Friday Night Challenge 6: Minted Madeira Pork Chops

This week's challenge gave me pause: mint. Yes, that ubiquitous little herb brought my thought processes to a temporary halt. Frankly, I just don't care for mint flavors in food. So, I knew my own tastes were going to have to take a back seat on this challenge. 
The ingredients for this week's list were: pork, rice, wine, apples, and--mint. Yikes.
I started thinking about mulling and thought this might be a way to work mint into the recipe. I went looking for some fresh leaves outside, but, after coming to my senses and realizing it was still February--albeit the last day of February--all my perky mint plants were browned and wilted still in hibernation. So back to the herb drawer I went. I did find that I had mint flakes. Apparently at one time I had decided that I would try to get over the mint-meh hump.
I put a cup of Madeira wine into a small sauce pan and mixed with it a teaspoon of mint flakes and a tablespoon of rosemary. I let this combination simmer while I sliced two apples and cored them, leaving the peel to hold their shape. I dropped 1/2 of one of the apples into the simmering mix. Let this simmer for 20 minutes. Put 3 or 4 pork chops and the remainder of the apple slices into a small roaster and pour the mixture over it. Cover and bake in a 325 degree oven for 40 minutes (don't let the pork chops dry out). While the pork chops are baking, prepare some rice (your choice of type). When the rice was just about done, I added it to the roaster and let everything finish together. The blend of the flavors made for a nice well-rounded taste. 
I don't have the same distaste of mint I did before the experiment; the beauty of cooking is just that---constant delightful discovery.

Friday Night Challenge 5: Cowboy Pork Chops and Stuffed Red Potatoes

When I received tonight's list, the word "cowboy" popped into my head. Pork chops, tomato sauce, red potatoes, broccoli, and mozzarella cheese were the five ingredients given me. Here's the result:


Keeping with the "cowboy" idea in mind, I created a dry rub of garlic powder, salt, pepper, cumin, chili pepper, and paprika and put it on the chops. I then put them in a slow broiling oven and let them cook.


I cooked the frozen broccoli, and put the red potatoes in the microwave. Once the broccoli was cooked and the potatoes done, I whipped the broccoli, the insides of the potatoes, and the mozzarella cheese and put these into the shells of the red potatoes. I garnished with thin slices of the mozzarella.


Yee-haw! Cowboy pork chops and potatoes!

Friday Night Challenge 4: Bourbon-Infused Walnut Chocolate w/ Whipped Cream

Tonight in honor of the upcoming Valentine's Day, I decided we needed a good dessert challenge. So...out went the call. The ingredients suggested were:
                   chocolate, cool whip, pecans, bourbon, and brown sugar.
I had to make two substitutions: no cool whip, so I used whipped cream; no pecans, so I used walnuts.


I warmed the walnuts tossed in with brown sugar in a 375 oven. While these were heating, I shaved a piece of 70% dark chocolate into crumbs and set aside. I then melted some white chocolate and additional dark chocolate in the oven that was now cooling from the walnuts' previous visit there.


Once everything was melted, I did the following:
--mix the walnuts with the melted white chocolate; infuse with some good bourbon (I used Evan Williams). Put this into the freezer just long enough to set up
--pull from the freezer, form the whipped cream into a heart shape on top of the walnut/chocolate/bourbon layer
--sprinkle the chocolate crumbs to accentuate the heart shape
--take a fork and "sling" some of the melted chocolate around the walnut mixture


                                        Happy Valentine's Day dessert!

Friday Night Challenge 3: Savory Napoleon with Creme Fraiche

Tonight's challenge was just that...a challenge. The ingredients were interesting and, at first thought, daunting. However, as I started pulling items out of the fridge, the idea of a savory Napoleon came to mind. And creme? Creme fraiche, of course! Great ingredient suggestion!

 I started frying the first ingredient, bacon. As the bacon cooled enough to handle, I started slicing it into 1/2 sized pieces and then sliced them into three vertical slices. I reserved an extra couple pieces and cut them into narrow slices.
I did have to make one substitution with the second ingredient suggested--baby bok choy. I really like cooking with bok choy, but the fridge had none. However, I did have red cabbage. That would have to do. I sliced the cabbage into bite-sized pieces and sauted in bacon drippings. I let the cabbage cook slowly, covered with a lid, to maintain color and flavor while softening.
 The third ingredient, gelatin, was prepared in the usual manner. I let it set and cool a bit before putting it to work.
The fourth ingredient, mushrooms, were sliced and sauted in the drippings from the bacon. I added the gelatin in order to thicken the moisture coming from the mushrooms, making them more flavorful.
The fifth ingredient, cream, came in the form of whipping cream from the fridge. I whipped it into stiff peaks and then sprinkled with some herbs de provence.
The finished product is below. I stacked the bacon, then the red cabbage, then the mushrooms, then the creme fraiche...a savory Napoleon to enjoy.

the gelatin