in a pan for a few minutes to brown it up. It stayed incredibly moist and juicy. We will always be using this technique in the future.
• Cook the potatoes and onions separately to help the potatoes to stay crispy. My husband fried up the potatoes and got them nice and crisp, and then added the onions. The onions released so much liquid that the potatoes became mushy. I think cooking them separately would solve this problem (unless you would like them mushy).

What's a simple meal that you love to make that let's the ingredients shine through?


This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Frugal Food Thursday, Alphabe-Thursday, and URS: Potato Recipes.

Garlic Bratwurst with Sauerkraut

We had a craving for German food the other night, and decided to pick up some bratwurst from Whole Foods. While we were there we also picked up some lacto-fermented sauerkraut. It was from Hawthorne Valley Farm and full of good bacteria to aid digestion. I felt really good about this choice. We accompanied this with some sauteed onions and a salad full of CSA vegetables and topped with our House Vinaigrette.

The sauerkraut was awesome - crispy, tangy, sour and fresh. I want to try to make some like it myself. I got some small cabbages last weekend at the farmers' market, but I still need to get them started. "Tomorrow!"

This post is part of Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade.