Simplicity.

It’s hump day and “what’s for dinner?” Mid-week, Pierre is looking to take a break from the kitchen. We decide to scavenge the freezer and the pantry and look for quickest meal to satisfy. On one of our many runs to Publix, we found ourselves in the international food section, specifically Asian and snagged 2 Spicy Ramen packets for 3.99 total! Perfect and soothing for tonight. Now I am typically not  the most tolerant to spicy food so I was a bit worried. Fear not! If I could handle it, so can you. We took left over pork from last night, added a soft boiled egg (had to google how and still need practice), green onions, carrots, mushrooms (for Pierre), and cilantro. 

Now, Pierre taught me a trick! If you are worried the Ramen might be too spicy, add some soy sauce! Maybe it was a mental game but that helps reduce the intensity. 

On today’s episode of “What’s for dinner?”, the temperature in Charlotte has dropped back down to a chilling 55 degrees fahrenheit and so our food choices needed to warm the soul and leave you feeling full. “These pork chops are massive’” as quoted by our Chef Pierre. Which is no better reason to cook them tonight. Chef Pierre is also on week 3 (we think) of growing out his mustache and flavor savor. Unfortunately, he cannot grow a beard even though he has truly given it a decent shot. 

Playlist: Led Zeppelin Radio

Ingredients: 

1) THICC Pork Chops 

2) Sweet Potatoes 

3) Broccoli 

4) Maple Syrup, Dijon Mustard, Garlic, butter, Salt, Pepper, Chili Flakes, thyme

Instructions: 

Once the Pork Chops are room temperature, season with salt and pepper. Then, sear the pork chops on a cast iron skillet on medium heat for about 3-5 minutes on each side while basting them with garlic and butter to soak up the flavor. 

Remove Seared Pork Chops from the skillet. Let the skillet cool a bit. Now start creating the maple/mustard glaze so it can mix with the garlic flavor butter that’s already in the pan. Add maple syrup and dijon mustard to the pan and on low heat allow to simmer. Season Pork with a little more salt and pepper, and now add Chili Flakes, and Thyme. Put Pork Chops back into the pan and bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until each reaches a 140-150 medium rare temperature.

Sweet Potatoes: Cut into cubes. Add to boiling water with a tablespoon of baking soda for 15 minutes. The baking soda will remove the starch. This is important so that when you bake the sweet potatoes, they will be soft on the inside but a little crunchy on the outside. 

Cut Broccoli into little trees. Season both Broccoli and Sweet Potatoes with garlic, salt, pepper, and butter. Bake at 375 for roughly 25 minutes. 

Please note: I am re-reading this and realize I know nothing about writing a food blog. I hope this makes enough sense to give you and idea of what to do but also reminds you to maybe fact check me a bit along the way. 

La cocina is in full flex and smells amazing. Stay tuned for the outcome. 

Special Edition: Quarantined  

It’s week 2 into this reality that we will be working from home in our small little 1/1 apartment for another 30 days. Are we saving money or are we spending more than ever? Only time will tell. While we both have a pay check, the goal is to figure out what’s for dinner? 

Date: 3/30/2020 - Monday, or we think? 

Meal: We’ll skip breakfast and lunch not to bore you too much

Dish: Lettuce Wraps

I have to be 100% honest - I would say 99.9% of the time, Pierre’s cooking is comparable to to your best local Chef. OK, maybe I’m bias as the girlfriend but you get the point.  

Right now, the ground beef is being marinated in an Asian Fish Oil and I can only pray that the smell is nothing like the taste. The smell is transporting me back to when I traveled to Siem Reap, Cambodia. On any given day, we’d be wandering the hot outdoor street markets where there were pounds and pounds of this smell soaking in large white plastic containers in a consistency I’ve never seen before.  Hard to describe but I think you get the point. Every step, you hoped not to puke. This is no exaggeration to my sense of smell. Pierre’s only words are “TRUST”. And so with that, Godspeed. 

Directions: In a cast iron pan, add 1/1 ratio of olive oil and sesame oil. Then add minced garlic and ginger  and saute until fragrant. Next, add ground beef chuck for 15-20 minutes or until crispy. Crispiness is so that the meat isn’t soggy in the wraps. After removing the beef, added mushrooms and garlic to create chips as well.

Choose your topping - pray for survival.

1) Butter Lettuce - light but firm to hold the ingredients

2) Sliced Carrots 

3) Sliced Cabbage 

4) Sliced Green Onions

5) Sliced Mushrooms 

6) Top with more Sesame oil for taste

1 hour later….

The Staying Philosophy (Everyday Isa)

why is this so hard to do.