My journey of cooking, gardening, preserving and more
There’s not been much time for blogging for this girl lately. First there was painting, to get ready for new living room furniture. Then veggie gardening, followed by flower gardening. And in between, I’ve been working on refinishing a cool side table I found at …
Spring is always crazy with flower and veggie gardening, but I took a break today to finally capture this shot: These are the flower buds on my cayenne pepper plant. Gorgeous, don’t you think?
Well, one thing has saved me from a complete meltdown and it’s this: a quick brine. Brining always sounds like a great idea but, seriously, who has the time on a weeknight? Usually, it involves a gazillion ingredients and a minimum of 12 hours in the fridge…sheesh!
Well, this (hopefully) will bring you out of your dinner despair. It’s a quick and easy brine that can be customized to whatever your tastes and time allow.
Here’s the basic recipe:
Mix salt and water in a bowl and stir well, until salt has dissolved. Cover pork chops completely with brine and let sit for 1 to 2 hours. Remove from brine, pat dry and cook as usual.
What? Where you expecting something more difficult? This is seriously all you need to do to ensure your pork chops are tender. Well, alright, you still can’t cook them to death, but this will help.
I tend to add a few variations to this, depending on:
But here are some suggestions to add:
Also, feel free to mix up the liquid; instead of water, add beer or stock for a little more flavor.
Keep in mind that thinner cuts of pork can sit an hour or so, but for thicker cuts, 2 hours will probably give you better results.
This is a fantastic recipe for the grill too. It won’t save you from extended over-cooking but it’s pretty forgiving if you have a tendency to leave your chops on the heat for a little longer than needed. Try this with chicken too – I think you’ll be amazed at the results.
Happy cooking!
If you’re just finding me now at my old WordPress site, I hope you’ll join me in my latest posts at lolarugula.com
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Don’t believe that it’s easy? Here’s the general idea: You melt some chocolate jussssst to where it’s almost melted, stir until completely melted, toss in your add-ins, stir until everything is covered in chocolate, then pour onto a baking sheet and chill for an hour or so. Break into pieces and you’re done.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Break chocolate into chunks into a large glass bowl (preferably one with a pouring spout). Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir. Repeat in 30-second increments until chocolate is almost melted. Stir until chocolate melts completely and add your nuts, etc.
Pour chocolate onto a lined baking sheet and, using a spatula, spread out into a thin layer. Sprinkle quickly with coarse sea salt, if desired, before chocolate sets.
Place in refrigerator until chilled, about 1 hour. Break into large pieces and store in a cool place.
I also use white chocolate for bark, when I have it, but be warned that it doesn’t harden back up like real chocolate.
So now, next time you need an easy dessert recipe, you’ve got one! Enjoy!
Quinoa is one of those foods that became super trendy, for a while. Super trendy until a lot of people actually tried it and decided they didn’t like it. The first way I ever made it was as a savory side dish, with mushrooms, veggie stock, …